Click here to pin this Strawberry Almond Oatmeal Bites recipe!

I can’t believe this is my first post of 2017! I decided I needed a bit of a breather in January, some time to regroup after a month of helping my littlest guy recover from a tonsillectomy and my biggest guy (my husband) recover from a shoulder/rotator cuff surgery. I’ll admit, it was nice to take a break from worrying about picking up my camera and just focus on cooking for my family. My head is always spinning with new recipe ideas, as well as trying to figure out what to make for dinner that I honestly enjoyed just making recipes from cookbooks, friends and my blog without thinking too much of it.

One of the things I’m trying to get better at is making healthier snacks available for my kids to take in the car on their way to basketball or volleyball practices. We are full on entrenched in sports right now and spend many afternoons and evenings trekking back and forth between gyms. It seems like my kids are ALWAYS hungry and I’ve been trying to be more mindful about what they are snacking on and making sure they are eating more than just pretzels or crackers (it’s hard!). One thing I know for sure, anytime I make snacks like these oatmeal bites, quinoa bites or egg muffins, they are the go-to snack and don’t last very long. Seeing my kids choose those first is motivation enough to get myself into the habit of making quality portable snacks more often.

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Summer food truly does make me happy. Living in Florida, I do feel lucky that our summer food season is already among us with beautiful and colorful fruits and veggies already popping up in the grocery stores and produce markets. I am always more inspired by warm weather produce, mostly because when it comes to cooking, I admittedly tend to have a lazier approach and enjoy fresh, simplistic recipes that are fruit and veggie heavy – think salads, smoothies & anything that can be cooked on the grill.

I’m excited to be partnering up with Produce For Kids today to help promote their new summer e-cookbook, Simply Summer: 20 Fresh Cookout Recipes – this e-cookbook is now available so be sure to get your free copy! Today’s Peach Pie Smoothie recipe is from Simply Summer and it showcases one of my favorite summer fruits – peaches!

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Let’s talk about breakfast. I have always been in the “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” club and I can honestly say that if I miss my breakfast it really impacts the rest of my day in so many ways. Lately I’m noticing that I am not getting around to eating my morning meal until way later in the morning (closer to lunchtime sometimes!) and it’s becoming a bit of a bad habit for me. I’m making a huge effort to change that.

On the days that my kids ask for oatmeal, I am starting to make myself these refrigerator oats. What I love about refrigerator oats is that they can be ready to eat whenever you are (well, for the most part – they do need to sit in the fridge for about an hour). When I’m prepping my kids’ hot oatmeal I scoop out some oatmeal in a bowl for myself. While they are eating, I finish preparing mine with almond milk and stick in in the fridge for later. As long as it sits in the fridge for about an hour the oats will absorb most of the milk and have a slightly firm, nutty texture that I really love. Once it gets to this point it’s ready for all the fixins’ which for me is a spoonful of peanut butter, chopped banana and fresh or frozen berries (if using frozen I prefer blueberries). You can sprinkle some cinnamon on there too! A dollop of your favorite yogurt would be a nice topper too. With all the fruit and peanut butter I don’t feel the need to add any sweetener but if you do go ahead and drizzle a little agave, honey or pure maple syrup (or whatever sweetener you like).

I’ve been pretty excited about my refrigerator oats lately. It’s a nice change from eggs, it’s easy to prep (you just need to remember) and they are forgiving, meaning you can forget about them and come back later or take them with you if you have to run out the door. Since I never know when baby boy is going to let me have breakfast this has definitely become a breakfast I’m enjoying. Not to mention it’s not such a shabby way to kick start the day!

Refrigerator oats for the win! 🙂

Refrigerator Oats with Berries and Banana

Ingredients:

• 1/4 heaping cup old fashioned oats or Coach's Oats (see note in post on Coach's Oats)
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
• chopped banana
• fresh berries (or frozen blueberries)
• sprinkle of cinnamon or sweetener of your choice, optional
• dollop of your favorite yogurt, optional

 

Directions:

1. In a cereal bowl, combine oats, chia seeds and almond milk. Place in refrigerator and let sit for one hour. Most of the milk will be absorbed.
2. When oats are ready, stir in your peanut butter and top with banana and berries (or fruit of choice!) Drizzle with sweetener and add yogurt if using.

Note: My all time favorite oats are Coach’s Oats. The best way to describe them is a cross between steel cut and old fashioned oats. They cook up quick and have more of a grainier texture than regular oatmeal, which I love. I discovered them a few years ago when I came across a sample of them and also started seeing them mentioned on other blogs. I have only found them at Costco, but I’m sure that Whole Foods or other natural foods stores carry them as well. My Costco doesn’t have them anymore so I’ve been ordering them from Amazon.

There are Amazon affiliate links in this post.

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Hard to believe, but this week marks Aggie’s Kitchen’s 5 year anniversary! Yep, it’s true, I’ve been posting recipes to this little space on the internet since June 3, 2008. It all started with hitting “Create Blog” on blogspot, then writing Snoop Bloggy Blog, proclaiming my favorite cookbook, then sharing my first and second recipe posts – all in the same day. Yes, I guess you could say I was a little bit excited about this whole blogging thing. 🙂

Blogging has changed SO much in 5 years. It’s hard to keep up with at times, but it’s even harder to imagine my life without it. It’s fun to go back and read old posts, see how much my kids have grown up (crazy – my daughter was just barely over the age of 1 when I started, and my son was 3! They were total babies!!), and see all the food that I’ve cooked up in the meantime. Every time I go back and read older posts, I get hit with the feeling of exactly why I started this blog and what has kept me writing it – the food. I love food, the healthier the better! And I love even more the connection with others that love good food just as much. 🙂

(Hard to imagine these two ever this little … photo taken in Sanibel Island, Summer 2008 – Gina had just learned how to walk that summer!)

