Hi, friends!  I’m still working on taking new pictures and republishing old blood posts from my humble beginnings.  This post was originally published in July of 2013 while I completed my dietetic internship at Eisenhower Medical Center in Palm Desert, California.  Hope you enjoy! (Post updated 9/11/16)

There is one good reason why desert people put up with the heat…. the sunsets can’t be matched…

It’s amazing the sunset was that beautiful considering we were swamped with ash and dust from the fire up near Mountain Center, this is what I saw when I walked out of the hair salon…

My heart and prayers are with anyone affected by the fire and for the safety of the firefighters.

On another note (cue the awkward transition) when I got home from the hair salon I was short on time (like I knew I would be) so I popped in a workout DVD I picked up at Target over the weekend and got to it. Since I’m all about order, I did workout number 1, which I guess is meant to be the easiest. I can’t say that I didn’t feel like I worked out, but I can’t say it was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done either. It was just okay. Good enough for me to be okay with and move on with the stuff I needed to do for the night.

Like eat dinner (protein shake and left over sweet potato fries) and prep today’s breakfast… you guessed it, another batch of overnight oats. Although it looks the exact same, it tastes SO different, I used berry flavored greek yogurt for a refreshing summer taste and to bump up the protein content of the breakfast a little. Even if I’m having the same breakfast, it’s nice to switch up the flavors!

Berry Blast Overnight Oats

Ingredient Line Up:

• – 1 6oz container blueberry non-fat greek yogurt
• – 1/2 cup rolled oats
• – 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• – 1 tsp chia seeds
• – 5-6 frozen strawberries
• optional toppings: anything you like, I used walnuts and coconut flakes!

This morning I topped with more almond milk and enjoyed this sweet and creamy refreshing breakfast.  Fresh fruit would be amazing too with all types of berries, but I used frozen for two reasons. First, because I love the syrup it creates when it thaws. Second, because I’m gone so much I’m afraid fresh fruit will go bad. I can still feel good about buying frozen because it is very close in nutrition to fresh. Often fruits and vegetables are flash frozen which immediately preserves their nutrients (unlike canning which destroys many.) Frozen produce is often cheaper and you can avoid waste, so right now it is a good option for me!

Questions of the day:

Find any good at home workout DVD’s or youtube videos lately?

Do you buy fresh or frozen produce, or both?