Happy Best Month of the Year!

If you didn't get this from the post title, October is my FAVORITE month of the year! As much as I complain about how cold it gets here, I love the chilly fall air, and everything that comes with it! Including my birthday at the end of the month start planning celebrations now. Also, I must give a shout-out to my friend, Caroline for her birthday!

Happy Birthday Caroline!!!

Haha, we've known each other for a while To kick off the October fun, I came up with some new oats this morning: Apple Cinnamon Raisin Oats! With the added egg, it tasted almost bread-like! Soooo good! Try them out! Apple Cinnamon Raisin Oats Ingredients 1/3 cup oats 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup almond milk 1 egg 1/2 T ground flax 1/4 tsp vanilla lots of cinnamon 1 tsp raisins 1/2 apple (any variety) I started off by cutting up the apple into small pieces, microwaving them, adding some cinnamon, mashing them up more, and microwaving them one last time.

Next, I combined the oats, milk, water, flax, cinnamon and egg into the pot

and whisked like crazy to mix in the egg!

Once the egg was mixed in, I let the oats cook for a bit, and then I added in the apples I had prepared earlier.

Once they got to the consistency I liked, I poured them in a bowl! Perfection!

Not my best oats picture ever, but they were so good! It really did taste like some kind of apple cinnamon raisin bread! I've also started a new kind of easy-lunch salad, inspired by Clare at Fitting-it-All-In. She mentions several times that she pre-prepares veggies and then just throws them in a bowl with some dressing. I thought I'd give it a whirl and I'm sure glad I did! It was delicious and perfect when I need something quick but delicious! In the mix: previously baked butternut squash, sliced beets, avocado, chickpeas, spinach and Annie's Ginger Lite dressing. Some of you may remember that at the beginning of September I set some monthly goals for myself! Let's recap: 1. Always be prepared for class. I actually did a good job with this one! I had my reading done for every class and felt generally prepared! Haha, okay if I got called on in Constitutional Law it may have gotten questionable but I tried! 2. Run at least 12 miles a week. I hit this goal! Although this week I won't My knees hurt after my run Thursday and when I woke up yesterday they were much worse. I've decided to push back my 7 mile run to maybe Tuesday. I guess it's better to wait a couple days than injure myself and be out for the season! 3. Resist Calorie Counting. Okay. I'll be honest. Failed a bit at this one. Although I didn't add up whole days, I definitely would find myself adding up breakfast and lunch. It's a hard thing to get rid of! One way, however, that I'm working on it is by not measuring things and just throwing them together - like the salad above! Not measuring makes it a lot harder to figure out calories, and usually it makes me realize what I'm doing so I give up! Other tips are welcome! So now it's time to set some new goals for October! 1. Try at least one new recipe a week. I've been pretty good about making up new recipes, but I want to challenge myself a little more and try some recipes that look intimidating! 2. Go Apple picking! I've been DYING to go apple picking and October is the perfect month to do it! Now I just have to convince some other people that they want to go as well 3. Don't push too hard on training. A problem that I have is sometimes I tend to push myself too hard. I can be really hard on myself and when it comes to exercising, I always think I can do more or do better. Clearly, my knees are telling me to slow down! I am so excited for my 10 mile run in November that I don't want to mess it up by going over board! So my goal is to listen to my body and take a break when I need it, even if my mind doesn't want to! Does anyone else have some goals in mind for themselves? What is your favorite month of the year?