Power Breakfast for Busy Mamas

 

I wanted to share a recipe that I love, and enjoy almost every day of the week!  Over-night oats have been pretty popular on Pinterest, and a lot of food bloggers have shared their versions of this power breakfast.  None of the recipes really struck a fancy with me until I came upon Gina's recipe on her blog Skinny Taste (a mega favourite!! bookmark it, y'all).

I love this breakfast because I can make it the night before.  All you mom's out there know how crazy mornings are, and feeding the kiddos comes first.  By the time the kids are content and fed (or eating their cereal in the livingroom with Thomas & Friends), I don't feel like making a nutritious breakfast for myself... I'd often just be scrambling to find my coffee grinder  and French press... ha!

I can grab the jar out of the fridge, and have it at the table, at the couch while I'm nursing Oscar, or even in the car if we're on our way somewhere and time got away on me (it always does).  It's nutrient packed, really filling, and super yummy.

Over-night Oats - adapted from Skinny Taste

In a regular Mason jar, combine:

1/4 cup Quaker quick oats

1/2 tbsp chia seeds

1/2 cup almond milk (vanilla or unsweetened)

1/2 a banana sliced into small pieces (one of us 5 eats the other half for night snack)

pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg

small squirt of agave or honey

1/2 cup of fresh/frozen fruit of your choice! My favorite is wild blueberries. Mango is great, too! I just use frozen mango chunks, defrost them in the microwave and cut the chunks into small pieces.  If using pumpkin butter, then use 2 tbsps mixed into the almond milk, and add a pinch of pumpkin pie spice.

Top with nuts, raisins, coconut, Hemp Hearts for added omegas... so many possibilities.

Shake that jar like a polaroid and set it in the fridge until morning!  

I have found that this power breakfast wakes me up better than a cup of Joe, and keeps me full for hours.  I also really like the texture of the chia seeds in there. But I'm a bubble tea person, so that might explain that... I hope you busy ladies give this breakfast a try! Here's to more energy!

xo holly

Style Inspiration: Françoise Hardy

Today I found myself drawing inspiration from Françoise Hardy. The French singer/actress showed a laid back, timeless style that appeals to me a lot.  Her care free hair, combined with cat eyeliner is right up my alley.

 


(image sources, google images, and Grey the Blog)

I would have loved to hang out with a young Françoise in Paris, in the late 60's, early 70's.
Who have you been drawing style inspiration from lately?
xo holly

To a Tea: Fall '12

Just stopping by to share some of my favorite teas for fall.  I drink tea daily, as I've blogged about before, and it remains a very positive part of my day.  I've simplified my tea collection recently, and am only keeping my favorites on hand (this will change with the seasons, I'm sure).  Keeping only a few teas on hand has made me enjoy each kind, even more.  If you are planning a trip to DAVIDsTEA, may I suggest you try the following...

Organic Stormy Night (black) - this tea reminds me of Mexican hot chocolate, and I love the coconut in it.  It's cinnamony, and warming.  I like waking up with it, or cozying up with a cup in the evening.

Quangzhou Milk Oolong - this tea has become my #1.  It's smooth, delicate, and delicious. I love re-steeping it (up to 4 times) throughout the day.

Jessie's Tea (rooibos) - this lavender tea is so good. It has coconut in it, which I'm a bit obsessed with right now, and it's caffeine free, so I love this tea as a night cap.  Very relaxing, great to unwind with.

Organic Hot Lips (green) - This tea is spicy! It's a good pick me up tea in the afternoon.  I love having a good green tea on hand, and Hot Lips is a great fall tea with it's warming qualities.

(first image from here, images of teas from davidstea.com)

>> Just wanted to say a quick thank you for the comments on my Get Real post.  I was overwhelmed with the positive response, and feel really blessed that I can relate to so many of my readers. I'm glad I decided to post it. THANK YOU!<<
xo holly

Get Real

This is me.......

Worn out, no shower/makeup, no photoshop, no "Walden" or "Sierra".

This is what I usually look like most days, if you drop by at any given moment during the week. Being a SAHM is not a fancy job, and I feel like giving a small glimpse into my real everyday life. No photoshop, no sugar coating. SOOC.

Blogging can be very narcissistic, and glossy, but I've been checking my heart lately, and I have a desire to be REAL to everyone around me.  Do I know who the real me is? Not always. Do I put on a happy face for my parents even though I feel terrible? You bet. Do I clean up my house before somebody comes over? Frantically. I have been thinking a lot about how others see me, and I want to be as real as possible. 

