Doin' Some Cookin'... Health Nut Blueberry Smoothie

After getting in an early morning workout I needed a post workout meal and reached for a handful of ingredients to make this Health Nut Blueberry Smoothie. What a perfect start to my Saturday!

This has been one of my favorite smoothies I've tried recently with natural sweetness from the banana and blueberries, a creaminess from the almond milk and almond butter, and texture from the dried coconut flakes. So good. Repeat worthy.

Health Nut Blueberry Smoothie

Adapted From: Eating Bird Food

Makes 1 Serving

Stars of the Show:

• 1/2 banana
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 tbsp coconut almond butter
• 1 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• ice, to taste

And Action:

Pulse all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Enjoy!

Doin' Some Cookin'... Blueberry Almond Oatmeal Parfait

My stomach was growling and I needed an afternoon pick me up to get me through my hair appointment and shopping for items to put together a Texas themed gift basket for one of my best friend's arrival into Houston tomorrow.

This oatmeal parfait is layered with vanilla honey yogurt and almond butter on top a bed of cinnamon steel cut oats and couldn't be easier to put together. This recipe is so versatile as you can swap out any nut (or nut butter) and switching up the fruit. I'm partial to almonds though and think any fruit and almonds were made for each other.

Say goodbye to boring oatmeal and hello tummy stuffed full of goodness. I could not finish a full serving size and saved the rest of breakfast the next day, yes, it's fantastic chilled too.

Blueberry Almond Oatmeal Parfait

Adapted From: Hello Healthy from MyFitnessPal

Makes 2 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 3/4 cup steel cut oats
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1/2 cup blueberries
• 4 tbsp almond butter

And Action:

In a small saucepan combine the oats, water, vanilla, and cinnamon. Simmer on medium-low heat for 7-8 minutes. Let the oatmeal cool for a few minutes before layering into the parfait.

Mix the yogurt and honey together. 

To build the parfaits, spoon the oatmeal in the bottom of each glass, then layer on a spoonful of yogurt, then blueberries, then almond butter. Repeat the layers until you have used up all of the ingredients between the two glasses. Enjoy!

Doin' Some Cooking... Almond Butter Oatmeal

Belly-stuffing-baked-oatmeal. Yes, baked oatmeal.  Two of my coworkers had never heard of baking oatmeal. I'd like to pretend that I knew about this method before this point but I didn't. This oatmeal is baked with eggs, almond butter, and soy milk. Protein-packed to keep you satisfied until lunch and best part of all, it's similar to a casserole so that means plenty of leftovers and very little thought needed when packing breakfast for work.

Almond Butter Oatmeal

Adapted From: Women's Health

Makes 6 Servings

Stars of the Show:

• 2 cups steel cut oats
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 eggs, beat
• 2 cups light vanilla soy milk
• 1 cup water
• 4 tbsp almond butter - I used Kolat's Cherry Vanilla Almond Butter, found at Whole Foods.
• 2 tbsp agave nectar

And Action:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray. In the baking dish, mix steel cut oats, cinnamon, eggs, soy milk, water, and almond butter together. Bake for 20 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Drizzle with the agave nectar.