overnight oats & homemade chips

I am not a morning person. In fact, I'm a total night owl, finding that my most productive hours are between 10 pm and 1 am. Because of this, I find it incredibly helpful to pack my gym bag, lunch, and anything else I can the night before. Enter, overnight oats. I made this recipe a lot last summer, and it's absolutely one of my favorites. Healthy, sweet, filling, and the perfect chilled breakfast for these hot summer days. The original recipe idea comes from Lorna Sass' cookbook Short-Cut Vegan, but I've altered it a little as well.

Stuff you need: 1. 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats 2. 1 8 oz can crushed pineapple 3. 1.5 cups milk- or a soy milk of some sort if you'd like to make it vegan 4. cinnamon 5. Nutmeg6. 1 Banana

Just before going to bed, combine the oats, pineapple, and milk into a large bowl. Spinkle with a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg, cover, and pop in the refrigerator while you sleep. In the morning, scoop about 1 cup of the oats into a bowl, top with 1/2 a sliced banana, and dig in. No really, that's it!

It's so nice to have such a tasty meal already made for me in the morning, while I'm rushing around trying to get to work at a decent hour.The original recipe suggests using cardarmom and topping with toasted nuts or flax seed, but I like my changes as well. It still needs a little tweaking, but I think flavor perfection is almost there.

Also, on another late night note, I'm pleased to say that as of this evening, I have successfully prepared breakfast, lunch, and a snack for tomorrow. Less chaos for me in the morning! Currently, my favorite snack is homemade tortilla chips. If you've never made them yourself, you must try it.

Stuff you need: 1. Whole wheat tortillas 2. Olive oil 3. Sea salt

This is so incredibly easy and delicious, I may have to start making these all the time! Take your whole wheat tortilla and slice it into little triangles. I simply continuously folded my tortilla until I had little bite sized pieces. Place these tortilla chunks into your toaster over- or on a baking sheet in a real oven. Lightly coat with olive oil and coarse seal salt, and pop them in the hot oven at 325 for 5-10 minutes. Check on them often, making sure they become golden, but not brown. When golden, flip them over and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.

They are crispy, yet buttery, with just a hint of saltiness. You can serve them with salsa or guacamole, but I eat them plain cause I think they're that good. Mmm! Seriously. Bestest, most easiest snack EVER.

Oh! And one last thing-see how this late-night energy really kicks in? Tonight I also rummaged around in my craft bin, looking for something fun to make in honor of this festivity-filled weekend ahead of us. I found a tub of round beads in rainbow colors, popped in Julie & Julia, and 2 hours later, I'm filled with good-chick-flick vibes and half a dozen fun bracelets for my accessorizing pleasure. Pre-made meals, a heart-warming movie, and a little bit of crafting to boot. What a lovely Thursday evening, indeed!

food cart bites & crafty delights

Sometimes I take for granted the amazing vegetarian and vegan options out there. Friday night I went to a BBQ, and when the meat-free guests showed up, everyone looked around in amazement as to what they would eat. I quickly ran to the store for some Morningstar Farms burger patties, but it was very interesting. I just haven't found myself in that situation for so long. My parents and a number of my friends are all meat-free, so we always cook that way, or make sure to dine somewhere with options. A meatless lifestyle is becoming more widespread, but sometimes I forget that it's not the norm everywhere. This is definitely part of the reason I always get so excited when there are places that specialize in meatless cuisine.

Some friends and I attended a food truck party on Saturday, which is where we found the Steamin' Demon, the vegetarian/vegan food cart run by City 'O City and Watercourse, 2 of the best veg places in Denver. We all swore that we'd attend fewer food truck gatherings, both for our waistlines and pocket books, but when we heard the Steamin' Demon was going to be there, we couldn't stay away. If you're in the Denver area and looking for mobile meatless delights, definitely hunt down the demon!

Julie, myself, and Brian all got the Moco Loco- some kind of gooey bowl with rice, a spicy burger patty, mushroom gravy, avocado, and an egg if you so choose. It may sound strange, but it's amazing! Omg so good.
We also gobbled down a pistachio cupcake from the Cupcake Truck, while Jenna and Michael hit up the Biscuit Bus for some of the best fresh biscuits slathered in honey butter or vegetarian mushroom gravy. Also amazing. Food trucks may be fattening me up, but holy shit, they're so damn tasty.

Apart from oinking out on mobile foods all weekend, I've also been attempting to spruce up my kitchen. I'm currently renting a little studio, so it's hard to make the place look really great without being able to paint walls, or tear out ugly cabinets. I decided that red would be my theme, and this weekend I added some fun touches I wanted to share.

For simple cutesy magnets, I collected red buttons of all shapes and sizes, and hot glued them to small, round magnets that I bought at Michaels. While I was binge shopping arts and crafts, I also picked up some plain glass votive holders and a bottle of Delta rose red transparent glass paint. I gave each holder a couple coats of the paint, and realized that I was looking for a much bright shade. I added a few coats of Craft Smart in bright red, and when it was to the opacity I wanted, I finished off with a coat of the glass paint to give it a shiny surface. Magnets went on the fridge, and I lined up the newly painted glasses on my windowsill.

I'm very pleased with my newest red touches. I'd like to make a triangle banner to hang around the window next, but so far, the few things I've made are really helping make my rental a little homier. A very successful weekend, indeed, full of tasty foods and fun crafts. The summer is already starting out with a bang, and I hope it just gets better from here! :)

easter festivities

A Happy Easter to everyone binge-eating jelly beans and dying Easter eggs today. I may be 24, but nothing makes me happier than pretending I'm 5, and painting silly things on eggs once a year.

I come from a large Catholic family, so Easter is always a big deal. This large family, mind you, is not vegetarian, and we always have the traditional Honey Baked Ham. Minus the meat, there's always tons of great food and way too much candy. In fact, here's a great list of vegan candy from PETA. I had no idea that a lot of my favorites were vegan! Total score.

Also, for my family celebration today, I brought a citrus quinoa salad that I found at Tall Green Grass. It's a pretty tasty dish, but definitely needed some tweaking. I doubled it, cooked the quinoa in vegetable broth, added another 1/2 lemon of juice, a little more siracha, and a pinch of salt for serving. Otherwise, I was pleased to introduce a large number of my family members to quinoa, since they had no idea what it was. I think they liked it too :)

On a crafty note, I wanted to pass along a super cute sewing pattern I found last week. My Grandma is in the hospital right now, and since she couldn't make it to the Easter celebration, I thought I'd bring a little Easter to her. The pattern and tutorial are here at Craft Gossip. I'm a total novice when it comes to sewing, but it was a moderately easy project that only took me a few hours to do during one of my late night spurts of energy.

I always find projects to start, but rarely finish them, so I'm really excited that I actually finished this little guy and he turned out great to boot. Most importantly though, my Grandma loved him, and it totally brightened her day.

It was a delicious day, but a long and busy one as well. It's time to eat some left over quinoa and a few more jelly beans before bed. Happy Easter! ♥