In The AM

Mornings are a bit of a struggle around this house. Especially seeing as how right now it's about 5 degrees out and dark at 7AM. Nothing makes you want to get up from your warm cozy bed more than a cold dark world, said no one ever. Seeing as how both of us end up squeezing in as much sleep/bed time as possible, there is usually little to no time left for breakfast. That's why when I found these off of Pinterest from Monica at The Yummy Life (ps you're a saint), I hopped on that bandwagon in two seconds flat. A: they're good for you. B: they taste fantastic. C: they're SO easy. D: grab and go, baby.

The first ones I made were not fantastic. Triple berry and pineapple do not work together. I'll admit it. Plus, that particular recipe yielded a little too much smoothie for us to handle. So I did some tweaking with the measurements and made my own flavor, and I do believe I found the honey hole.

What you'll need (MAKES ABOUT 4 SMOOTHIES):

• 2/3 c of oats (don't use steel cut! rolled will be your best bet - super cheap in the bulk section of your grocery store)
• 2/3 c of yogurt (I use Chobani Vanilla 0%)
• 2 2/3 c of fruit (either frozen or fresh, I use half strawberries, half triple berry blend)
• 2 2/3 c of juice/milk (I used half milk/half juice the first time. On the good ones, all apple juice)
• 4 tsp chia seeds (we found ours at Whole Foods)

      OPTIONAL EXTRAS: Using the recipe above, we don't feel the need to add anything else. But feel
      free to add your own stuff!

• 2 2/3 tsp (or more) sweetener (honey, agave nectar, etc)
• 2 2/3 tbsp (or more) jam/preserves (to add a little more punch with the fruit flavor)
• 1/3 to 1 1/3 tsp spice (apple cinnamon flavor in the fall anyone?!)
• 2 2/3 (or more) tsp cocoa powder
• 2/3 tsp to 1 1/3 tsp vanilla (see Monica's Cherry Vanilla Smoothie, looks DELISH.)

Since we don't have a food processor, we use our coffee grinder (use whatcha got!) to break down our oats and chia seeds. Blend those until you have essentially a powder. No chunks, otherwise you'll be chewing your smoothie.

In your REAL blender, throw in your yogurt, liquid, fruit, and oat/chia powder. Blend all of the necessary ingredients thoroughly before you add in any sweetener. Taste it, and if it's not to your liking, tweak it from there (i.e., add honey, more fruit, etc). Once completely blended, (I usually blend for a good 3-4 minutes), pour into containers. We use mason jars so we can bring them along. We've done all individual jars, and also one big jar. If you had a fancy Magic Bullet of sorts, those individual cups would work perfectly as well.

This part is key. Put them in fridge for at least 4 hours. We usually do overnight. Like Monica said, this is so the oats/chia can soften/thicken/absorb all of the above and make a thick creamy smoothie that is delish. Once that time is up, toss those bad boys into the freezer to make 'em nice and cold. Since we keep ours in the fridge overnight usually, I toss them in the freezer right when I get up, so by the time we run out the door they're cold enough but thawed so we can have them asap.

These are so good because they're filling. They're not done with ice, so nothing gets watered down. Thick and creamy berry-licious smoothies. Just how I like 'em.

So tell me, how crazy busy are your mornings? Do you get a chance to read the paper and have your coffee/smoothie, or are you like Kyle and I and run out the door like a chicken with your head cut off? Any good flavors you've discovered? Share them!

PS: Check out Monica's blog The Yummy Life. She has a TON of fantastic recipes for everything. She also has a make-ahead oatmeal recipe that might just be your cup of tea!

xx

'Za

First, let me just say that I know I am not a Mrs. For those of you who know J and I, you know that I cook, and she bakes. It works out quite nicely. So I will usually be the one posting about cooking, J will handle most of the baking and other projects.

Another thing about us that you might know is that Jayme is so indecisive about what she wants to eat. It can take her upwards of hours to make up her mind. At some point, I just have to make something.

In one of those "she can't make up her mind to save up her life" situations, making something quick, simple, and delicious is key. A perfect option is what we call "Greek Pizza". It's Greek/Mediterranean inspired, hence the name. We originally got the idea from my mother, Carrie, but who knows where she got it.

What you'll need:

• Tortillas, we like to use 8" whole wheat (except for when the store is out of whole wheat)
• Sun dried tomatoes
• Olive oil
• Basil (preferably fresh, but we use dried as well)
• Kalamata olives
• Feta cheese/parmesan cheese/mozzarella cheese

You'll want to preheat your oven first to 425 degrees fahrenheit. Take a medium sized cookie sheet (if you're doing 2 pizzas, otherwise your smallest will work just fine), and put your tortillas on there, side by side. Drizzle on some olive oil, and if you have a pastry brush/silicone brush, spread it around. Otherwise, your finger works just as well.

From there, you'll want to cut your sun dried tomatoes into bite size pieces. Then, go ahead and cut your olives down. I usually try to quarter them, but that depends on the size of the olive - use your best judgement.

Liberally spread those around on your tortillas. If you're using fresh basil, make sure you rinse thoroughly, then tear into chunks and disperse onto the tortillas. Using dried? Toss some on there. I prefer mine more basil-y than Jayme.

Now for the good part. The cheese. Jayme prefers a mix of feta and parm, I prefer (usually) more parm. If you want to use mozzarella (the flavor is very good), just be aware that you may not end up with as crispy of a pizza as if you had used the other 2 cheeses. Mozzarella is just a much more moist cheese. I'd suggest, if you want to use the mozzarella, mix one of the other 2 cheeses in there so it doesn't end up as soggy.

Toss those into the oven. Our oven tends to run a little hot, so we usually put them in for about 8 minutes, sometimes 7. You could go all the way up to 10. Essentially, bake them until they are golden around the edges of the tortillas. We usually cut them into quarters, seems to work pretty darn well.

What did you think about the greek pizzas? Any variations out there? How about the debate over mozzarella vs parmesan vs feta? Let me know!