When I saw Chocolate Covered Katie post a recipe for baked pumpkin oatmeal for one, I immediately jotted down the recipe and tucked it away.
As with most recipes I randomly write down or rip out of magazines, I totally forgot about it until I was sorting through a small stack of papers last night.
There it was! And my breakfast for this morning was born.
Baked Oatmeal Bar
I followed Katie’s recipe exactly and prepared my baked oatmeal last night in a mini loaf pan.
Close Up of the Goods
I let it cool overnight in the fridge and this morning I served my individual portion along with a sliced nectarine, dusted with nutmeg.
Purdy Plate
Morning Meal
I loved every last bite of this breakfast. The baked oatmeal tasted fantastic nice and cold, though I’m sure it would be amazing hot as well. The texture was dense and the flavor reminded me of oatmeal pumpkin spice cookies.
I cannot wait to make this recipe again! I have a bunch of different ideas for add-ins including coconut, protein powder, nuts and berries… and butterscotch chips once Lent is over.
I inhaled this breakfast while Sadie chewed on a ginormous stick.
Stick Lover
I think she got the short end of the stick on that one, eh? 😉
Workout
Breakfast was enjoyed after a good workout! Today’s gym session included 10 minutes of incline walking with Ryan followed by BodyPump (killer lunge track!) and 15 minutes on the elliptical.
So Long, Sweets: The Action Plan
As you know, last night I said I am giving up sweets for Lent. I want to make sure to clarify this a bit to avoid any confusion!
My definition of “sweets” is anything I consider to be a “dessert-type food.”
For example:
- Cake = Sweets
- Brownies = Sweets
- Ice cream = Sweets
- Chocolate and Candy = Sweets
- Yogurt = Not Sweets
- Granola Bar = Not Sweets
See? I am not giving up sugar, only foods I consider sweets… or “desserts.” Hopefully that answers any lingering questions. I’m not going sugar free for lent… only dessert free! 😀
So how do I plan to succeed?
- I will not be buying any sweets. None. I cannot have them in my house. Fortunately, I’ve been planning to so this for a while, so the only sweets we have in our apartment at the moment are a couple of pieces of dark chocolate and fudgesicles. I’ve already placed the dark chocolate in the back of the freezer because I’m very much an “out of sight, out of mind” girl. Luckily Ryan is 100 percent supporting me in this endeavor and has agreed to make our apartment a sweets-free zone. Thank goodness.
- I plan to really focus on eating regularly… especially on the weekends. Though I already eat five to six mini-meals a day, on the weekends I may let this slip because we’re running around a lot and that’s always when I find myself craving sweets. A missed snack will often lead to me eating 5+ cookies. Fo’ real! I’m going to make a serious effort to keep my blood sugar levels more stable by eating very regularly to hopefully ward off any hankerings I may have for sweet treats.
- I will not go within one mile of a frozen yogurt place. Seriously. No fro yo will be my biggest challenge and I plan to stay as far away from frozen yogurt joints as possible.
Honestly, I think I can handle it. Boo-ya! (Please remind me that I said this when I want to sprinkle sugar on my arm and eat it.)
The only event I see in my future that will really tempt me is a wedding that Ryan and I will be attending at the end of the month. I love wedding cake, so that will be a tough one to resist!
Before signing off, I want to let you all know how much I enjoyed reading about your personal goals during Lent. From personal sacrifice to self improvement, I think your goals are amazing and I wish you all the very best of luck! We got this! 😀
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Awesome- good luck to ya 🙂
I definitely think you will be able to do this! I am trying to be realistic about my goal this year, because my boyfriend completes his Ranger School training in a few weeks and we’re going to want to celebrate. I decided to give up trash tv, which, like sweets, is up to the individual to decide what counts & what doesn’t.
One year for Lent, I gave up sodas. About a week and a half into it, I decided I needed a coke desperately and opened a can. It spewed all over me! I definitely learned my lesson. 🙂
I think you should just say you are giving up “desserts” for Lent….seems to be less confusion.
