My Progress Morning Routine + Quinoa Breakfast Bars
Why a morning routine?
1. Wake up, drink a glass of water and make my bed. Time Dedication: 3 minutes
2. Journalling/Morning Prayer/Affirmations: Time Dedication: 5 minutes
One of my besties Racquida introduced me to journalling late last year, and honestly, it is one of the most calming things ever. On top of that, she bought me this adorable journal! I love to write a few thoughts out, and to write down three things that I am grateful for that I can’t buy/don’t cost money (I first heard this from Mattie James). It really helps to set my priorities and brings me into a state of appreciation. After journalling, I say a quick prayer thanking God for the day, and that I know it’ll be an amazing day! If I need to, I say some affirmations – “I am enough” “I can and will conquer today” “I am doing important work” to get my confidence up. Depending on the day I’ve had, I’ll journal right before bed too to get all the thoughts out.
3. Meditate: Time Dedication: 10 minutes
Oh, meditation! I mean, I could go on about this forever, so I wrote a separate post addressing it. Needless to say, this ten minutes in the morning reminds me to be mindful (so necessary for me!), to respond instead of reacting, and to remember that even on hard days, I can come back to a place of peace and calm in my mind.
4. Exercise/Yoga: Time Dedication: whatever fancies you
5. After I’ve showered, I make some matcha latte. Time Dedication: 5 minutes
I love matcha latte !! It takes like 2-3 minutes for the water to boil, one minute to add the ingredients to my blender and another 1 minute to blend it all together. It has almost 100% replaced my coffee habit, and helps to keep me energised while keeping me really calm. I love using my Silk Protein Nutmilk in my matcha latte for a boost of protein in the morning. Adding more protein into my mornings actually ties into one of my 2018 self-love goals, so this helps to get me on the right track already. What this means is that I get 5g of protein in my matcha latte (I use ½ cup milk) thanks to the Nutmilk, which is an amazing way to start the day. You could even replace the ½ cup water and use a full cup of milk to amp that up to 10g protein!
6. Breakfast Time! Time Dedication: Anywhere from 1 minute to as long as you can
Then I start my day! See? Not difficult, and super grounding. After a morning routine like that, I feel like I can do anything!
Tips For Starting Your Own Morning Routine:
- Test it out, and try a few different things! Don’t feel like you need stick to something because you think you should. I tried several different practices in the morning before sticking to one routine that quickly felt natural to me. Play around, and do what feels good.
- Don’t become a slave to your morning routine. Let me say this – I LOVE completing every single step of my morning routine. However, if I have an early morning appointment, or something else that must be done, I might skip some steps, or rearrange them. Maybe I’ll do yoga in the evening instead, or journal right before bed. The whole point is that, let me say it again, it makes you feel good. It shouldn’t make you feel stressed, or make you late! Being flexible with it is okay, and not something to feel guilty about.
- Start from the night before. I totally get that if you’re not working from home, adding a morning routine on top of your scrambling breakfast and packing lunch may seem impossible. If you always feel like you’re rushing, create a to-do list the night before of what you need to do the next day, including what can be done the night before. Can you maybe pack lunch the night before? I find that creating a list every night anyway helps make the next day go better. I know for a fact that my brain can’t think of a nice and logical list while I’m rushing!
- Don’t skip breakfast. No matter what your routine is, breakfast is a crucial part of it. If you’re like me and want to have a high protein breakfast, then using Silk Protein Nutmilk is the easiest way to go. In just a cup, you’ve already added 10g to your dish.
I hope you enjoyed this post! What do you do in your own morning routine? I would love to know!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk! The opinions and text are all mine. Thanks so much for supporting the brands who support Jessica in the Kitchen!
Quinoa Breakfast Bars
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups cooked quinoa
- 5.25 ounces gluten free certified old fashioned oats, 1 ½ cups
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 1 cup Silk Protein Nutmilk
- 2 flax eggs
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons coconut flakes, optional
- 2 tablespoons dried cranberries, optional
- 2 tablespoons cacao nibs, optional
- 2 tablespoons pepitas, pumpkin seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C. Grease an 8×8 baking dish and set aside. In your blender of food processor, grind down the oats.
