Upgrade Your Oatmeal!

For many of us, oatmeal is a great way to start your day. Heart healthy oats are now easier to prepare than ever and available for you in all sorts of different ways. 

Instant oatmeal, in self serve packets can be the choice for someone who is on the go and wants to just add water, pop in the microwave, stir and viola! You've got oatmeal. My favorite is to just add a little but of pure maple syrup, stir it up and yum! 

So when I came across a few fun ways to upgrade your oatmeal in the latest issue of "Eating Well" magazine, I was excited to try them out and share the concoctions with you! All of these start with 1 cup of cooked oatmeal.

Upgrade #1: Chocolate Banana

1/2 small banana

1 Tbsp. chocolate Hazelnut spread (I used Justins) 

Pinch of flaky Sea Salt 

I had this oatmeal this morning and LOVED IT. I added a bit of shredded coconut which made it super decadent. The heat of the oats melted the hazelnut butter and it spread around so evenly it was GREAT.  So much that I took a picture to show you what it looked like before I DEVOURED it. 

What do you think??

Upgrade #2: Coconut Chai Spice

3 Tbsp un-sweetened coconut milk beverage
2 Tbsp. toasted unsweetened coconut chips or flakes
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
Pinch of ground cardamom
Pinch of ground pepper

Upgrade #3: Fig & Ricotta

2 Tbsp. part-skim ricotta cheese
2 Tbsp. chopped dried figs
1 Tbsp. toasted sliced almonds
2 tsp. honey

Upgrade #4: Savory Cashew Curry

3 Tbsp golden raisins
2 Tbsp. toasted chopped cashews
1/4 tsp. curry powder


What are your favorite additions to your oatmeal?? Share with me in the comments!

Caprese Polenta Pizza

Life has been a bit crazy lately, January means that there's lots of hockey going on and I'm running around at games, practice, lifts, meetings, etc. It has made it really hard to dial in my nutrition and get to work in the kitchen. Luckily, I have my Shakeology around and I have been eating everything out of my pantry and fridge. Good thing I keep them both stocked with healthy foods!

Who doesn't love pizza? Seriously. I am in LOVE with pizza. Sometimes, I dream about it. I wish I was kidding. So today, when I had a hankering for a slice of deliciousness, I decided to make something at home, instead of ordering in!

Here's a sneak peak of the end product to wet your appetite. 

Have you guys ever cooked with polenta? It can come in a couple ways. Cooked and uncooked.
Cooked it looks like a log... I've seen it at Trader Joe's this way and made it baked and topped with olive oil garlic and some parmesan cheese. Yummmmmy.

Tonight, in order to make the polenta into my pizza crust, I needed to boil it with some milk, water and salt and lay it out on a baking sheet to cool.

Polenta meet people.... people meet polenta.

After letting it set for about 3 hours in the fridge, (you can let it cool up to 24 hours), bake it in the over at 450°F for about an hour or until the edges begin to brown and get all crispy.


While the polenta crust is in the oven, get the shallots and garlic cooking on the stove in some olive oil. Once those are ready add in the tomatoes and cook until they soften. I used heirloom cherry tomatoes because that's what I had and I love the different colors here.

Lets just take a moment to say hello to the cheese. How beautiful are you.... 

Now for my favorite part: MASHING the tomatoes!! Get in real good there with the back of your spoon and then cook a little bit longer to thicken. Make sure to season with some salt and pepper.

Spoon the sauce over the crust, add some sliced mozzarella cheese, and bake until nice and bubbly.


Then viola! Put on some basil. Cut into squares and eat up!

Watcha think? Would you try this pizza swap?

Here's a list of the actual ingredients:

2 tablespoons Olive Oil
3 cups 1percent milk
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 pints cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
3/4 lb fresh mozzarella, cubed
10 basil leaves coarsely torn


Do you have any fun pizza swaps? Let me know in the comments below!