I Love My Microwave Omelet Maker + WIAW #4

How often do you use the microwave? I use it daily and it almost always involves my Microwave Omelet Maker. Not for omelets, but to make bread. Say what?!

I know, it sounds weird to me just reading it out loud, but it works so well! It’s similar to the fairly popular “Microwave Mug Cakes” that started popping up a few years ago, just cooked in an omelet maker. Here’s mine..

DSC_1414

This handy little kitchen tool is in the top 5 things I use every day. Right up there with the knife and my titanium spork! The breads I make vary depending on what’s left of my overnight oats mixture from the day before.

You see, I can inhale a container of plain Greek yogurt in 2 days, no problem. Once it’s almost empty, I use it to make different variations of overnight oats using oats (duh), peanut flour, plant protein powder, shredded coconut, chia seeds, greens powder, and stevia.

Instead of breakfast, I have these concoctions as treats/2nd dinner at night and maybe some after lunch, which is typically my first meal of the day. When the mixture is low, I then use it as my base to make a bread.

Confused? Let me run you through a typical cycle, starting with my almost empty container of Greek yogurt.

DSC_1389

From there, I fill it back up with all kinds of goodness. This one got mashed ripe banana….

DSC_1393

….oats….

DSC_1394

…..peanut flour, stevia, and chia seeds….

DSC_1401

…..along with a mix of water and almond milk to bring it all together.

DSC_1405

Basically, peanut butter banana overnight oats, and they’re awesome! What’s not awesome is when everything goes back down and I’m almost out of the peanut buttery goodness. But, no worries, this is when I make bread!

Since chocolate pairs perfectly with peanut butter and banana, I add unsweetened raw cocao powder to the dwindling oat mixture.

DSC_1395

I also add more peanut flour, sometimes coconut flour, and sometimes oat flour along with baking powder, more stevia, and egg whites to bring it all together.

DSC_1413

I find a butter knife to work best for my stirring needs and use it every time. It’s even handy for scraping every last bit of the delicious batter into my greased omelet cooker.

DSC_1417

I never have an exact microwave time, but have been doing anywhere from 6:30 to 7:15 depending on how full each side is. And then viola!!

DSC_1418

I have two half-moons of peanut butter banana chocolate bread. And it’s healthy at that! Plus, Avery, my our 16 month old, loves everything I make. I just cut it up into bites for her…

DSC_1420

….and she snatches them out of my hand as if I might take it back if she’s not quick enough.

One for me, none for you, dad.
One for me, none for you, dad.

And that’s that. I’ll have another full container of yogurt that will go down fast and I’ll repeat the process. Maybe with pumpkin puree, applesauce, or just extra oats and chia seeds.

If you haven’t used one, I say give it a try. It’s also great at making omelets if you’re wondering. Like this sweet potato and spinach NuttZo omelet.

DSC_1329

With that, lets move on to WIAW. Thanks to Jenn, for hosting this fun link-up for foodies everywhere!

*Update*: this week’s WIAW is actually being hosted by Meg over on her cool blog, Clean Eats, Fast Feets. Head on over and see what all the other foodies have on their plates for the week!

what I ate wednesday, WIAW

Mornings are pretty minimal with food intake for me, but Avery is always ready to go right when she wakes up. I try to wake up before her to at least have a batch of my microwave bread made and ready for her, but sometimes she has to wait. I’ll have a quick shot of matcha green tea powder followed by a giant cup of coffee while Avery downs some of mommy’s milk.

DSC_1463

I finally have the bread ready for Avery. Today it’s a protein pumpkin bread that she happily gobbles up.

DSC_1803

I just ordered these organic chestnuts from Amazon (a freaking case of 24 packs!) on a whim and have been snacking on them during the day. Avery even enjoys them, although it takes her a while to chew one.

DSC_1611

This is my first time to have chestnuts, and luckily I enjoy them. They’re great roasted (yes, on an open fire), as is, or mixed into salads. I like them with tuna or chicken salad for a cool new texture.

Lunch is a big bowl of steamed veggies with black beans and green onions on top. Oh yeah, and always plenty of cayenne; I like to sweat!

DSC_0961

Since I was still hungry, I snacked on a few different pieces of microwave bread, some brazil nuts, and raw celery and carrots.

