It's not for another week, but in one more week, sixteen I will be!!!  That means that this is probably my last post I'll do when I'm 15... wow, time goes way too quickly!!

So first off, I promised you guys that I would give you this recipe:

Peanut Buster Oats

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 to 1 cup water
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 heaping tablespoon chocolate chips
1 tablespoon almond milk
1/2 to 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup (or honey or agave)
2 heaping tablespoons roasted peanuts

Directions:
Combine the oats, water, and almond milk together in a small pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer until the oats are creamy.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.  While the oats are cooking, combine the chocolate chips and one tablespoon almond milk in a small saucepan, and turn heat onto low.  Stir frequently until the chips are melted, and stir in the maple syrup.  Now comes the fun part!  Put half the oats in a tall glass, follow with half the chocolate fudge sauce, and half the peanuts.  Repeat and eat!!!



I would take this over a real peanut buster parfait any day!

Here's another breakfast that I ate a while ago, but didn't get a chance to put in my last post:

Chocolate Raspberry Oats

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 to 1 cup water
1/2 cup almond milk
1 small (or large ;) chocolate bar 
1/2 cup frozen raspberries, set out at room temperature for at least 10 minutes
A handful of roasted peantus (optional)

Directions:

Combine the oats, water, and almond milk together in a small pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer until the oats are creamy.  Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate bar and then the raspberries.  Top with peanuts and chow!!


Chocolate + raspberry.  You really can't ask for much more.

Moving on...
At about one o' clock last Saturday, a craving hit me.  "A craving for what?" you ask.  Well, a craving to make some cookies!!  I knew that I just wouldn't be happy until some cookie dough was sitting in my stomach (oh, and I planned to make a few baked cookies too ;)  As soon as I knew cookies were on the agenda, I flew over to Nicole's blog because, um, she is a cookie genius. :D  I quickly settled on her Chocolate-PB-Chocolate Chip Dough Balls as I had been dying to make some myself!!!

THE BEST COOKIES EVER!!!  And I mean EVER!  Soft, chocolaty, peanut buttery, and beyond incredible all rolled into one!!  I halved the recipe because I didn't have enough chocolate chips, but I wish I had gone out to buy more chocolate chips so there would still be some little chocolate gems left.  My whole family loved them, and they are officially my go-to cookie recipe!  (And they work beautifully with whole wheat pastry flour - just saying)

What else was tasty this past week?  The following plate of food:

Steamed broccoli, snap peas, carrots, and water chestnuts, barley, wild rice, and mushroom "meatballs."  Mmmm.... my favorite part was the barley!  I loooove barley but don't eat it nearly enough due to how lengthy the cooking time is :(

I also had the most incredible post-workout snack this past week!  Try not to drool...

Does that look amazing or what?!

Banana Toast

Ingredients:
1 banana scramlette (I added 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter)
1 piece of sliced bread, toasted (I used Rudi's Nut and Oat loaf)
A handful of chocolate chips
Almond milk, for drizzling

Directions:
Top the piece of toasted bread with the warm banana scramlette.  Sprinkle on the chocolate chips and drizzle with almond milk.


I'm definitely making this again SOON.  It was that incredible!!  And I think it would make a perfect breakfast!

Have any of you guys ever tried peanut butter chips?  If not, fix that right away!!  I found these ones sitting on the shelf at Whole Foods and since I can't find peanut flour anywhere, I bought them to console me ;)  And they sure did do the trick (although I still am on the peanut flour search)  I enjoyed the chippers a top some rolled oats along with some regular 'ole peanut butter (there's no such thing as too much peanut butter in my world ;)

Love in a bowl!
Some other meals I love:

Who says oatmeal is just for breakfast?  I enjoyed a sweet potato with sunbutter + cinnamon, steamed broccoli and zucchini, fresh tomatoes, and of course the oatmeal for dinner one night (and somehow chocolate chips made their way onto the scene - how did that happen? ;)

And one morning for a pre-(2)tests breakfast, I had a protein packed meal starring oatmeal, Greek yogurt, and an egg.  And of course berries because I eat berries every day :D

Last but definitely not least is Katie's Carrot Cake in a Bowl topped with cinnamon and raw macadamia nuts (I don't know about you guys, but I absolutely adore raw macadamia nuts)

So as soon as you get done making Katie's Cake Batter Pizzert, you HAVE TO make her Carrot Cake in a Bowl.  Yes, it's an order ;)  But as soon as you've taken one bite of the amazing carroty goodness, you are going to thank me for forcing you.  I promise.  :) :) :)
A long side the carrot cake, I had my usual green tea and 8 oz of some greens:

Green tasting?  No.  Delicious tasting?  Ohhhh yes!!

Well, that's all I have for you guys for now!  Have an amazing weekend everyone!  Next time I talk to you guys, I will probably be 16... ahhhh!!!

