I couldn’t be more delighted to have lounged in bed until 8:30a on a Sunday morning and now be sitting in front of my laptop ready to write a blog post with a cup of coffee and 432 hz meditation music playing. It feels really good to be gently easing back into a blogging rhythm, and the list of ideas I have to blog about is about a mile long. I am feeling a much stronger pull to create here than on social media.

I have months and months of delicious meals to share with you guys, and figured I’d start with a breakfast and morning-themed post since it’s the first meal of the day and we’re coming off of the pumpkin pie smoothie bowl I shared earlier this week.

ALWAYS LOVING YOGURT BOWLS FOR BREAKFAST 

We’ll start with this morning’s breakfast because yogurt bowls are a staple around here. Here’s generally how I build the bowl:

• Yogurt base – either plain or vanilla greek yogurt. This was an ultra-rich 10% milkfat vanilla greek yogurt that I picked up at Wegman’s. 2% is about as low as I’ll go with dairy but I much prefer it in its full-fat version!
• Granola – I switch this out a good bit but favorites include Publix Greenwise Honey Coconut Granola, Purely Elizabeth Original or Cranberry Pecan, Trader Joe’s Salted Almond Honey Granola and ALDI Millville Superfood Coconut Cacao.
• Fruit – I also switch this out seasonally but this bowl had mango, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. I get 80% of my fruit from ALDI. The berries are so affordable there.
• I’ve been sprinkling this Modern Mill Omega Mix on all of my bowls. It’s an awesome blend of seeds, nuts and dried fruit.
• A spoonful of nut butter. This was the Trader Joe’s creamy salted almond butter. I love its texture and salt content.

Here’s that same bowl but with plain greek yogurt and honey and the Millville Coconut Cacao granola. Loved the berries + chocolate mix here.

AN OVERNIGHT OATS KICK

When not eating yogurt bowls, I’ve been all about overnight oats lately but I’ve switched my preparation method. I used to prepare individual servings the night before with yogurt and fruit mixed in. I’m now prepping 3-4 servings at a time in a mason jar with just the milk and oats mixture, and layering that with yogurt and fruit when I serve it. I’m so into this little tower of breakfast deliciousness!

Another one with pumpkin overnight oats. I’ll stay with the breakfast theme and write another post next week with my exact recipe and method!

EGG SANDWICHES

Ever so often I’ll get a craving for eggs in the morning. This was a breakfast sandwich with cottage cheese scrambled eggs and avocado on a ciabatta roll from ALDI.

Buttered sourdough toast with cottage cheese scrambled eggs and blueberries. I haven’t baked sourdough in months and need to get working on my starter and make that happen soon!

BAGEL BREAKASTS

The most INSANELY DELICIOUS egg sandwich. I am not much of a grab breakfast out kind of girl but on Halloween I took myself on a trail running expedition to Doughton Recreation Area. I usually pack my breakfast and eat in the car on the way to the trails but I could not stop thinking about an egg and cheese bagel so I stopped at Poppy’s Bagels on the way out of town and grabbed this egg and cheddar cheese on an everything bagel. It was perfection. Sharp cheddar, a real egg, lots of salt on the bagel. I’ll be stopping by Poppy’s again soon for another one of these!

Another pre-run breakfast of a seasonal harvest bagel from ALDI with butter and cream cheese. Black coffee on the side. I did a five mile tempo run after this!

OMG DONUTS

Finn loves getting donuts from OMG Donuts on the weekends. Sometimes we eat them there and sometimes we bring them home and make a bigger breakfast spread. On this day my niece was in town so we brought the donuts home and I made scrambled eggs, bacon and fruit to go along with. I think OMG has the best donuts in Charlotte. They are so fluffy and yeasty. What I like the most is that the actually dough part isn’t really sweet at all. It creates the perfect level of sweetness once you add the topping. The maple is probably my number one choice.

BEST STORE-BOUGHT CINNAMON ROLLS

Another treat Finn goes crazy for is cinnamon rolls. My hack for taking canned cinnamon rolls to the next level is to bake them in a round pan touching each other instead of on a baking sheet spread a few inches apart. I think it makes the cinnamon rolls not only look more visually appealing but taste a little doughier and moist. Best canned cinnamon roll brand is Trader Joe’s Organic Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls – HANDS DOWN. And we’ve tried a bunch of cinnamon rolls. I think they’re a dupe for the Immaculate Baking Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls and much cheaper.

IN OUR MICKEY MOUSE PANCAKE ERA 

Let’s stay with this theme of fun and delicious breakfasts! Finn is on a big Mickey Mouse pancake kick and I’ve been making a ton of them lately. In fact, thanks to the frequent pancake breakfasts, I have perfected my easy small-batch greek yogurt pancake recipe and will be sharing it here with you guys soon. It’s all photographed and ready to go!

It all started after we had a breakfast date at Eddie’s Place one morning. Finn ordered the kid’s pancakes and they came out Mickey shaped. He was wowed by this and kept asking to go back to Eddie’s for more. I told him I could make Mickey Mouse pancakes at home and he was again wowed and has been requesting them ever since!

PUMPKIN SPICE BANANA MUFFINS

We also baked pumpkin spice banana muffins recently. The recipe is on my blog!

COFFEE CHAT 

Last morning food and beverage related topic…earlier this summer my favorite grind and brew coffee maker bit the dust. Rather than immediately run out and get another one, I decided to make it the summer of the french press. I ended up breaking this glass one which was a blessing because I upgraded to a stainless thermal version. I love french press coffee -both the process of preparing it and the way it tastes.

In the meantime, I received this Moccamaster coffee maker as a gift and finally set it up about a month ago. It’s essentially a pour-over coffee maker and while it feels pretty minimalistic and doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles like automatic timers, it makes a pretty delicious cup of coffee. If you’re a coffee-nerd like I am, here are some key features that set the Moccamaster apart:

• maintains ideal brewing temperature throughout the whole brew
• brews a whole pot of coffee in about 3-4 minutes
• easy to clean – dump the filter, wash the filter basket and wash the carafe
• once simple on/off button
• sleek/minimal aesthetic

I am still grinding my own beans before putting them into the filter, and I think this makes a far superior pot of coffee! You also have to invest in good coffee beans! Lastly, I will always choose a thermal carafe so that my coffee stays warm for hours without having to sit on a warmer.

TIME FOR A LONG RUN 

I am currently training for the Every Woman’s Marathon in New Orleans on February 28, 2027. It’s week three of my 18-week training cycle and I’m about to head out for my long run. I’m aiming for about 9-10 miles today.

Yesterday I spectated the Charlotte Marathon with my crew from The Health Club. It was so crazy not to be out there running but 13 miles was a tad too long for where I am in my current training block. They had a record-setting number of runners this year – 13,000 between the 5k, half and full marathon. It was a gorgeous morning for the race and vibes were so high! Definitely a motivator for me to get out there and enjoy my run today!

THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE

I am so grateful. I hope you all have the best week and you’ll hear from me again in a few days!