April All Natural Day 11 + 2 New Recipes!
I had all intentions of making this a lazy day, but I ended up spending the majority of the day doing homework and chasing around an energetic Rory. I also intended on doing a nice long run in the morning, but got a little over a mile in and my hip started to hurt, so I immediately turned around and went home. No hip bursitis for me! One good thing about the morning though is I changed up my oatmeal flavor, *gasp*! And I mean I completely changed it up… I made carrot cake oatmeal! I probably added way too many carrots, but hey, you learn from your mistakes. I also probably should’ve measured the shredded carrot before I just threw it all in the pot…
I’ll still give you the recipe though because I thought it was deeeeee-licious. Although, not very braces friendly.
Mine isn’t topped with walnuts though because nuts are a no go with braces. They bend the wires all over the place!
Carrot Cake Oatmeal
Serves 1
Ingredients:
- 1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
- 1 Cup Non-Dairy Milk (or water)
- 1/2 Cup Finely Grated Carrot (about one small carrot)
- 2 Tablespoons Raisins
- Heaping 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
- Tiny Pinch (maybe 1/16 Teaspoon) Ground Nutmeg
- Tiny Pinch (maybe 1/16 Teaspoon) Ground Ginger
- 2 Tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tablespoons Walnuts
- Fresh Pineapple
Directions:
Add all the ingredients except vanilla, maple syrup, and walnuts to a small pot and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Once most of the liquid has been absorbed and the oatmeal has reached your desired consistency, remove from the heat and add the vanilla and maple syrup. Transfer to a bowl and top with the walnuts and fresh pineapple.
That was a super delicious way to start the morning. I spent the morning doing some chores around the house, like vacuuming, laundry, dishes, etc. then before I knew it, my stomach was growling and it was 12:15. I wanted something quick and easy, so I just made myself another BLT since we had a crap ton of leftover tempeh bacon in the fridge. I had it with some of the leftover watermelon cubes and a couple of raspberries.
After that I spent the rest of the afternoon doing chemistry homework (boooo), taking breaks to play with Rory in the backyard because he had too much energy. I also made myself a smoothie because it sounded yummy and drank it while working on some homework. It ended up being one of the best smoothies I’ve ever made: orange, peach, mango. It sounds super simple, but I added a few things to take it to the next level…
I think I’ll just go ahead and go for 2 recipes in one post because the smoothie was that good.
Orange, Peach, Mango Smoothie
Makes a 2.5-3 Cup smoothie
Ingredients:
- 1 Orange, peeled with as much of the pith kept on as possible
- 1 Banana
- 1 Cup Frozen Peaches
- 1 Cup Frozen Mango
- 2 Tablespoons Raw Cashews
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 Tablespoon Ground Flax Seeds (or chia or hemp seeds)
- Handful Baby Spinach (Optional)
- Non-dairy milk to thin
Directions:
Add all ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until smooth. I used a frozen banana and did not add any more liquid because I wanted it to be more of an ice cream like texture. Feel free to add as much milk as you would like until it reaches your desired consistency.
I was the only one home for dinner, so I just popped a sweet potato in the oven for an hour and sautéed the last of our baby zucchinis and a few handfuls of spinach in a bit of garlic, soy sauce, and a teeeeeny bit of maple syrup. It turned out to be a pretty yummy dinner. And of course a few hours later I had another apple drizzled with coconut nectar. I ate it raw this time and liked it even better than when I heated it up!
I hope you’re still enjoying following along with April All Natural! If you would like to play along, remember to tag your posts with #AprilAllNatural!
-Hunter