DSC_0590 (2)

Yes, I’m using the lid of a bowl to double as a plate. Hey, it works, right?

Dinner, my biggest meal(s) of the day, started with salmon salad with steamed beets and broccoli, black garlic, celery, and 2 versions of my homemade sauerkraut. One was in a beet juice mixture and the other was infused with dill. I’ll let you guess which was which. 🙂

DSC_1962

Round 2 involved a kale banana smoothie with the leftover slices of pumpkin bread Avery didn’t eat.

DSC_0740

DSC_1804

I want my daughter to eat and all, but is it bad when I secretly hope she won’t finish everything just so I can have some too? Hope I’m not alone here!

Hope you have a great rest of the week! Happy Hump Day!

Do you have a special way of using your almost empty containers like yogurt?

Are you a fan of overnight oats?

Have you ever “baked” bread in the microwave?

Aaaannnnnddd, before I go, I have to let you know that if you’re a peanut butter lover, you NEED to try NuttZo if you haven’t already! Plus, if you go to their website and enter code liley15, you can save 15% off your order. 😉

Brilliant blog posts on HonestMum.com

BYOB with King Kong in Venice on Date Night

It’s a little known fact that King Kong happened happened to be in Venice at the same time Claude Monet was visiting. Yep, apparently as Monet was painting the famous Sunset in Venice while looking out from his room in the Hotel Brittania, the Italian Armed Forces were closing in on the giant ape.

sunset-in-venice

It was at this time, Monet was losing his eyesight from gray cataracts, so it’s hard to tell in his original painting. Maybe King Kong was on the other side of the church at the time. Who knows for sure? So there’s your history lesson for the day; you’re welcome.

Just like our last painting date, BYOB with Jellyfish on Date Night, my lovely wife and I went to Texas U Can Paint to recreate Monet’s Venice masterpiece while enjoying a few drinks. And, just like before, I chose scotch with Zevia for my drink of choice and Kelley had red wine.

We also had G-Ma watching Avery both times too. Thank you, G-Ma! It was only a couple hours, but man was it nice to be out and away with just my wife. You never realized how much you miss your spouse until you get some alone time with them.

Parenting is awesome, don’t get me wrong, but we need to make sure we make time for each other more often too. It’s vital for a healthy, happy relationship! Plus, I don’t make enough time to appreciate my beautiful wife who obviously deserves so much more than I give sometimes.

Kelley_Painting Date Night

Seriously, she make me smile…..a lot!

Our painting subject seemed simple enough, but like most artsy things go (for me at least), looks can be deceiving. Alcohol doesn’t help. We started off okay making brush strokes along with the instructor as we took sips of our drinks in between.

The sips caught up to us fast, and both of our paintings started to stray from the instructor’s as we took to filling in the city and its shadows on the river. But no worries, this is when I “remembered” King Kong was being tracked down in Venice and was actually hanging on the church across the water from Monet’s hotel room.

Poor Monet, losing his eyesight at such an exciting time is real shame. Working against the instructor’s guidance, I decided to help bring to life what Monet had missed on that beautiful evening; King Kong going face to face with a tank.

Monet with King Kong

Kelley gives it one thumb up. I’ll take it! I think my King Kong looks a little like a black Homer Simpson though, don’t you?

King Kong Close-Up

Painting aside, Kelley and I enjoyed our short time alone (with a big group of people), and both agree it needs to happen more often. Luckily, I was the winner of a gift card to come back for another paint class, so looks we need to plan another creative night together soon!

Date Night Monet Paintings

Maybe next time I’ll recreate that time Pablo Picasso was inspired by Godzilla’s destruction in one of his many cubist artworks. Not sure, but we’ll see.

It was short, but time with my wife is priceless. Thank you, G-Ma for watching our little hellion girl for our date night! And thank you, wife, for being you and all that you do to make our lifestyle work!

Do you ever go too long without spending time alone with just your loved one?

What places do you like to go together? Or is staying at home preferred?

Are you a fan of art?

The Dad Network

You Can’t Spell Catastrophe Without ‘Cat’

Yes, our cat played a small part in the weekend, but that wasn’t all. Just made for a fun title, don’t you think?

