VOO virgin no more!

Holy, where did January go? I don't know about you but I'm excited to move on to a new month! This means:

1. Spring is coming. Even the groundhog said so which is a highly reputable source, in my opinion:) Sorry Eastern Canada and US, there must have been some sort of glitch for you guys:(
2. Can start dreaming about the garden
3. It's now T - 6months until I say goodbye to my job and say hello to 3 weeks of California bliss (more on this to come)
4. The days are getting longer


That's a lot of pluses for the month of February!! March has a lot to live up to:)


Now onto a food first for me!!!

VOO

Yes, I did it! I actually enjoyed eating my oats this morning. Now, the reason why this is such a big deal is because ever since I was a little girl I could not cooked oatmeal. It caused such a terrible gag reflex that my mom couldn't help but to burst out laughing. Apparently my oat-eating performance was quite humorous to my oatmeal-loving family.

So, I never touched the stuff. It was only once I started blogging and heard about this un-cooked oatmeal version that I became intrigued. I had a few bloggers tell me that they didn't like the cooked oatmeal but they loved the VOO! Finally after blogging over a year I decided to give it a shot.

I followed instructions. Yes people if I am going to eat oatmeal, I need directions from the best VOO creators out there. One wrong move and my little reflex would rear it's ugly head ultimately giving my coworkers a good laugh in the morning. The three A's (Angela, Averie, and Ashley) were my sources. I ended up following Angela's latest recipe carob banana chia VOO but I used raw cacao instead of the carob.

Watching the mixture come together last night I was highly skeptical. Then there was a little tickle in my throat...Mrs.Gag was waking up after 20 years of dormancy.

I quickly put the mixture in the fridge and went to bed thinking about sprouted bread + almond butter, sprouted bread + almond butter...The tickle quickly vanished.

I slept well with no oatmeal related nightmares. I was really curious in the morning so I ran down to the fridge and looked at the bowl. Guess what? My tummy rumbled and there was no tickle in my throat. That's a VERY good sign I thought. When I finally sat down at my desk ready to eat, I took a deep breath and dug in!

I LOVED IT!! I think the key for me is that the oats were still a bit crunchy. The banana, walnut, and cacao combo is awesome. I also added in the Amazing Grass powder I bought the other day. All in all a great success. I'm very excited to be able to say I had oats for breakfast!!

Overnight oats with a splash of almond milk:)

Do you like VOO or do you love the cooked version? Are there any texture sensitive folks out there? Seriously, if cooked oatmeal makes you shudder, VOO will make you smile:)

Quick question: Have you tried using steel cut oats for VOO? I'm curious if they would work

Okay enough about VOO already!! I know that train departed years ago lol!
The other night I had my mom over for dinner. She was in town because the next day she was departing with her sister from YVR to Kona, Hawaii!!! Oh, so jealous :) I talked to her last night and she was RAVING about the fruit. Her and I are huge fruit lovers so I can only imagine. She went to the market and the papayas were 10 for $2.If only fruit were allowed to pass through borders I would have ordered a whole suitcase for myself lol!

Anywho, I decided to make Ashley's Thai Jambalaya. I love thick soups and stews so this seemed right up my alley!

When I see long instructions to a recipe I get a little nervous thinking I'm going to be in the kitchen until 8pm cooking up the darn thing.

Well, don't be intimidated by this recipe because it really didn't take that long at all. I didn't even have help in the kitchen to stir the roux all the time and the dish turned out okay. In fact better than okay, it was fabulous!

Nice and thick with a great combination of spices! I added in a teaspoon of coconut cream for good measure:) I ate mine on a bed of kale with some quinoa. Perfecto! I was sad when all the leftovers were gone. I will for sure be making this again! Thank you Ashley for the recipe!

I rarely pick up prepared foods but the other day I was hungry and it was already 7pm so I was not about to cook. So I picked up these...

They were actually pretty good. Not too greasy and with some good spice too.

Have you tried Veggie Patch products?

Have a great day everyone!! One more day until the weekend:) I'm actually going away this weekend so I need to start preparing my road trip eats and snacks. I'm thinking:

Scrum bars or these

Juice - I'm not going to take my juicer along so I'm thinking about making some in advance

Balls

Oats - eek!! VOO is definitely going to be made. I haven't decided what flavor I'm going to go for. Need inspiration too? Check out:

                        Averie's Overnight Chia Seed-Coconut-Mango Soaked Oats

                        Ashley's Cinnamony Overnight Oats

                       Angela's Chocolate Protein VOO

                       Kath's Strawberry Banana Overnight Oats

Raw cookies - I loved these carrot cake cookies

Cut up veggies - This is key for me. If I have these ready to go I will not be tempted to eat the bad stuff!

The best part about all the above is that I could have it ready in an hour or less. Score!!

Well folks have a great rest of your day! Move that body somehow today and nourish, nourish, nourish!

Oh and ...

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!!