Good luck to you! You can do it!!!!
Also, I am guessing you are going to be creative with your yogurts, granola bars, fruits, etc! Can’t wait to hear the updates!
I’m giving up sweets as well for Lent! I’m hoping that it will help me reduce my sugar addiction somewhat. Glad to hear I’m not the only one with this difficult task ahead! Good luck! 🙂
Good luck! If I was Catholic I’d be giving up chocolate in any form. That is my favorite!!
You don’t have to be Catholic. I was raised Episcopalian and we celebrate Lent.
good luck! i was thinking about giving up sweets as well, but i’m afraid i might lose weight from that, which is great, but i dont want the focus of lent to be shifted to a convenient way to get healthy.
so i’m giving up trashy media… radio, some magazines, tv (o noooo jersey shore!!!)
that baked oatmeal bar looks DELISH
Girl, you SO got this!! Love your played out plan, too! Although, won’t’ it be hard to stay 1 mile away from all froyo places?! They are EVERYWHERE here in Charlotte! I think your rule of not buying sweets will help with that one, though. My thinking is that you’ll be saving a lot of money in the next 40 days!! Good for you!
PS. Yogurt is amaaaazing. And definitely not a sweet, in my book! I know it has tons of sugar, but that stuff is good!
I’ve been following your blog for about a month now–LOVE it, by the way–, but I’ve never commented before (just a little shy, ha!); anyways, I figured today was the perfect day to leave my first comment because I made nearly the exact same recipe for breakfast today! I’d never even heard of baked oatmeal until yesterday, but I’m glad I did.. Seriously delicious and comforting!
Good luck with no sweets during Lent. You can totally do it 🙂
I don’t think I’m strong enough to give up sweets; instead, I’m giving up cursing (it’s such an awful habit to have!).
Wow! Good for you and I know you will kick butt during your Lent endeavor. One question: I know you said no fro-yo; however I am guessing you mean the sweet, sugary kind. What about “true” frozen yogurt? We have that here in Boston at a few places and its just yogurt — frozen.. Would that be a “sweet” as well?
I LOVE baked oatmeal! I make different recipes all the time, trying different flavors and types. Freezes great!
Try it with milk poured over top, I love using vanilla soy milk, heat it up and a cut up banana on top!
SOO good!!!
Hey Julie! you probably already know this or someone may have already posted, but just in case i thought i’d let you know i saw a link to your site on fitsugar.com today under “Link Love” regarding your baked oatmeal post. here’s the link: http://www.fitsugar.com/Emma-Roberts-Covers-Womens-Health-Talks-Pole-Dancing-14809238
Hi, Julie! I was reading Tina’s blog over at Faith, Fitness, Fun and she mentioned a mantra that you love and it reminded me of one that came to me yesterday. I’m not sure if it’s really a “mantra”, but it motivated me to do a better workout. I was really sore from BodyPump Tuesday night and I wanted to get in a good cardio session, but I was torn. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hit the treadmill or elliptical or if I wanted to take a class. I was really tired and while I was headed to the gym I thought “I can do the treadmill or elliptical but will I push myself?” And then I thought “An instructor will push me harder than I will push myself right now.” So I took the class and I was right! I can’t limit my effort when I am following an instructor who is telling me to push harder, so I got a great workout in and I didn’t regret it! So anyway, I know now that on days when I’m tired and I know I won’t push myself as much as I can I will just think “An instructor will push me harder than I will push myself” and that’ll ‘force’ me to do a better, harder workout. 🙂
For a while I was running on low-sweets but not my office has a readily available jar of dark chocolate covered almonds that call me to everyday!
Good luck! 🙂
Hey Julie – Just wanted to say that your blog is my fav to read!
You inspired me to make these bars as well — I but used a slightly different recipe. If you want to check it out I linked your blog to mine!
http://100daysuntil13-1.blogspot.com/2011/03/baked-oatmeal-bars.html