Yummy!

Well, I was so excited for tonight! I signed up to take a class this semester called Perspectives. I have heard of this class, but I had never had the chance to take it and it finally was available in Austin! So tonight was our first class. They offer classes on Monday nights and Tuesday nights-but the tuesday night class is apparently super far from me. Class started at 6:30 and at 6:25 I was stuck on Mopac and Westover...which basically means I sat a in traffic for an hour and only made it about a mile from my house. Needless to say, I didn't make it to my class tonight. Hopefully I can just listen to the podcast of it and be able to go next week! But, since I ended up having a night at home I didn't plan for, I used it for good! I cooked! Today at the house where I nanny, I saw and interesting concoction in the fridge. I immediately emailed my boss and she emailed back the recipe entitled "Cinnamon Oatmeal apple bake". Hey-o! I also noticed she was simmering something in her crock pot and when I looked it was a beautiful chili...which also inspired me to make that! So I tweaked both recipes and made them healthy and so so stinkin good. The above pics are of me and my bake as well as the bake itself and the chili I also was inspired to make!

Here is the bake recipe:

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

1.5 cups of old fashioned oats

1 huge honey crisp apple cut up

1 huge banana (i had it, so i thought, why not?)

2 teaspoons of flax seeds

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

1 cup of sliced almonds

1 table spoon of cinnamon

1/3 cup of non fat greek yogurt

mix it all together and put it in a baking dish (spayed with pam) and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool and then cut up. So good for breakfast!!

(4 points plus per serving. 12 servings per dish)

Here's my chili recipe:

1 large can black beans

1 large can kidney beans

1 regular can pinto beans

1 can spicy rotel

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 can corn

and then I also added 2 large portobella mushrooms diced (if you are a texture person, skip this. It is kinda weird. But my love affair with the portos must endure...)

and 2 cans full of water

a generous amount of garlic salt

cayenne pepper to taste

cumin to taste

bring to a boil and then let simmer for 45 minutes...so good

(6 point plus per serving. Serving size about 1.5 cups)

It was so easy and killer yummy.

I think as we seek to honor our bodies by eating food that is good for us, we should make it yummy. Healthy does not mean nasty. It can. For sure. I remember my mom telling me that old school weight watchers made you eat liver once a week and there is a recipe for tuna chili. Woof. barf. sick-nasty. So thankful that we have delicious healthy and I love learning to cook and getting to create new amazing food!

I promise to share what I learned from Chuck tomorrow! Promise!