Lent and Overnight Oats

Hi Lovelies!

I hope everyone enjoyed pancake day yesterday! It was the perfect excuse for me to indulge in Nutella and not feel too bad about it. Today is the first day of lent and I thought I would write a post about my plans for this year. The biggest difficulty for me with lent is that my birthday falls in the middle of it. This means that I am always very reluctant to give anything up as I don’t want to have to miss out on birthday cake/chocolate etc! This year I have found a way around this so lets talk lent!

One thing that I am definitely giving up is sweets. I absolutely love sweets, especially pick and mix so naturally that seems like a good thing to try and go without for 40 days.

My main challenge however, is something I spoke about this a little bit in Chia Seeds, avocado and clean eating. I really want to try a vegan diet. The only thing getting in my way is the numerous meals out/events etc that would make this lifestyle hard to maintain. So, I have decided to try eating vegan 80% of the time. This means that I can still go out with friends and I can enjoy my favourite dishes and treats (minus sweets 😦 ) on my birthday. I also have a little trip to Paris coming up and I want to be able to indulge in a chocolate croissant or two! This seems like the perfect compromise. After all, moderation seems a lot more sensible than complete restriction!

To record my Vegan eating through Lent I have decided to write a weekly post summing up my progress that week. I have yet to come up with a specific name and day for this blog series but it will be coming very soon! Like I also said in Chia seeds, avocado and clean eating, I can’t wait to try out some raw food and vegan cafes 🙂

To start off the new blog series, here is a great breakfast recipe that I tried the other day: banana, peanut butter, and pecan overnight oats. The majority of this dish is made the night before so it is perfect if you don’t have much time in the morning. It also looks a little bit like an ice-cream sundae! I don’t know about you but anything that looks decadent and indulgent yet is bursting with goodness seems like an ultimate winner.  I can also confirm that whilst being incredibly healthy, it is SO delicious and will fill you up for the entire morning.

First, you will need to combine:

• 22g rolled oats
• 1 tbsp Chia seeds
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 180 ml Almond Milk

Mix these all together and leave overnight in a sealed container.

The next morning, combine:

• 1 tbsp Peanut butter
• Half banana, chopped

in a bowl and microwave until they are both soft.

Warm up the over night oats in the microwave and then combine them with the peanut butter and banana. You are then ready to fill up your bowl/jar/glass! I like to use a wine glass just because it looks pretty. I squeezed a bit of honey in the bottom and then I added a bit of low fat natural yoghurt. I then placed half the mixture into the glass before layering another 2 tbsp of natural yoghurt. Finally add the second half of the oats. To top it off, I placed the remaining banana and some pecans on top, drizzling a little honey as well to give a sweet taste.

All that is left to do now it tuck in and enjoy!

This really is such a delicious breakfast and I cannot recommend it enough! Have you ever made overnight oats?

What are you giving up for lent?

Lots of love,