<3

Hiiiiii lovely people!!!  I hope you're all doing fabulously well!  I missed you all SO, SO, SO much!!!  And thank you so much for understanding about the ACT.  All your support means so much to me!

Cherry Cream Oats
(Using Katie's Blended Grain Technique)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup water
1/2 cup almond milk (plus another 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup thawed frozen cherries
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Coconut butter
Chocolate chips (yes, they're mandatory ;)
And I think that's everything (I made this a while ago)

Directions:
Cook the oats in the water and 1/2 cup almond milk until creamy, and then blend away with the remainder of the almond milk (the 1/4 cup), the cherries, and vanilla extract.  Pour into a bowl and top with coconut butter and chocolate chips.


Cherry "pudding" in a bowl!  It really doesn't get much better.  Of course, the real credit goes to Katie.  Really, how does she come up with such amazing ideas as blending oats?! That's just plain genius!!

Next... its another Katie meal!

Not to be bossy or anything, but if you haven't made Katie's Cake Batter Pizzert yet, go make it right NOW!!!  You won't be disappointed!  It was pretty much the best thing ever and tasted even better then real cake batter :D  

I also enjoyed this yummy parfait one morning:

Made by layering chopped mango, rolled oats, and unsweetened shredded coconut, drizzling the whole thing with almond milk, and then sprinkling the top with cinnamon, the parfait was tasty and refreshing!!  It came from one of my favorite little books, Raw Energy.

This pesto omelet also made its way into one of my breakfasts:

Pesto Mushroom Omelet

Ingredients:
1 whole egg + 1 egg white
Butter (for sauteing)
2 button mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
A large handful of spinach
Freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons pesto

Directions:
Melt the butter in a non-stick skillet.  Add the mushrooms and scallions and saute until they begin to brown.  Add the spinach and cook until wilted.  Beat the egg, egg white, and pepper together in a small bowl and the pour it into the pan.  Cook for a few minutes and the flip over and cook the other side for about another minute.  Fill with pesto.


I also considered putting goat cheese in it, but I didn't have any (really, what is this world coming to?!)  But it was still fabulous, and I'm already craving another one!

Let's seeeee..... ah yes!  Olivia's Tahini Chocolate Chip Oatmeal!

Awwww.... that was too ridiculously amazing!!!  I want it again RIGHT NOW!  And as a matter of fact, I had it again for dinner last night only I used carob chips instead of chocolate chips (also incredibly delicious)!  If you haven't tried the chocolate tahini combo yet, you must!  And I highly recommend Olivia's recipe! (We have yet another genius among us :)

Oh, I tried my first frozen waffles!

They may have been my first, but they definitely won't be my last!!  Especially when topped with almond butter and chocolate chips (almond butter + waffles = heaven)

Another eat over the last few weeks:

I think that this recipe will be for another day (although its one of my favorites!)  But doesn't that just make your mouth water?!  It was one of the best breakfasts ever (yep, its a breakfast, not a dessert - although it was good enough to be!)

And its another Katie recipe!

This time, I present her Pineapple Stir Fry.  Although in my case, it was more of a mango stir fry, and I also added some fresh cilantro and served it with brown rice couscous.  To make this a true Katie-inspired meal, chopsticks were definitely involved.  Needless to say, it was a meal that made my taste buds dance like stars, and they're already begging me to make this dish again!

Finally (at least for this post), I made Heather's Indian-Spiced Teff Pancakes in celebration of Pancake Sunday:

Ok, these were pretty amazing.  Really, if you haven't tried teff flour, try it.  If you haven't tried Heather's pancakes, try them.  The teff flour did have a different flavor, but I really liked it!  And the spices in Heather's pancakes complemented the teff flavor perfectly!!  Just plain perfectly! :D  I drizzled mine with coconut butter and peanut butter thinned with water.  It was a breakfast of champions!  Here they are again, only this time in the light box:

Wow, Alex.  Back up a bit.  What's this about a light box?  What are you talking about?  Well, this is what I'm talking about:

Yep, I made a light box!!!  I was SO excited and started experimenting right away!

Those are Katie's Lil Lemon Poppies (SO cute and very tasty - although I don't recommend using chickpea flour... it accidently made its way in and it wasn't a meant to be combination; just follow Katie's directions though, and you will end up with best lemon poppy seed muffins ever!)  And some other random pictures:

Quite the difference, huh?


And look at my avocado seed!!!

Two months later and look at it grow!!  Its root is at least two inches lond!

I'm so sorry for the novel-like post.  I didn't even get show you guys everything I wanted to!

Well, I guess I better get to studying.  But even through all this studying, I've managed to keep a smile on my face! (I love playing with black and white! :)

Talk to you later!!  Love you guys! <3