Breakfast Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cups

These breakfast cupcakes are:

• Healthy, sugar-free, dairy-free (Gluten Free Option)
• Quick to make
• Portable and non-messy
• Easy to eat at a desk… or pack in a lunchbox!

Just throw a couple into your bag, perhaps along with a container of peanut butter and some fresh fruit, and you’re good to go with a balanced breakfast. Once you try them, you will understand how easy it is to get completely hooked on these! 

Never skip breakfast again.

Cook once, and you have a delicious breakfast for the entire month that you can take from the freezer as you need and enjoy on your way to work, have a healthy after-school snack ready for the kids, or use this for your Sunday Brunch at the park!

There are endless options and add-ins to change these up from batch to batch. Use your creativity and preferences to come up with a combination unique to what you enjoy the most! Blueberries, nuts, cinnamon, dried fruits, and other seasonings will keep them interesting and different each time you make these.

Ingredients

• 5 cups rolled oats (uncooked, Old Fashioned)
• 2 1/2 cups over-ripe mashed banana, measured after mashing 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 C. pure maple syrup, agave, or honey (or a combination) 
• 2/3 cup mini chocolate chips
• 2 2/3 cups water
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
• 2 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 C. Chia 
• optional add-ins: cinnamon, shredded coconut, chopped walnuts, ground flax or wheat germ, raisins or other dried fruit, etc.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F, and line 24-25 cupcake tins. In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients and stir very well. In a separate bowl, combine and stir all wet ingredients (including banana). Mix wet into dry, then pour into the cupcake liners and bake 21 minutes.  (If you let them cool overnight, they'll no longer stick to the liners.) These oatmeal cakes can be eaten right away, or they can be frozen and reheated for an instant breakfast on a busy day. Be sure to store properly in the freezer if you don't use them within a day. 

Berry Summer Salad

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!! The sun is shining, it's warming up...and most likely you'll have a gathering, BBQ, picnic or potluck of some sort this weekend. Along with that, there will most likely be lots of food and drinks that might throw you off track and set you back from your health and fitness goals - remember...SUMMER is just around the corner - along with BIKINI SEASON!!! 

So here is a YUMMY triple-berry salad that YOU can bring to your picnics so that you always have a healthy option to fall back on!

Ingredients:

9oz baby spinach, torn

1 cup sliced strawberries

1 cup raspberries

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

1/3 cup chopped basil

1 avocado, chopped

4oz feta cheese

Directions: Divide baby spinach between plates then top with berries, almonds, basil and chopped avocado. Crumble goat cheese on top then dress with salad dressing. I recommend Balsamic Glaze or a strawberry balsamic vinegar, but any olive-oil based vinaigrette would be fantastic!

Recipe source http://iowagirleats.com/

Double Chocolate PB Oatmeal

How would you like to begin your day, indulging in a yummy peanut butter, chocolatey oatmeal for breakfast? I know so many busy women don't have time to slave over their morning meal. If you have just a few minutes, you have enough time to make this:

This dish is sure to be a real treat, and almost guarantees I will set my day off on the right foot.  Why not  make sure it’ll be a good day… by consuming chocolate, first thing?! 

I don't know many people who don't LOVE the combination of PB and chocolate, and I quite honestly could very well have this for every single meal of my day...but everything in moderation, and good healthy balance, right? Instead I just really look forward to morning, so that I can make my favorite meal of the day!

Double Chocolate PB Oatmeal

(Serves 1)

• 1 serving rolled oats (40g)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tsp. all-natural PB or other nut butter
• 1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
• extra sweetener if desired (I love using honey)
• 1/4 cup Almond or other milk to serve
• 1 T. Chocolate Chips or cocoa nibs

Combine first 6 ingredients and cook, uncovered, over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes. When it starts to bubble, stir occasionally. Add remaining ingredients, and sweeten as desired.  

What's YOUR favorite way to eat oatmeal?

Clean Eating Chocolate Mug Cake

You might never want chocolate cake (the old fashioned way) again, once you try this recipe out. No kidding - it's THAT GOOD! I can't believe it took me so long to discover, that I can literally make this individual serving-size cake, in the microwave, in less than one minute, from start to finish. 

This is kid-tested, family approved, clean eating...and one would NEVER KNOW it takes such little time to make. My 2 year old LOVES this simple Peanut Butter "frosting" as much as I do!  

So now that I have you convinced you NEED to try this, this is what you need:
1 Scoop Chocolate Shakeology
1/4 c. Milk of choice (almond, skim)

Method:
Combine the shakeology powder with the milk to form your dough. Place in a microwave safe bowl, microwave for 30-35 seconds. 

Meanwhile, prepare your frosting. You'll need:
1/4 c. plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp. PB
1 tsp. honey

Combine in a small bowl. Turn cake out of bowl onto plate, top with your frosting, and serve warm. ENJOY!!!  

