Happy Easter-- French Toast Casserole Recipe!

Happy Easter! This is the first time in 3 years that I've been home for the entire Easter break, and it has never felt so good to lounge in my yoga pants. The weather has been absolutely beautiful but given me a bad case of summer fever. I'm counting the days!

I enjoyed the day with my family in which we were blessed with love and grub. We usually cook a dinner feast but this year we chose to dabble in the traditional Easter brunch. Needless to say, I was game. We called up our good friend, Betty Crocker, and borrowed some of her award-winning recipes (what a lady). We tackled a french toast casserole and an garden egg bake (<-- click to check them out). The french toast was a holiday treat and the egg bake was healthy and delicious!

 French Toast Casserole

Garden Egg Bake

Though I'm 22, I am never too old for an Easter basket. Since I was little, every Easter morning my parents would hide my basket somewhere in the house: the bathtub, behind the couch and I think it was once in the oven. To keep the tradition alive, I ran around the house like a giddy child to find my surprise... I must say it took me a while to find it (touche, parents). As I've grown, the contents have changed. Chocolate bunnies have turned to Green & Black chocolate bars, malt balls to Stacy's pita chips, glittery head bands to K-cups and sticker books to a jar of pickles (yes, pickles). The Easter egg hunts are over and coloring eggs has become an activity of the past but I will always look forward to my Easter basket. I am lucky to have such wonderful parents and will pass on the same tradition until my children have children. Happy Easter everyone!

Super Simple Overnight Oatmeal Recipe

Just last week I made a delicious discovery. My boyfriend and I were wandering in downtown DC where we stumbled into The Corner Bakery. Apparently it's a chain and I had no idea! Shame on me because it was fantastic. To paint a picture of this restaurant to those who are not familar with it.. I'll say this: if Starbucks and Panera Bread had a love child, The Corner Bakery would be it. Does that clear things up?

Anyways, I ordered chilled oatmeal. CHILLED!? Who chills oatmeal? Wouldn't that insult the Quaker Man?... but you know what? These cold oats (mixed with yogurt, bananas, cranberries, apples and other yum yums) WAS AMAZING. I can easily say it was in the Top 5 of my favorite breakfasts. How could I've been so naive? I'm embaraased to say the least.

CEREAL FACT ALERT:

According to Quaker, the "Quaker Man" was the first registered trademark for a breakfast cereal... in 1877!

As homange to the Quaker Man, I've created my own cold oats recipe. You only need 3 main ingredients which makes it so easy that a caveman could do it!

Ander's Super Simple Overnight Oatmeal

  what you'll need:

1/2 c rolled oats

1/2 c greek or plain yogurt (I use flavored yogurt to give the oats some zip!)

1/2 c almond milk or any other milk

(if you want to make a larger batch, just make sure the measurements are about equal; ie. if 1 cup oats then 1 cup of milk and yogurt... just eye ball it )

Add-ins:

walnuts (check)

apples   (double check)

bananas

cranberries

    what to do:

mix all the ingredients together well, cover, then place in the refridgerator overnight! Follow the pictures for a step-by-step:

REFRIDGERATE for 12 hours AND....

BAM. Welcome to Heaven in your mouth. Enjoy!

L'Oreal: Are you worth animal cruelty?

Each morning after I wake up, I have a pre-day routine (1) stretch, (2) brush my teeth, (3) make my coffee and (4) plop down in front of my laptop. I was glancing at my Facebook feed when this image was thrown in my face:

This picture was linked to an article about L'Oreal and how the company uses animals to test its products. I'm shocked, disgusted and upset is an understatement. Animal testing reminds me of something out of a SAW movie. I've bought L'Oreal in the past and am so conditioned to see the little rabbit logo on the back that says Not Tested on Animals, did I miss something? I've always made an effort to check labels before I purchase beauty products; I feel cheated in a way. I have a huge soft spot for anything fluffy and cute. Think about if this was your pet...this is not okay.


Plus, if the products are having these affects on animals...what can it do to our bodies?

I decided to do some ameteaur research and this is what I found about L'Oreal:

(1) The L’Oreal company is amongst the world’s largest beauty companies, but is the worldwide leader in animal cruelty.


(2) Many of the animals tests by L’Oreal are on rabbits, dogs, and cats.
      --- BUT..the company has a special preference for rabbits because they are the only animal who can't flush chemicals out of their eyes without using aids like water or their paws.
     --- AND..most of these animals are taken out of shelters


(3) L’Oreal regularly conducts eye irritation tests by securing rabbits so they are immobile while substances are dropped into their eyes (rabbits are used because they have no tear ducts and therefore can’t relieve the stinging and pain).


(4) Poisoning takes place whereby groups of animals are continually force-fed an ingredient until half of the group dies


(5) Animals have their skin shaved and scraped until it’s super-sensitive, then the particular chemical is applied to test skin while L’Real researchers make sure that the animal cannot scratch or remove the substance.

"Although L’Oreal has vowed to eliminate animal testing by 2013, they seem to simply be undergoing a corporate restructuring so as to contract out their animal testing to subsidiary or contract companies that they control (resource)"


This experience has made me more aware of my buying decisons and it is safe to say that I will not be buying L'Oreal make-up in the future. Here are some ways you can stop this awful practice:


(1) Stop supporting L'Oreal by buying its products.


(2) Only buy prodcuts that are cruelty-free and approved by PETA.


(3) Sign this petition to stop L'Oreals animal testing.

Research the companies' whose products you've been buying and see where they stand on animal testing. It may be cliche to say, but think to yourself: are you worth it?

some ramble, nails & food porn

Good news! I am now the proud owner of my domain! IT'S MINE! No longer must you slave over the .blogspot when typing in the URL (I know it gives my fingers a break). I am officially eatsimplylivehealthy.com. Boom. 

More good news (what a great day)! No longer do I have to divide my time between Eat Simply. Live Healthy. and my school work! Perplexed? How come, you ask? My new graduate class focuses on social media and self-branding... aka I have to blog for homework! Shucks, this may be the best class ever. Now that I'm assigned to write, I have gotten a bad case of blogger's block. I'm at a loss at what to ramble about...

Well, I got my nails done. The color was called Go Green, but I'm pretty sure that's blue. I thought it was very Easter-ish

In other news, I had a fantastic lunch at my dining hall today! A lot of students knock the cafeteria but I kind of like it....  I also may be biased because I'm a fan of the vegetarian station. I'm aware not everyone is a lover of tofu (or toad food as my friend called it). Below is BBQ marinated tofu over rice and sprinkled with scallions. Come on people, look at that presentation!

And I made pizza for dinner. I quickly realized that my veggie cheese is not an exceptional melter, but I give it 2 thumbs up for taste. I think the spinach gives it a nice touch, dontcha think?

That's all I got, but I think I going to start dabbling in short cooking videos. Thoughts? 

Weekday Veg TED Video

What's better than a hot cup of coffee and some TED? Nothing. Got 4 minutes? (of course you do), watch this talk by Graham Hill on how being a weekday vegetarian can exponentially boost your health!

Happy Thursday!