In celebration of the blog turning 5, and to thank everyone that has been reading over the years – as well as new readers – I wanted to have fun and host some special giveaways throughout the month. I’ll be giving away some items that I love and use frequently in my kitchen – starting with my beloved Blendtec blender.

I first got my Blendtec back in August, 2011 and have used the heck out of it since then.

My Blendtec sits on my counter and gets used almost every day. We make mostly smoothies and whole juices in it, as well as pesto, hummus (using the Twister jar) and lots of salsa.

The other night, my friend Liz mentioned she was craving and about to make herself a Chocolate Malt. As soon as she mentioned it, I started craving the same and thinking about a “faux” Frosty I used to make back in the day when I was on the South Beach diet. It had been so long since I’ve made it, and after hearing about Liz’s version with Ovaltine Chocolate Malt powder, I knew I had to try it – immediately.

This fake out Chocolate Malted Frosty did not disappoint. It hit the spot, and will be making an appearance many a night this summer when I’m craving something sweet, I can guarantee you that.

Skinny Malted Frosty Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
• 2 heaping tablespoons Chocolate Malt Ovaltine
• 1 teaspoon cocoa powder (optional, for extra chocolatey flavor)
• 2 handful of ice (or a cup of crushed ice)

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to your blender and blend until smooth.

Notes

Using My Fitness Pal I calculated this to be 175 calories, 2.8 g fat, 14 g protein

A high protein, somewhat low calorie dessert you can feel good about. Inspired by The Lemon Bowl's Chocolate Malt and adapted from this South Beach Style Frosty Recipe

Now for the giveaway!

Giveaway Details:

Blendtec Total Wildside Blender (value $454.95) plus an additional Twister jar (Black, White or Red – your choice!)

(Blender is factory reconditioned, as the one I received is)

Starts today, Wednesday June 4 and ends Wednesday, June 12 at 12 noon (EST)

Sorry, giveaway open to US readers only. Winner will be chosen randomly using Pick Giveaway Winner plugin application. Winner will be notified by email and has 48 hours to respond before another winner will be chosen.

To enter into the giveaway:

Leave a comment on this post saying hello and telling me how long you’ve been reading Aggie’s Kitchen!

Additional Entries can be earned by:

(leave a separate comment after you complete each item, each individual comment will count as an entry)

1. “Like” Aggie’s Kitchen on Facebook. (if you already a fan, let me know, that counts as an entry!)

2.  “Like”  Blendtec on Facebook.

3. Follow @AggiesKitchen on Twitter (if you already follow, let me know, that counts as an entry!)

4. Follow @Blendtec on Twitter

5.  Share about giveaway on Twitter: “I want to win a Blendtec from @aggieskitchen and #Blendtec! http://su.pr/1hmU0M ”

6. Share about giveaway on Facebook with link to this post.

7. Subscribe to Aggie’s Kitchen posts to come to your inbox or in your reader.

8. Follow Aggie’s Kitchen on Pinterest

(note: if you are commenting on Aggie’s Kitchen for the first time, it may take some time to see your comment appear. Thanks for your patience!)

Disclosure: Blendtec is providing the blender for this giveaway.

The post Celebrating 5 Years of Blogging! Skinny Malted Frosty Recipe appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

There definitely was a time in my life, not long ago, that I was not very familiar with making smoothies at home. I would drink my smoothies out, BIG smoothies to be honest, and then was horrified to find out that the smoothie I was drinking had around 500-700 calories in it. Eek.

Sorry, but I’d rather eat pizza for those kind of calories. Or a bag of potato chips.

Of course, I could have always just ordered a smaller smoothie, but whatever…I just started making my own at home instead.

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…whatever you call them, these smoothies are g o o d for you.

I’ve been hooked on green smoothies for a couple of years now. I discovered them on a couple of healthy living blogs that I follow and after finally getting the courage to try one they have become a permanent member of the breakfast and snack category in this household.

My husband and son enjoy these smoothies as well…the only one who hasn’t bought into them yet is my daughter. I offer her one every time I make them and am sure one day she’ll come around. Last year, I set up a smoothie bar in my son’s PreK class room and was impressed when 18 out of 19 preschoolers voted this smoothie their favorite over a berry smoothie (we made both kinds in the class and had a taste test, then vote). The kids loved them, and their green mustaches too.

Enjoy your green smoothie for breakfast with a hard boiled egg and whole wheat toast, or for a post workout snack. I love having them in the late afternoon to hold me over before dinner.

I’ve seen them made a couple of different ways, but I pretty much make them the same every time. Fresh spinach is key, and so are ripe frozen bananas. I always have a ziplock full of banana chunks in the freezer…they are perfect for sweetening up smoothies and making them nice and chilled but not watered down with ice. Now, if you don’t have any frozen bananas, no worries, just add 2-3 ice cubes to the mix.

Best served immediately. Enjoy!

Green Smoothie

Yield: makes 1 smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain or unsweetened vanilla almond milk (go with vanilla if you have more of a sweet tooth)
• 1-2 handfuls fresh spinach leaves
• 1/2 ripe frozen banana (if your banana is not frozen, add 2-3 ice cubes)
• 1-2 tablespoons ground flaxmeal

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients in blender and blend for 1 minute.

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