A Huge Bowl of Healthy and Simply Sweet! :)

I have been wanting to write this blog for weeks, but every time I felt the energy and motivation I was either too busy or too tired to grab my laptop keys and fly away with my words.

But now, I finally have nothing to do but relax, and to share with you another of my million-a-day discoveries. :)

As I was sitting on the balcony just about an hour ago, in the wind and subtle heat of the 70-something degree weather (I'm actually still sitting there right now...Mother Nature seems to not want me to get back inside the house; and neither does Carlos Santana, who I am listening to as I'm typing), I was practically stuffing my face with one of my favorite food creations--I have no name for it yet, but it's basically plain yogurt with sliced banana, flaxseed meal, and oats. And seriously, it tastes better than it sounds! ;D

During the past few months, I've been mixing plain yogurt with oats and with different kinds of fruit. The first mix I made and became obsessed with (and what also became one of my legendary late-night snacks that I've had no guilt eating in front of the TV with my eyes half open) was of yogurt, sliced apple, cinnamon and oats. Before, I used to not add the oats and would just enjoy the pure sweetness of the apple complimented by the cinnamon, and wistfully blanketed by the white mass of..dairy (don't know what else to call it...). But one night, after randomly throwing in about 1/4 cup of the oats into my bowl of perfection, that original mix of perfection suddenly became even more perfect (if that even makes sense...)! From then on, I haven't been able to eat one of my yogurt recipes without adjoining it with the grainy goodness.

Maybe it's because of my enjoyment of eating things that have a lot texture (crunchy, munchy, you name it), instead of things that are all-the-way smooth and creamy...Which makes sense now that I think about it, because I've found myself throwing in almond meal whenever the box of oats wasn't around!

Anyways, I hope you will somehow find the inspiration to make one of these, what I guess I could call, "meals" (I've eaten them for snacks usually, but lately they've become my definition of "lunch," like earlier today). If or when you do make it, I should tell you that they are all incredibly easy to make, as they are very satisfying to the tummy as well as to the senses ;) , particularly if you are someone who has yearned to eat something that is healthy and nourishing for the body, as well as fun to imagine yourself savoring late in the night (I'm starting to feel that I mention late-night eating a lot in this blog...It's probably because of my notion that such an activity is considered mysterious and sneaky, when someone eats what they wouldn't want to be caught with by another person)...And you wouldn't have to worry about that scenario I just mentioned in the parentheses, because what you would be eating isn't something guilty to be caught with! Instead, it's like the perfect gal/guy you'd love to take home to show to your parents!

...Wow I take food too seriously, maybe I should just arrange a wedding ceremony between myself and my yogurt-banana/apple/blueberry/etc-oat-slash-almond-meal-and-some-flaxseed-meal-too treat right after I finish writing!

Well, I guess all that I can leave you with now at the end of this blog, is some ideas I've tried and loved that you can love too!

Bon appetit!

Quickly and ravenously fill a bowl with...

-1 c plain yogurt (I always buy the 1% milkfat yogurt from Trader Joe's; it has a thin consistency but still tastes rich!)

-1/4 c oats or almond meal (Even though I personally get more of a kick out of the almond meal, I throw in the oats many more times just because it has fewer calories...So the choice is yours of whether to care about the calories or the enjoyment :) I guess I should eat the almond meal more now that I think about it...)

-2 tbsp flaxseed meal (A much easier way of getting your serving of omega-3 than to munch on many walnuts..)

...And then add one of these options to the mix...

-sliced banana and coconut shreds (This one is probably my favorite :D , so much so that I've sometimes poured too much of the coconut into my bowl, more than what a human could possibly eat!)

-sliced apple and cinnamon

-blueberries (Though I haven't tried this with the almond/flaxseed meal, I'm sure it would taste delicious anyway!)

-sliced strawberries (I actually hesitated to type this one because whenever I tried it, the strawberries' tanginess clashed with the taste of the oats)

-sliced banana

-nectarine (see explanation for blueberries)

Basically, you can add any fruit or berry in order to turn the yogurt mixture into a large bowl of pure heaven! If you end up not liking the mix, you can always have the yogurt without all the grains and things, and just have the yogurt and fruit together instead--that is just as healthy and as simply sweet! :)

If you have any ideas as to what else can be added (or even what can be taken out of the recipe), don't hesitate to let me know!

Bean out.