We actually had a pretty good weekend overall. On Friday, my squat day, I got to test out my new Soft Star Shoes doing one of the most intensive and best bang for your muscular buck exercises! I already train in minimal shoes, in fact, they’re called “Minimus”, as in New Balance Minimus. I’ve run marathons, sprinted, and lifted in them and have loved them, but the Soft Star Shoes give a true minimal feel.

DSC_1654

 

The less cushioning between your foot and the ground the better when it comes to leg-intensive lifting like dead lifts and squats since you need that ground feel for stability. All of the cushioning on most “athletic” shoes make it as if you’re trying to squat while standing on a pillow; not fun, or easy……….or safe!

The verdict? Soft Star delivers and excellent shoe for lifting! I loved how I felt secure and connected to the ground, and unlike my Minimus with a 4mm heel-to-toe drop, these have zero. I could feel how different the dynamics change the lift, but it was in a good way. Anyway, looking forward to my next squat day, and I’ll have a full Soft Star review soon.

Saturday started with a giant bowl of blueberry NuttZo chia oatmeal made for Kelley and Avery. In return, Kelley makes the coffee; my typical breakfast.

NuttZo Oatmeal

 

Kelley made an appointment for our her fat black cat (seriously, 17+ pounds), Lou, to get his annual shots. The cat and I have a mutual feeling of resentment, and I am no help when it comes to rounding him up in the cat carrier since he flees at the sight of me.

But, he hates the carrier and Kelley was having a difficult time chasing him around the house. For such a fatty, he can really move and squirm! Finally, I joined in at Kelley’s request (which she regretted soon after), and tried to litter-ally (ha ha) pounce on the svelte feline. I ended up with wads of cat hair on the couch, in the air, and all over me with several deep claw scratches on both arms. Fail.

Avery was following us around and watching in pure confusion at the whole ordeal, and started getting upset. Toddlers make so many things 10,000 times harder! What’s up with that?!

After getting Lou in the carrier once and having him jump right back out, Kelley and I were finally successful after pinning him in the closet and dropping him inside as I held the carrier upright.  The guy was panting hard; tongue out and loud as a dog. He was worn out, pissed, and probably hungry…….being fat and all.

Unfortunately, Kelley didn’t give him to some cat-loving person at the vet, but she did snap this pic of what looks like a cat in distress.

Lou at Vet

 

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate any animal, but for some reason, I just don’t have a great relationship with our cat and dog. I can’t pinpoint the exact reasoning, but I lack the bond. Since Avery, I’m even more anti-pet than before. That said, I still feed the animals and make sure Abby, our Golden Retriever, goes on a walk with us almost every day.

The rest of Saturday was spent doing random things inside and out, while our crazy toddler took over the house. At night, after Going Mom nursed Avery to sleep  and put her in her crib since she wouldn’t go to sleep, we finally watched The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay. Only a week after we originally planned, but we watched it nonetheless!

Stupid ending, or whatever you call it……we can’t wait until November for part 2, we want it NOW! Just like Veruca from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory wants that golden egg…

willy wonka

On Sunday, Kelley needed to run to Home Depot for a few bags of sand and tools to work on our back yard garden. I stopped at a car parts store to get oil to change in both of our cars (we both have Subaru Outbacks) while we were out.

As Kelley tended to the yard, Avery and I changed the oil. Although, she wasn’t too sure what was going on, she made it clear she did not like being next to a running car as it pulled inside the garage. I’m just glad she gave me smiles most of the time!

DSC_1667

So that was our weekend. No frills (besides the damn cat), and pretty pleasant. Oh, and I’ll share with you a recent pun I posted on Facebook….

Kelley and I are having a date night at a BYOB Paint Class tonight and G-Ma is coming over to spend time with Avery. We did this a while back where we painted a jellyfish and had a great time.

DSC_0120

Kelley’s was way better (on the right). I blame the scotch. Okay, I also suck at painting. This time it’s a Monet painting of a pretty sunset on the water. I’m bringing scotch again, so if I suck, at least I have something to blame besides my lack of artistry! We’ll see if it’s still pretty after I’m done with it. Tonight, Monet might be rolling in his grave for a while!

Happy Monday!