- In a bowl, mix the “oat flour”, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon together. Add in the quinoa, maple syrup, Silk Protein Nutmilk and the flax eggs. Mix everything together until combined. The batter should be wet. Fold in the coconut flakes, dried cranberries, cacao nibs and pepitas to combine. I like to reserve some to sprinkle on top, or even add more on top. You can even fold in different ingredients here if you’d like.
- Pour the mixture into the 8×8 baking dish and spread until even. Top with your additional toppings if desired. Bake for 25-30 minutes (I did 30) until the bars are set completely.
- Allow the bars to cool. Slice into bars – 9 or 12, and serve! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Although jessicainthekitchen.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, kindly note that these are only estimates. Nutritional information may be affected based on the product type, the brand that was purchased, and in other unforeseeable ways. Jessicainthekitchen.com will not be held liable for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information. If you need to follow a specific caloric regimen, please consult your doctor first.
Awesome routines and you are glowing :-)) These quinoa oat bars look fantastic as well, Jessica.
Thanks so much Angie!!! <3
Thank you so much for sharing your routine. This has been a huge struggle for me for years. Do I dress first, walk the dog and exercise? When to add prayer and my Bible reading? I have established the habit of setting up the coffee the night before (it’s on a timer), setting out my clothes the night before. I am trying to pack my lunch the night before but haven’t been consistent. Also, I make a batch of steel cut oats over the weekend and heat them in microwave every weekday morning. I’m encouraged to give it another try.
Hi Pat,
Oh thank you so much!! I know – it can be so confusing sometimes. I try to say instead – what would make me happy if I did this *one* thing in the morning? Then I add that in. If there’s room for more, I add those in. But the key is to do at least one thing that can improve my morning/get me going for the day. I love the steps that you are taking to get a morning routine and also what you do before bed the night before!! I hope what I said really helps and that you have even better days because of it!
Your routine inspires me! One question I have: In the recipe, you list “flax eggs.” Never heard of this. Can you explain? Would regular eggs work? Or egg whites?
Hi Judy,
Oh thank you so much! These are flax eggs: https://jessicainthekitchen.com/how-to-make-a-flax-egg/ yes you can use regular normal sized eggs, although I haven’t tested them with eggs! I hope that helps!!
Beautifully written article Jess and so very useful. Can’t over-emphasize a morning routine that keeps you grounded. I appreciate that your stressed that your routine should help and not stress you. Excellent point. Looking forward to the next OOTK post.
Aww thank you so much mom!!! I can’t wait to share the next one! <3
Jessica: these bars look delicious. I have one question: what are flax eggs? Can you regular organic large eggs? Thank you for all your blogs, very interesting and inspiring!
Hi Phyllis,
Thank you so much!! These are flax eggs: https://jessicainthekitchen.com/how-to-make-a-flax-egg/ yes you can use regular normal sized eggs, although I haven’t tested them with eggs! I hope that helps!! Thank you so much for your kind comments and so glad you’ve been enjoying my posts!!
…I thought I’d like to make these nut-free so my daughter could take them to school, so I just replaced the nut milk with (…wait for it…) *almond* milk. What a dolt. It’s Mummy-Brain, for sure. Oh well! We’ve really enjoyed these! I use a product called Egg Repalcer by an Australian company called Orgran, and it’s great. So versatile. I’ve been chucking in tons of wholesome add-ins: hemp, crushed nuts, chopped dried fruit, chia, protein powder, banana chips… I even added some stale biscuits that I broke up, because, why not? Thanks for a truly inspirational and unique recipe! …I’m only just dying that I can’t get Silk here in Sweden! I used to guzzle the stuff, and they’ve come up with so many interesting kinds since I’ve left!
Hi Brigittebeans,
Oh gosh haha!! I hope she gets to try these one day too! I totally love your additions so much and your changes too! So glad you enjoyed and thanks for sharing with me!!
These bars sound wonderful. I was wondering what would the measurement be for oat flour as opposed to grinding oats?
Hi Wendy! its pretty one to one in equivalency. So you can just use one and a half cups of oat flour for this recipe. I hope this helps and thank you so much for reading!