Meat Free Mondays: Chia Overnight Oats

Chia seeds are a fantastic source of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. You can sprinkle them on your food, or, let them soak overnight so they are the consistency of tapioca balls. My favorite Way to make chia is to put them in overnight oats and soak them overnight! This recipe is incredibly simple and takes moments to prepare.

Servings: 6    Prep Time: 10 minutes    Cook Time: 6 hours in fridge

Ingredients

• 2/3 Cup regular rolled oats (not instant)
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons chia seeds*
• 2 Cups almond milk
• 2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
  
• 1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 Bananas, mashed
  

After mashing the bananas, mix all ingredients together and place in a container that will allow the mixture to grow to three times the size. Put the mixture in the fridge overnight, or for at least 4 hours. Take out in the morning, mix again, and enjoy. Chia and overnight oats are great alone, or paired with fruit, granola, dried berries, or drizzled with maple syrup (not quite as healthy).

Meat Free Mondays: Favorite Things

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​Talking about favorite things today, I have become completely obsessed with little, adorable Danbos. Hopefully, you find these cute little guys as wonderful as I do and are not completely annoyed with my mass use of them.

A few other favorite things of mine have been healthier quick-cook foods. This weekend the procrastination bug took me by surprise and I ended up completing [almost] a year's worth of tax organizing in two days. There were a lot of late nights and easy to make meals eaten at my desk.

Thank goodness there are a few must haves that we keep in our kitchen so there is seldom a time when we have absolutely nothing quick to eat. Here is the list of some of the vegan and vegetarian quick food favorites that are simple to make and healthier than your average frozen meal.

Tandoor Chef

I love this line of frozen foods. Tandoor Chef is a great line of frozen meat, vegetarian, and vegan Indian dishes. It is not quite the real deal, but it sure comes close in a pinch! Best of all, the dishes have substantially less fats and carbs than the average frozen meal.​

​Tandoor Chef is sold in most health food stores including Fresh Market and Wholefoods.

​Newman's Own Pizza

If there is a Newman's Own anything, I tend to buy that. Most of the Newman's Own products are healthier than the average, organic, and all proceeds go to charity. Even if these pizza's, sauces, cereal (so good!), and dressings were terrible, I may just buy them for the charity factor alone. It is an extra big perk that the company takes health seriously for all the product lines they have. Gotta love a company having both brains and heart!

Annie's Goddess Dressing

The hubs found out about this dressing through Alicia Silverstone's vegan grocery list. This stuff is fantastic to put on anything- salads, seafood, veggies, you name it. There is a vegetarian and vegan dressing option, but we tend to choose the vegetarian instead. ​

Tempeh Bacon

Although this is not always in our house, it is purchased almost every time we go to the store. ​Tempeh is made from soy and has almost no fat or carbs. This stuff is way better for you than any bacon and tastes pretty fantastic to boot! My most favorite way to eat this yummy stuff is in the form of a BLT with mayo. Oh goodness, it is so quick to make, but tastes delicious. I could eat these morning, noon, and night!

Annie Chung's Udon Noodle Soup

This is almost always my go-to lunch when at home. The Annie Chung line has some pretty healthy Asian quick-food options, but I think the Udon Noddle soup may be among the healthiest. The broth is a light miso with mushrooms and the udon only takes about five minutes to steep since they are vacuum sealed rather than dried.

Six packs can be as inexpensive as $1.50 per container, but singles go up to $4.50! Best to order ahead of time online for a better deal.

Meat Free Mondays: Meals to Make

I have created an entire folder on my computer of meals, side dishes, drinks, the lot that I will be making one day. Maybe, we will see them on the blog in the future, and maybe they will just be for experiments. Either way, these recipes look fantastic, vegetarian, and simple... It's about time I share!​

Skinny Broccoli and Cheese Casserole from Eat Yourself Skinny

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Kelly over at eat-yourself-skinny.com makes so many fantastic recipes! Seriously, I have quite a bundle in my "must cook" folder from her alone. I cannot remember how I came across her blog, but it is fantastic. She is full of great cooking ideas and healthy twists on food. This broccoli casserole looks super yummy and is only 118 calories, 2 grams fat, and 14 carbs. Yes please! ​

Low-Fat blueberry Scones over at Skinnytaste.co

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Ok, I have actually made these. They are fantastic and healthy and super gooey and warm. The recipe does not take too long and is p-e-r-f-e-c-t if you are needing some baking therapy. ​The best part is that they are made with Greek yogurt so you get live cultures, protein, and waaay less fat in a scone. I am dying to get my hands on some lemon yogurt for some lemon and blueberry scones in the spring!

