Breakfast of Champions - Coffee, Oats and Yoghurt

I think I’ve mentioned in a few posts that I have been aiming to be healthier. Over the past few years, I have lost a fair amount of weight, and I have been asked numerous times what it is that I’m “doing”. I kind of dislike labelling the way I eat because it automatically adds rules and judgements which I try to avoid. For me, eating healthily just translates into cooking from whole foods. I cook about 95% of my homecooked meals from scratch and I try not to snack too often on pre-packaged stuff like chips and biscuits. Unless it’s a weekend, I’m entertaining and I can’t pass up a packet of Red Rock Deli lime and black pepper chips!

So, as a simple answer to what I’m doing to lose weight – it’s this blog. It’s cooking. This blog is a diary of the actual foods that I eat. Everything on here I have cooked and eaten. With the exception of things like the cakes and biscuits that are for an event – Mothers’ Day, birthdays, etc. – it is just what I had to eat day-to-day. But food is my life – I love cooking it, eating it, and sharing it. So sometimes I’m going to eat that sort of stuff too, so that stuff will also go on the blog. Apart from eating my own cooking, I am working on being a more mindful eater at all times – at home and out at restaurants etc to reduce my portion sizes to more reasonable amounts. This on top of 3 gym sessions a week is what I’m “doing” to improve my overall wellbeing and as a by-product, my weight.

Noticing that I haven’t really included much by way of breakfasts – even though it’s my favourite meal of the day, I thought today I will post my current work-day staple. Given that it’s summer, instead of having porridge, I have oats and Greek Yoghurt. I soak my oats overnight to soften them, and I have started using coffee to soak them in. So. Good. I eat this every day at work, and tend to steer towards eggs and/or toast on the weekends. Work day lunches are generally leftovers and dinner is open!

I’ve recently discovered the joys of cold brewing things. On Sunday nights I will grind some coffee beans and put them in a coffee plunger. I pour cold water over the top, cover it with plastic wrap, put it in the fridge and allow it to brew overnight. When you wake up, you just push the plunger down and BAM! Perfect ice coffee. I make it strong (1 cup coffee to 4 cups water), then dilute with water and/or milk depending on what I’m feeling like or some maple syrup if I feel like some sweetness. The jug will do Lance and I for a almost a week that way. I have started using the same technique for ice tea too. In both drinks it prevents the bitterness you get from hot brewed drinks that have been cooled.

 
Coffee, Oats and Yoghurt

1/3 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup cold brewed coffee
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
6 prunes, chopped small
8-10 walnuts, roughly chopped
To serve
4-5 heaped tablespoons plain Greek Yoghurt (around 150-200g)

In a container with a lid put the oats and spices, put the lid on and shake to mix. Pour the coffee over the top. Add the chopped prunes and walnut pieces to the top of that. Put in the fridge overnight.

When ready to eat, take out, spoon the yoghurt over the top and mix it all together really well.

Caffeine, protein, fibre, fruit, good fats. Breakfast of champions.