Ankle and Oatmeal

     So I'm  sitting here this afternoon sipping my teecino and looking at our tree for the last time. It is coming down tonight or tomorrow. This time of year when the tree comes down and the holiday really is over can get depressing, but I am actually looking forward to the next few weeks. If you do not know what happened, I had reconstructive ankle surgery in September. Long story short, my ligaments were too loose which resulted in numerous sprains and chronic tendonitis in my ankle My husband and I are amateur competitive American Rhythm dancers (similar to Latin dancing) and it got to the point where I had to cancel all of my summer competitions because I couldn’t even stand in my heels anymore and my calfs were constantly getting Charlie Horses. Ouch!! Everytime I ran that night or next day resulted in pain. It was something that needed to be done! So in September I went in for surgery, and for a while I looked like this and then I got even cooler when I transitioned to this Yes my nails are painted. My husband painted my toenails to match my crutches which were pink and black leopard (yes I know you are jealous because I have the best husband and I had awesome crutches!). Those crutches were the talk of the town!  So I have had a normal foot with no crutches or boot or anything since the end of October to beginning of September. I am now in PT and let me tell you because I am an athlete, they are making my sessions no joke!!! I am happy to say that I am running now for 5 minutes at a 4.5. It might not sound like a lot but coming from someone who could barely walk a few months ago, I’ll take it!
Now the good news I should be cleared to dance on Tuesday (fingers crossed). I am so excited!! It will be a slow process to come back, but I am ready for it!!
Would you guys like a post on how to eat right and stay in the game when you are recovering from an injury or surgery? I have been told by my doctors and therapists that I am healing so great and ahead of schedule, I would love to share my recovery story with you guys if you are interested.

Recipe of the day

I am an oatmeal freak. I love oatmeal. I eat it pretty much every morning. In fact, I have a go to recipe that I make at least four times a week because well it is really good and most mornings I am on autopilot and need something that I do not need to think about! It is easy and I can pretty much make it in my sleep. To me, breakfast should not be a small meal that you grab. It should be substantial so that it carries you through the day and prevents you from binging later in the day. My breakfasts are usually on the low end about 250 and can be up to 350-375 calories depending on what I am doing that day. This recipe is about 320 calories.
Now if I am cooking my oatmeal in the microwave like in this recipe, I use quick cooking oats because rolled oats do not cook well in the microwave in my opinion. If I am doing overnight, stovetop or baked oatmeal, I stick to rolled oats or quick cooking steel cut oats (which everyone needs to invest in, it is so good!). This recipe was derived from a Banana split recipe I found a long time ago. I prefer to use berries instead of banana and strawberry  and dark chocolate  then milk chocolate so I made it my own. This is like dessert for breakfast and it gives you the healthy indulgence and antioxidants of dark chocolate chips, your fruit, fiber and healthy fats and protein from your almonds! It might be indulgent for some, but it works for me and I find myself not craving sweets after having this in the morning!

Berry Sundae Oatmeal
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
slightly less than a cup of water
1/4 cup of frozen strawberries*
1/4 cup of frozen blueberries*
2 tablespoons of slivered almonds
a handful of dark chocolate chips (I put in about 12 chips)
*You can change the fruit up by using 1/2 a cup of mixed berries instead of the strawberries and blueberries, or substitute the blueberries for raspberries for a new take on the recipe
Directions:
1. Pour the oatmeal and water in a bowl and set aside
2. Place your strawberries and blueberries on a plate and heat it up for about 40-50 seconds until they are not frozen anymore.
3. Place the oatmeal in the microwave with a paper towel over the bowl and heat it up for 1 and a half minutes. Take the paper towel off and heat it for another 15 seconds
4. Take the oatmeal out of the microwave and top it with blueberries and strawberries.
5. Top that with the slivered almonds and chocolate chips. Mix it up and enjoy!
(This is before I mixed it up. When you mix it up the chocolate melts and you get chocolate goodness!)

Sound off….Do you guys have a go to breakfast that you make most mornings? Please share what you have!