If you are using the 21 Day Fix meal plan, this cake is one red container, and add your gray for the PB frosting. SO GOOD! And zero guilt. Now I know what you will have from now on if you find yourself needing a sweet treat to follow your dinner or if you have an extra red left over for the day!!!

21 Day Fix Extreme Meal Plan

So it's 8PM, on the Sunday night of Mother's Day. What a beautiful day it was spent with my family, everything in perfect balance. Slept in, celebrated morning mass, came home to change into my running gear so that I could get my sweat on, took the kids to play at the park, out for a family dinner, and now planning my week to set me up for success!

Do you have one day designated each week to list out what you want to accomplish? What are your goals, your to-do list, and your master "bucket list" of things you want to achieve? This little practice will help you be SO much more productive with your time! Get your focus and game plan together to succeed! 

So Sunday nights have become my favorite time to do this, once the kids are asleep and I'm sipping on some tea, winding down after a busy day with the family <3 and it dawned on me that I have just over 9 weeks until our annual convention in Nashville, Coach Summit! 3 rounds of the 21 Day Fix Extreme....funny how my mind thinks in terms of fitness programs!  Since Cancun, I've gotten a bit too lenient with my meals and tracking, so I have committed myself to dialing it in and getting to my fitness goal by the end of July - I want to kick things up a notch or 2 to really see what I am capable of! That means getting my containers out, portioning my foods, tracking my intake, and celebrating my successes each week!!! This is so much fun, knowing how my body will respond to following this program developed by trainer Autumn Calabrese. 

The simplicity of the 21 Day Fix meal plan just works for me.  It's so easy, and rather than count calories (I REALLY don't like doing that!) I think in terms of containers.  My entire family eats what I eat, and its just what we do!  No "dieting" or special foods that nobody would want except for me. Who wants to be making separate meals for the kids? No thanks! One dinner is enough work for me to handle, no need to add more work to a busy momma's schedule! 

   

So what's the game plan for this week?  It's a super busy week, with dance class activities almost every night for the girls. Their annual dance recital is on Saturday, so they have photos, dress rehearsals, lots of running back and forth...so I need to have a plan for those nights we'll be out, or we would be left to make hasty decisions. Our focus this week is all about planning, prepping snacks that we can take with us, and avoiding late night snacking.   
I'm going to start the 21 Day Fix Extreme Meal Plan tomorrow.  I am going to do the countdown to competition plan the last week of the 3 week program. I am going to be sure to get in my 5 runs each week, and double up with the workouts of the 21 Day Fix Extreme Program a minimum of 3 days per week.  I love using the weights with my workouts. With running, my body really needs some cross training to strengthen and tone my core and upper body especially. 

Here is how I work my containers into the 21 DFX meal plan, and I just cross off the containers as I use them as I go throughout the day.  For those who do not want to use the countdown to comp plan, there is also the option to fall back and use the regular 21 DF (white boxes every day), which is less restrictive but equally as effective! I'm ready with my game face on to cut the late night snacking, the extra containers (especially those YELLOWS!) and to be Nashville ready come 9 weeks!!! 

This is how you use your meals with the containers. SO easy, and once you have a plan that you love, you can use it over and over with a few simple substitutions so that you don't get bored.  

If you are looking to lose those last few pounds, tone, tighten up for a vacation, special event, class reunion, or trip... trust me, THIS is the way to go!  Plus the fact that I have done several rounds of the 21 day fix and fix extreme I am more than happy to help you in my accountability and support groups.  For me, honestly, it was the accountability that keeps me on track! Without that I would not have had the success that I did!  It's so easy to loose your mojo, but when you are surrounded with others like you, all working on the same goals, it's so much easier to stick with it and work for your own progress!  So make sure that I am your free coach, or connect with the one you have for support!

And besides, I LOVE that muscle burns more fat at rest, so even while I'm sleeping, after a good weight training day, I can just FEEL my body's metabolism revving up! 

The 21 Day Fix Extreme Nutrition Book tells you EXACTLY what you need to know. For most of us, we just want things to be easy. Tell me what to eat, give me a plan, and just plug it into my day!  There is a list of foods to choose from in each food group, so you pick from the green (veggies) category, and whatever fits in that container, you eat.  You check off the box for that meal and then you know how many containers you have left.  Super simple. Besides just the foods you are eating, there are also super yummy recipes to use. I can truly say that there isn't one recipe in the book that I don't like, especially the seasoning blends!  The food is filling & the portion sizes are perfect.  In the evenings if I feel hungry, I know it's working because my metabolism is working overtime. Sipping on some tea before heading up to bed does the trick!

30 minute workouts, weights in most all of them, Cardio with weights, Upper Body, Lower Body, Intervals, Pilates with resistance band, Yoga...has such awesome variety!

I'm starting a 21 Day Fix Busy Mom's group next week to help YOU and I stay on track! If you are interested in support hit me up by completing the application HERE.