Mocha Chia Oatmeal

Brett and I finished up our work in College Station on Thursday morning and made the three hour drive to Dallas that afternoon. It was a great day full of delicious food and new friends. We even ate dinner at vegan restaurant. I had a barbecue sandwich with grilled seitan for dinner and followed it up with a warm cookie sundae, a.k.a. my first taste of ice-cream since I starting eating vegan in July! It was so satisfying and a great way to fuel up before my long training run in the morning. 

This picture was taken with my iPhone which doesn't do this deliciousness justice.

But Spiral Diner & Bakery's vegan cookie with ice cream and whipped cream sundae was fantastic.

I savored every bit. 

Speaking of my long training run, this morning's nine-miler went so smoothly. I might even venture to say it was the best run I've ever had due to a few factors: the weather was perfect, I wore exactly the right amount of clothes, I got to run around a beautiful lake and I felt great the entire time. It literally felt like I only ran for thirty minutes, when I actually ran for 75 minutes. And let me say, I am not a fast running. No matter how good I feel when I'm running, I always end up running just under a 9-minute mile average pace. Putzing as we call it. However, this morning I ran at an average pace of 8.22 miles/minute! It was so encouraging. 

Tonight Brett and I and four of his guy friends are heading to Oklahoma for two nights of camping. The forecast says that there is a 40% change of rain tomorrow. I, being a cold-wimp, hope that it stays dry. It's amazing how cold I've been during our week in Texas. I thought this big, dusty state stayed hot all year round. Apparently not. 

And this cold weather is really making me miss my morning oatmeal. So I figured I'd share one of my new favorite combinations with you: Mocha Chia Oatmeal. Enjoy!

Mocha Chia Oatmeal

(Makes 1 serving)

 Ingredients:

· 2/3 cups brewed coffee

· 1/3 cup non-dairy milk (I use unsweetened almond milk)

· 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

· 1/2 banana, thinly sliced

· 1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional, but so worth it)

· 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

· Splash of Vanilla

· Pinch of sea salt

· Optional: chopped nuts, semi-sweet chocolate chips, more non-dairy milk

Directions:

1. Bring the coffee and milk to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the oats, sliced banana and chia seeds and whisk vigorously until there are no large banana chunks to be seen. Let cook for about 3 minutes.

2. Add in the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and sea salt and mix until well incorporated. Let cook about 2 more minutes or until it reaches your desired consistency.

3. Pour oats into a bowl and top with optional nuts and almond milk.

4. Enjoy your cup a joe and oats in one beautiful bowl!

Eat Consciously,

     Faith