A few months ago, I took my camera around the house and snapped some photos... just a "from where I stand" kind of shoot from the hip sort of thing, a "Day in the Life" idea.  I wanted to do a post like this, then, but didn't have the guts.  I couldn't do it.  Today I found the courage, thanks to this strong desire to be real.  

Here's a little glimpse into a day at my house..

I found Delilah asleep on a pile of laundry in her room.. I was nursing Oscar and didn't get around to putting her down for her nap. 

 There aren't many days when I can see my counter top.

 It usually looks like this:

 Ugly pants and chipped toe nails, the usual.

 Comb? There's one around here somewhere...

 I can count how many times I've made the bed this year, on one hand.

 A small walking path in the bedroom...

 (this was pre-purge, so a lot of this is gone now, which feels AWESOME)

 Cold coffee. :P

 Unread magazines.

 Time outs. Somedays this chair gets a lot of visits.

 Delilah entertains herself with my contacts.. and can usually be found not wearing pants.

Sometimes, for the sake of a meal consumed in peace, the kids eat in the living room with cartoons.

 I post photos of fancy meals, and pretty plates, but honestly... we have a lot of grilled cheese around here... and sometimes they get burned.

 I usually post photos of Oscar with an adorable smile on his face, but he does cry.  Somedays I can't put him down, some nights he doesn't sleep...

See? I'm normal, and I'm working on not being ashamed of this daily life that we have.  It's ok.  I shouldn't be hard on myself, because I am trying my hardest, and I don't have to be perfect.  Why do mom's feel like they need to be perfect?  It's funny, sometimes people ask me "So like, what do you do all day?" or "Oh you're a stay at home mom now? Just wanted to take it easy, hey?" Easy.... I can easily say this is the hardest I've ever worked.  I can't even respond to those questions because they don't have time for the response. I usually say, "Yes, it's great to be home" and it really is.  Truthfully, it's wonderful.  It's just been really challenging to deal with feelings of guilt and shame.  Again, always a work in progress.  But at the end of each day, I am happy that I am at home, and that I get to take care of these kiddos.  The mess is worth it. I have the rest of my life to look put together.

Thank you for letting me get real with you.

Laughter, Leaves, & Ladybugs

Park days are fun, especially when there's piles of leaves so big you could hide in them.  We won't mind if old man winter takes his time before he gets here... this season is so fun!

A Proposal

Ryan was asked to fly a couple around for a sight seeing date yesterday, and what she didn't know was that it was staged for his proposal! To make a long story short, he asked Ryan to pretend that it was a flight for work and there was an "extra" so they could go for fun.  As soon as I heard what was up, I wanted to go along and take some candid photos! Ryan arranged for me to go along, and I was so excited to see this sweet proposal.

He had painted the words on the side of a hill, so Ryan would fly by at the time of the proposal.  I had the ring (!!!) and had to discreetly pass it to the backseat when he needed it.  It was so much fun! Of course, she said yes!

Aren't they cute?? 

It's definitely not something you get to witness everyday, and I was happy to be a part of it.  I still have the warm & fuzzies. ;) Hope you're all having a great weekend. xo

A carved pumpkin.

I bought a big pumpkin today, mostly because I wanted to roast the seeds, but after seeing this post, I decided it would be fun to carve it!  I asked the kids what image I should carve, but they didn't really have any feedback. It was Ryan who suggested Mickey, and the kids agreed that would be fun.  I'm a pretty big fan of the Mouse, myself.  ;)

The kids helped scoop out the seeds, and Delilah had fun mixing the insides pretending like she was baking something yummy. 

If you carve a pumpkin this season, you should definitely enter the contest over at A Beautiful Mess! There's a Kitchenaid Mixer to be won! I'm looking forward to seeing the winning photos!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I'm still full...

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend is here! It always creeps up on me.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of the year, though. I love the gatherings, the sweater weather, the good food... So many things to be thankful for.

Fall has been cut kind of short, as we've welcomed an early first snowfall today, but I'm hopeful that we'll get some more good autumn weather before the deep freeze.

 This short autumn has been a reminder of the importance to live in the moment, be present each day and enjoy it for what it is. Take it all in.. because the snow comes all too quickly.

The annual pumpkin trailer was set up a few days ago, in town, so I took the kids to snap a few photos in fun fall fashion.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends.