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    Food & DIY

    Berry, Almond and Chocolate Overnight Oats

    February 11, 2015

    My goal this year is to get back on track with my health and develop/relearn better habits.  I used to be the type of person that woke up at 6 A.M. in the morning to workout and I always made time to eat a healthy breakfast. I’m not quite sure what triggered me to change that routine last year, but at some point in time I did. This change eventually took a toll on my body and, last year, I was sick more often than I had ever been before. Although I hope to eventually be able to wake up early enough to workout and eat breakfast at home, I know that I don’t have that discipline to do that right now.  One of the changes that has helped me get back on track–at least when it comes to eating breakfast in the morning–is preparing breakfast that I can take with me to work. Overnight oats have been a great addition to my diet because they make for an easy and delicious on-the-go breakfast, and I like that it’s easy to experiment with different ingredients and proportions. Today I’m sharing one of my favorite overnight oats combinations:

     

    Berry, Almond and Chocolate Overnight Oats
    Ingredients
    3/4 cup of dried oats
    1/2-3/4 cup of mixed berries (I used blueberries, blackberries and raspberries)
    A handful of sliced almonds
    A handful of chocolate chips
    1/2 cup to 3/4 cups of almond milk
    1 Tbsp of agave syrup (optional)
    To prepare this overnight oats recipe, simply pour all the dry ingredients into a half-pint mason jar, top off the jar with almond milk and agave syrup, and then store the mixture in the fridge overnight. Then simply grab the mason jar from the fridge on your way out the door in the morning. I really wasn’t kidding when I said this is an easy breakfast to prepare! You can enjoy overnight oats warm or at room temperature, but I like to eat this particular recipe when it’s cold. You don’t want the berries to get too pruny by popping them in the microwave.
    I hope that you enjoy this recipe. Now that I have a bit more time, I’m going really make an effort to include more recipe and DIY posts. Please let me know if there is anything in particular that you would like to see on the blog. As always, thank you for reading and have an amazing rest of the week!
    xoxo,
    Helen
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    Food & DIY

    Chocolate and Coconut Chia Seed Pudding

    October 8, 2014
    Photos by Sarah Veyna
    I’ve been having extreme sugar cravings lately, and have been eating tons and tons of chocolate. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, that is mostly what I have been eating, and I realize that all the candy bars that I have been devouring are not necessarily rich in nutrients. That is why I’ve been looking for dessert ideas that are both healthy and delicious. This past weekend I made chia seed pudding for the first time, by adapting a recipe that I found on the back of the Trader Joe’s Chia Seeds packet. I was really surprised at how delicious it tasted, as well as how easy it was to make. Another great thing about this dessert is that it is a great way for you to get your daily dose of fiber and Omega 3s. And, did I mention that it’s also vegan? Keep on reading if you want to learn how to make this delicious recipe.
    Adapted from Trader Joe’s Chia Seed’s Recipe
    INGREDIENTS:
    1/2 a cup of chia seeds
    2 cups of vanilla coconut milk
    1/3 of a cup of agave syrup
    1/4 of a cup of cocoa powder
    Shredded coconut (Optional)
    Combine 1/2 cup of chia seeds, 1/3 of a cup of agave syrup, and 1/4 of a cup of cocoa powder in a large bowl. Pour 2 cups of vanilla coconut milk and stir. Make sure to mix all the ingredients well enough, so that there aren’t any chunks of cocoa powder left in the mixture.  Put the mixture in the fridge for 2-3 hours, and stir occasionally. Before you go ahead and serve the pudding, wait until the chia seeds expand and the mixture thickens. Once the pudding is good to go, you can add shredded coconut or chocolate flakes, and then enjoy! It’s that easy!
    —-
    If you’re wondering why I’ve been craving so much dessert, it’s probably because these past few weeks have been very busy for me. This week, in particular, has been pretty intense for me in terms of work, since we have a big event coming up on Saturday. I can’t wait until it’s over and I finally have time to breathe. The good thing is that I’m taking some time off from work next week, so I’ll have time to rest. I was kind of bummed at first, because the main reason that I’m taking time off is because I need to get my car fixed. But since I always talk about  how much I hate driving, I’m hoping that being without a car for a couple of days will enable me to rediscover my love for public transportation. I’m really committed to getting out of the house during that time, and discovering new and cool places. If any of you have any suggestions of cool places in L.A. that you can get to taking either the metro or bus, please let me know! I’d love to hear all of your suggestions.
    xoxo,
    Helen Grace

     

    Food & DIY

    Vegan Mixed Berry and Caramel Crumble

    May 19, 2014
    Even though I’m usually not a fan of sweets other than chocolate, recently I’ve had a major craving for pastries and baked goods. I think that I have Instagram and Pinterest to blame for my newfound sweet tooth, since I’m constantly being bombarded with pictures of delicious food over social media. Unfortunately, these days the weather in California is way too hot for me to even think about turning on the oven in my kitchen. In order to curve my craving for sweets, this weekend I decided to adapt a recipe for a Vegan Jewel Fruit Tart with Caramel Filling that I had made a while back for my friends’ New Year’s party. I love that this recipe is perfect for hot weather because it is super easy to make and your refrigerator takes the place of an oven.
    As you can probably tell from the title of this post, my adaptation didn’t turn out quite as I expected. As I was experimenting with making the crust, I realized that the mixture that I had made had a more crumbly texture than the one in the original recipe.  Since this blog is all about experimenting, instead of starting all over, I decided to keep the crust as is in order to see what I came up with. The result was this delicious Vegan Mixed Berry and Caramel Crumble that I now have the pleasure of sharing with you.
    VEGAN MIXED BERRY AND CARAMEL CRUMBLE
    INGREDIENTS:
    CRUST/CRUMBLE BASE
    2 cups of walnuts
    1/2 cup of shredded coconut
    1 and 1/2 cups of pitted dates
    CARAMEL MIXTURE
    1/4 cup of almond butter
    1/4 cup of maple syrup
    1/4 cup of melted coconut oil
    1/2 tsp of cinnamon
    1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
    TOPPING
    Fresh of frozen berries of your choice
    INSTRUCTIONS:
    1. Blend 2 cups of walnuts, 1/2 cup of shredded coconut, and 1 and 1/2 cups of pitted dates in a food processor until the mixture forms a paste-like texture.
    2. Pour the mixture unto a greased pan and press it against the bottom of the pan. Refrigerate this for 2 hours to allow the crumble base to harden.
    3. To make the caramel mixture, blend 1/4 cup of almond butter, 1/4 cup of maple syrup, 1/4 cup of coconut oil, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract until smooth. Then, pour the mixture over the walnut and date crust.
    4. When ready to serve, place fresh or frozen berries on top of the mixture (If you let the berries sit on top of the crumble base for too long, the mixture might get soggy). You can serve the berry crumble alone, or with a side of ice cream.
    I hope that you like this recipe and that you find time to make it at home. If you do decide to make this at home, please leave me a comment and let me know how it turns out.
    Sincerely,
    Helen Grace