Healthy Bites: Cookie Dough Overnight Oats

Two healthy recipe posts in a row? Uh oh! You might be able to tell, but I've been majorly focused on my personal training, and wellness business in the works. Yes, you read that right. This is MY YEAR, and I am the one calling the shots. So I've been training, creating, and pushing myself past limits that I thought were set too high for me to reach. It's funny how we are always looking at others and saying, "well I can't do that," instead of saying "why can't I?" YOU CAN! I tell my kickboxing class all the time, you are capable of more than you think you can do! It's just a matter of pushing past our thoughts, and going for it.

I've been testing some healthy recipes out in the kitchen. I'm always one to follow a recipe, but once you have the basics down, you can pretty much mix and match ingredients to really make something new and delicious. I'm a huge fan of cookie dough, and if I could eat cookie dough ice cream every night before bed without it affecting me, I would. So I figured what's better than going to sleep, waking up, and eating cookie dough? Few things come to mind. So I've perfected that sweet cookie dough taste in overnight oats!

Cookie Dough Overnight Oats [1 serving]

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
1 tbsp plain or vanilla greek yogurt
1 tbsp almond butter
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
splash of maple syrup
pinch of salt

2 tbsp chocolate chips/cocoa nibs

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in mason jar, except for chocolate chips and shake well.

2. Place in refrigerator overnight.

3. Add in chocolate the next morning; mix in and sprinkle on top! You can leave it out to get room temperature, or enjoy right out of the fridge!

4. Grab a spoon and enjoy!

Healthy Bites: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Overnight Oats

I've been challenging myself to make more recipes from my Tone It Up nutrition plan. I've had the plan for awhile now, but I haven't made too many of the recipes... mainly because they require a lot of ingredients that I just don't buy. I'm determined to try more healthy recipes out though, so I have more meals to choose from, and ultimately more meals to make my belly happy. While I enjoy routine meals, and don't mind having the same thing every day, it's nice to change it up once in awhile and find new meals that I enjoy. 

The other day I tried out the Overnight Oats. I had never made them before, so I was interested to see if I'd even enjoy them. I wasn't a huge fan of oatmeal a couple of years ago, and now it's a staple in my cabinet for breakfast. I figured overnight oats wouldn't be much different, but oh I was so wrong. Overnight oats are delicious, and are a combination between cereal and oatmeal... at least to me. So when the recipe was a hit in my books, I took it upon myself to wander on Pinterest for yet another overnight oat recipe. If you know me, you know I LOVE all things cookie dough, so I found a cookie dough overnight oat recipe. However, I didn't have the one ingredient that probably makes it taste like cookie dough (nut extract), and so I ended up throwing a bunch of ingredients together, and it came out tasting like chocolate chip banana bread. 

I don't usually create recipes on my own, mainly because if it turns out bad, I just wasted a TON of ingredients, and there goes my money down the trash. I tested my limits though, all the while thinking I couldn't make these taste bad, not with all the tasty ingredients I was adding. So here you have it... 

Let me know if you make the overnight oats and how they turn out! 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Overnight Oats

Ingredients:

1 cup oats

1 cup unsweetened original almond milk

1/2 ripe banana

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp PB2

Splash of maple syrup 

pinch of salt

pinch of sugar

2 tbsp chocolate chips 

Directions:

1. Place banana in a bowl in microwave for 30 seconds. Mash banana. 

2. Mix all ingredients (except for chocolate chips) in mason jar & shake it really well (with lid on).

3. Place in refrigerator overnight. 

4. Add chocolate chips the next morning; mix in & sprinkle on top! (Let it sit out to get room temperature if you'd like).

5. Dig in with a spoon and enjoy! 

Cookie Dough Greek Yogurt

I'm always, always in the mood for an after dinner treat. I'm not sure it's because that's how I was raised (after you finish all of your dinner, you get dessert), or because I just have a sweet tooth, or two or three, but every night that I go to sleep with dessert, I'm a happy camper. My absolute favorite dessert has to be ice cream, and frozen yogurt comes to a close second. Even in the dead of winter, I am always suggesting to Sal that we go and get ice cream. I've been pretty good with watching how much ice cream I consume in any given month though, and I haven't been craving it as often, but when I found a recipe for a healthier version of my favorite ice cream, I couldn't resist.

 I was scrolling through Instagram, when I came across a, what seemed to be, delicious treat - cookie dough greek yogurt. Once I saw it, I knew I needed to raid my fridge to see if I had all of the ingredients, and lucky enough for me, that day I just happened to have them all. There aren't many ingredients, which makes this dessert even easier to make, and when you taste it, it will be worth all of the effort you put into making it. It doesn't taste exactly like cookie dough ice cream, but it comes pretty close, as close as you can without all of the added fat and calories.

Cookie Dough Greek Yogurt by The Suburban Girl Gone Country

yield: 1 serving size

Ingredients: 

1 small container of Fage 2% greek yogurt

1 tbsp nut butter (I used almond butter)

1 tbsp sweetener (I used stevia)

1 tbsp mini chocolate chips 

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Take open container of Fage 2% Greek yogurt, and mix in nut butter. 

2. Add in sweetener, and vanilla extract. 

3. Stir in chocolate chips, and sprinkle some on top! 

No Bake Cookie Dough Bites

If you know me, you know that I'm obsessed with all things cookie dough... and if you don't know me, well now you know. So whenever I find a cookie dough recipe of any kind, I always want to get in my kitchen, bust out my Kitchen aid, and bake, bake, bake. I was always in the kitchen baking just a few years ago, but then I started to watch what I was eating... I mean my hobby was great and all, until I started to realize that I would be one of the many people to eat these delicious treats, especially because the baker must taste test! It quickly became a problem, and I started to use Pinterest to find alternative sweet treats, that were still just as sweet, but healthier! It was easier than I thought it would be. I was also able to find plenty of healthy recipes on Tone It Up, and that's where I found this featured recipe: No Bake Cookie Dough Bites.

Remember how I said I love cookie dough? Well I was determined to make these; however, I feared that they wouldn't taste like cookie dough bites. My fears were null and void when I took that first bite though, because they tasted JUST LIKE COOKIE DOUGH. I couldn't believe it. These bites quickly became a staple for my after breakfast snack at work. They're easy to throw in a plastic bag, and go. If you're like me and always on the run, then these are definitely great to make for the long work week!

No Bake Cookie Dough Bites by Lauren Conrad

yield: 12

Ingredients: 

- 2/3 cup raw cashews

- 1/3 cup oats

- 2 Tbsp agave syrup

- 1 Tbsp pure maple syrup

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1/4 cup sweet cocoa nibs or dark chocolate chips

{opt. 1 scoop Perfect Fit Protein}

Directions:

1. Combine oats and cashews in a food processor and grind into a flour- like consistency. 

2. Add agave, maple syrup, and vanilla, and blend again until smooth. 

3. Transfer your dough into a mixing bowl and stir in the nibs or chips by hand. 

4. Roll the dough into 12 chocolate truffle sized balls. Enjoy or refrigerate!