Ahh…Fall, my favorite time of year! While I love the summer, boating and the more (seemingly) relaxed pace of summer, I absolutely love the fall. The crisp air, the gorgeous colors, the idea of reaping what has been sown, children going back to school:-)…I just love it!
With the coming of fall the pace of life seems to pick up again and there is the frenzy of getting kids off to school, after school activities, rushing here and there and time just seemingly flying by! The Halloween stuff is out in the stores and in 4 weeks the Christmas stuff will be out!
At this time of the year it’s very easy to fall into a pattern of just grabbing whatever to eat, letting life control of us rather than the other way around.. and we all know in order to be at our peak performance and have increased energy and productivity~well, we need to fuel our bodies and mind.
Ok, first things first. One of the most important things you can do is to create and prepare a plan. First off you need to create a schedule that works for YOU. It’s crucial to remember that there is not a “one size fits all”…what works for me may not work for you.
So for example-I sit down on Sunday nights with a cup of coffee, curled up on the couch and plan out my week until the next Sunday. It generally doesn’t take me more than 15-20 minutes or so and then I have a “recipe” for the week. Can things change….of course! The key is flexibility and adaptability. Writing things down and actually “seeing” them gives you a much clearer picture of where you’re headed. So how do you do this?
First ask yourself: What is my biggest focus for the upcoming week? Personally, Professionally, Purpose…and the most important one…YOU! Make sure that you are making you a priority in your plan. Once you can answer that question, creating a plan becomes much easier!
Now…for me one of the most important pieces of a plan is PREPARE. As I start creating my plan, I can see for example, that this week mornings are going to be very busy. Now I have learned that when I’m on a tight schedule or rushing around, I don’t eat well. So, I see that I need to have a plan in place so I don’t grab a giant bagel or worse yet, not eat at all and be starving by 10:00 am; which leads to me eating junk.
One of the things I like to do is cook breakfast on Sundays. Sometimes big hearty breakfasts that are a splurge, but generally I make healthy things in a large quantity that I can then put in the fridge and heat up easily without a lot of fuss or time. One of my very favorites is Baked Oatmeal. I have this sort of weird texture thing and I cannot eat regular oatmeal. I’ve tried it a bazillion ways and I can’t do it unless it is baked. It has a much firmer texture and an almost granola like quality that I love…and it’s incredibly healthy!! So below you will find my recipe for baked oatmeal…enjoy!
Baked Oatmeal
1 cup applesauce
1 cup sugar alternative (Splenda, Truvia, Stevia, whatever you like; I use Splenda) or 1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
3 cups quick oats
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup milk of choice (I love almond milk)!
Preheat oven 350 degrees. Spray a 13×9 pan with nonstick spray.
Cream applesauce, sugar and eggs together. Add all other ingredients and mix. Pour into pan. Bake for 35 minutes-40 minutes. That’s it! Dish it up with a sliced banana and some skim milk…YUM!
***I like to sprinkle sliced almonds on top for some nutty crunch. Sometimes I’ll throw some craisins in the mix too.
******The original recipe uses oil for the applesauce, regular sugar and whole milk…if you prefer, but I don’t think you’ll miss them!
Now, I have a breakfast that I have leftovers for, so all I have to do on a busy morning is warm up a piece in the microwave with some skim milk for 40 seconds and I have a great hot breakfast that keeps me fueled for hours! ENJOY!
Let me know how you like it. It’s a pretty versatile recipe, so please share any tweaks and additions!
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