Pumpkin Oatmeal Casserole

I love this time of year, the smells of the season, pumpkin and cinnamon are two of my favorites that remind me it is time for the holidays!  I was searching for some clean eating holiday recipes, as I am wanting to change over my "dirty" recipes for Thanksgiving and Christmas to be "clean"!  I came across this recipe and it looks AMAZING!  How can you go wrong…OATMEAL and PUMPKIN!!  I literally could eat oatmeal for every meal of the day, especially steel cut oats!!!

Here it is…I found this recipe from The Gracious Pantry blog and can't wait to make it very soon!!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Casserole

(Makes approximately 12 servings)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/2 cup pecan pieces
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, no sugar added
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups steel cut oats
• 1/2 cup golden raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a casserole dish (9×13), blend together the almond milk, pumpkin, pumpkin spice, honey and vanilla. Stir gently until completely combined.
3. Add the oats, pecans, cranberries and raisins. Stir briefly to combine.
4. Bake for 45 minutes or until the casserole is soft and cooked through.

* Recipe from The Gracious Pantry

A Weekend Away!

I just realized that this never got posted last week…so here it is!  :)

I'm sitting here on an airplane coming back from Deep Creek, Maryland, with over 4 hours of time to reflect on my weekend away.  It was a time spent with new friends, fellow coaches and just all-around great women!  I am the kind of person who LOVES meeting new people.  I seriously get excited to meet others and learn their stories.  I know there are so many people NOT like that, so sometimes, yes, I know I may seem crazy to people.  But, it really energizes me!

I got in on Friday afternoon into Pittsburg, PA and drove to Maryland with 2 other coaches who also flew into PA.  The evening was spent just getting to know each other, there were about 20 gals who were on this leadership retreat.

Saturday, we woke up and had breakfast together...I was able try some REALLY good new recipes.  First was a delicious Breakfast Oatmeal Bake, and the other was a Baked French Toast!  The best part about these is that they were HEALTHY and CLEAN recipes!  So, yes...I had a bit of both and they were SO yummy!

     

Clean Eating Breakfast Oatmeal Bake

   

Next it was time for some small breakout sessions and team building activities.  I love learning and developing as a person.  It is so important to continue to learn new things and grow as an individual, no matter what you are doing!  This Saturday morning was perfect for that.  I learned more about blogging, social media, and just more personal development!

As an added bonus, I was blessed to be in the cold crisp fall weather that the East Coast brings with beautifully colored fall leaves and even some snow on the ground!!  We don't get that in Southern California!

What was the last thing you did to recharge yourslef?  It doesn't have to be a trip away to be able to be recharged, it can be as simple as taking a bath, reading for 20 minutes, going for a walk/run by yourself.  Take time out this week to recharge YOU!  As women, we forget to do that.  For me, this was a weekend away that recharged me and I'm ready an refocused on what I need to do for my family, kids, and business.

If you don't recharge, you'll burn-out.  Find some fuel to recharge yourself today!

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken

I am a HUGE fan of the slow cooker.  It is a life saver for me and my family (if we want to eat dinner at night!).  I've always been a collector of slow cooker recipes and this is on of my family favorites…it's a winner with my hubby and my kids!  I love to serve this over brown rice and with a side of veggies!

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 TBSP fresh lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp chicken bouillon
• 1 tsp chopped fresh parsley

Directions

•  Put everything in the crockpot and place on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.  

I like to prepare mine and stick it in a freezer bag and freeze it, then pull it out and place it in the crockpot frozen and cook it for about 8 hours. 

Serve over brown rice with a side of veggies!  I like to shred our chicken before serving over the rice!
ENJOY!!