Fresh Tomato Tart with Pesto and Mozzerella

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Seriously, who would not want to eat this yummy tart from thatskinnygirlcanbake.com?! I do not know how this could be considered healthy, but am totally willing to test it out. ​This tart would be perfect with some heirloom tomatoes, a light salad, and sparkling water with fruit. Yes, this sounds like the perfect meal for any girl! Please, let me know of any way you can justify putting this in the "healthy" category, I would so love to know. 

Roasted Spiced Chickpea

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Oh how I love chickpeas, these sound so great for a healthy party food option. Pumpsandiron.com has great recipes and some pretty hardy workouts as well! I would totally recommend trying these out, then letting me know how it goes! 

Meat Free Mondays: Vegetarian To-Go

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Sometimes, even the most disciplined of us run out of time and need to pick up some quick food on the go. Good thing there are some great to-go options, even for the vegetarians among us. Even better, there are some vegetarian options that are healthy! Yep, you can eat on the go and not be ingesting the equivalent of packing filler. Here are a few of my favorite healthy vegetarian to-go options!

Panera Bread

I won't lie. A lot of their stuff is really bad, like Big Mac bad. But, some things are ok. Stay away from anything that has the word "power" since that has high amounts of fat and carbs. Everything on this list is free and clear to eat without a guilty conscience!

Low Fat Garden Vegetable with Pesto

For 1.5 cups, its pretty good!

• 150 calories
• 5 grams fat
• 1 gram saturated fat
• 27 grams carbs, 12 being from fiber
  
• 4 grams protein

Low Fat Vegetarian Black Bean

• 240 calories
  
• 2.5 grams fat, no saturated
• 50 grams carbs, 9 being from fiber
• 12 grams protein

Full Classic Cafe

This comes with two types of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a balsamic dressing. Not too bad in the carbs and calorie department, but the protein is a bit lacking...

• 170 calories
• 11 grams fat
• 1.5 grams saturated fat
• 18 grams carbs, 3 from fiber
• 2 grams protein

Full Greek Salad

Oh, I love Greek salads, and this one is not bad... Especially when you consider it has cheese and a fatty dressing!

• 380 calories
• 33 grams fat
• 8 grams saturated fat (sad, I know)
• 15 grams carbs (celebrate!), 5 from fiber
  
• 8 grams protein
  

Moe's

This may be surprising, but there is only one thing on this list and it is not a salad. The salads could be healthy if you got a streaker and used your own dressing, but the Moe's dressings are terrible for you. Terrible! Even the southwest vinaigrette has fat, calories, carbs, and sodium that is through the roof... Some is at your daily max! Opt for the burrito bowl instead, or just use your own dressing.

Tip: Stay away from the tortillas here, they can add up to 250 calories!!!

Burrito Bowl

A burrito bowl with some black beans, tofu, lettuce, cilantro, guacamole, cucumbers, corn pico, and tomatoes is not that bad. May actually be considered god!

• 359 calories
• 14 grams fat
• 2 grams saturated fat
  
• 37 grams carbs, 14 from fiber
  
• 20 grams protein

Jason's Deli

I love restaurants with [clean] salad bars! You get to choose what goes into them, and there is no need to pay extra for a substitution! Jason's deli has some great options with pastas, salads, wraps,baked potatoes, and sandwiches. Just stay away from the complimentary soft serve ice cream if you are going healthy! 

Spinach Veggie Wrap

This is, probably, one of the healthiest options on the entire list when it comes to having bread...

• 350 calories
• 16 grams fat
• 8 grams saturated fat
  
• 46 grams carbs, 4 from fiber
  
• 15 grams protein

Organic Vegetarian Vegetable

The serving size for this is 1 cup. It is very low in most numbers, but surprisingly filing!

• 80 calories (!)
• 4 grams fat, no saturated fat
• 13 grams carbs
• 2 grams protein

Vegetarian French Onion

This is, possibly, the best thing ever done for vegetarians! A french onion spu[ without beef AND heathy!? Whoohooo!!

• 280 calories
  
• 20 grams fat (it has cheese)
• 6 grams saturated fat (again, it has cheese)
• 31 grams carbs, 2 grams from fiber
• 2 grams protein

Salad Bar Dressing

Not all dressings are created equal. For Jason's deli, the five healthiest dressings (in order of health) are....

1. Leo's fat free Italian dressing. No carbs, fat, or sugar and 10 calories.
2. Light Raspberry Cabernet Vinigarette. 60 calories, 4 grams fat, and 7 grams carbs (all from sugar)
   
3. Organic Balsamic Vinegar. 60 calories, no fat, and 12 grams carbs (all from sugar)
4. Balsamic Vinaigrette. 120 calores, 12 grams fat, 4 grams carbs (all from sugar)
5. Light Ranch. 140 calories, 14 grams fat, 4 grams carbs, 4 grams protein

There we go! That list should last you at least a few weeks on the eat out list.