Erin – Page 11

On New Year’s Day, Niall and I went out for breakfast as a late anniversary date (we got married on New Year’s Eve and we rarely celebrate!). We made a list of 2018 goals — some individual, some collective. One of mine was to read more — I decided I wanted to average one book per month. That may not sound like much to you, but being so out of the habit of reading, it seemed like a reasonable place to start for me. And I am proud to say, it is going very well:) I feel like I’ve fallen in love with reading again and I am always adding to my list of ‘to read’ books.

I’m currently reading these two. Becoming MomStrong (yes, that’s meant to be one word) has been an awesome read, constantly pointing me to God’s word and challenging me to seek His truth in this crazy world. It highlights the importance of protecting and fighting for your children in this day and age where ideas like ‘tolerance’ and ‘love’ have replaced truth. It kind of fires me up and makes me realize how powerful the role of a mother is! I’m still deciding how I feel about The Red Tent. It is a narrative based loosely on the Biblical story of Jacob and his wives and children, told from the perspective of Dinah, daughter of Leah. The author for sure takes liberties — so I’m definitely keeping in mind it’s meant to be read as a fictional historical novel and not as God’s word.

I have a stack of books on my desk as I type this that I’m looking forward to starting once I’m done with these. In case you’re curious, here they are — in order of priority, starting at the top! We leave for California next week and I’m selfishly looking forward to Grandma entertaining the kiddos during the day while I read and sip coffee (don’t worry mom, I won’t work you too hard;)

I get book suggestions from a few different sources and I feel like I’m still figuring out what genres are my favorite… what about you? Let me know if there’s one I should add to my stack! Happy reading:)

I first tried overnight oats at our favorite restaurant back in Belfast — General Merchants. It was dairy free and healthy but it still tasted rich and sweet. I’ll admit, theirs was a little fancier than our homemade version was going to be (I mean, they topped it with edible flowers. Hard to compete with that!). While it tasted amazing, Niall and I soon realized that paying six pounds for something we could probably replicate at home didn’t make much sense. We also thought it would make a healthy, no fuss breakfast for weekdays. And it does.

There have been periods where we’ve strayed from this morning habit, but we are most satisfied and feel our best when we don’t. It’s fast and healthy and requires ZERO work (the morning you eat it, that is). I love that I can make my husband breakfast without doing anything at 6 am;)

One piece of advice — put your bowls together the evening before while making dinner, or late in the afternoon while you’re waiting for laundry to finish or something. Don’t wait until the end of the night when the show you’re watching finishes and you barely have enough energy to brush your teeth before hitting the sack. I’m still learning to follow my own advice with this one!

Along with the energy balls I make, a lot of people have asked about our overnight oats habit so I thought it deserved a post! There are dozens of versions of this recipe but here’s how we make it:)

OVERNIGHT OATS

*makes one bowl

1/2 cup quick cooking oats
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon chopped walnuts
handful of frozen berries (we buy a raspberry, blueberry & blackberry mix)
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup almond milk*
sprinkling of cinnamon or honey to top (optional!)

*if you find the consistency the next morning is too thick for your liking, just add more milk.

Combine all ingredients and give it a good stir so that everything is mixed together — then sprinkle some cinnamon or drizzle some honey on top if you like. Pop your bowl into the fridge, give it another stir in the morning and it will be ready to go. Enjoy!

Quick tip: Once you make these a few times, you will be able to measure everything by sight — so it will only take a couple of minutes to throw your bowl together. I bought a big set of glass jars at Walmart and I keep nuts, chia seeds, etc. out on the counter so I don’t have to get the big bags out of the pantry every time. Give it a try:)

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simplifying breakfast: overnight oats