Kath Eats Real Food

a healthy food, nutrition, and lifestyle blog

Create Peace

For the first time since August-ish, I’ve got nothing on my to-do list today except “wrap presents” and “watch movie.” Ahhhhhh.

The Baker had to be at work this morning at 7:45, so we were up early. I sat with him while he ate a breakfast of eggs and toast and sent him on his way (I wasn’t hungry yet so I waited on breakfast).

After he left, I got that yoga craving again. I crave that lengthened feeling I have after a few poses. So today I tried YogaDownload’s Gentle Hatha Yoga I.

I FOUND IT!!!!!!!!!! The perfect yoga for me! This 20 minute session was totally awesome:

  • It was perfect for a beginner
  • The pace was just fast enough to not get bored but slow enough to follow
  • The instructor has a soothing voice that I really liked
  • The background music was great
  • The poses challenged my stiff cardio-loving muscles in just the right way for the right amount of time (hello Half Pigeon pose!)
  • We ended with Savasana (I’m learning the vocab!) which is my favorite way to end yoga (laying your back in total relaxation)
  • It left me wanting more (a first!)

I think I might pay for the 30 minute session and will definitely try the other classes similar to this one.

After yoga, I made perhaps the most wonderful bowl of oatmeal I have ever eaten:

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Butterscotch Toffee Pumpkin Oats

  • 1/3 cup oats, 1% milk, water, 1 medium very ripe banana, pinch salt
  • 1/3 cup Libby’s pumpkin, stirred in at end
  • 2 tbsp wheatberries, stirred in at end
  • 1/2 tbsp pumpkin butter, swirled on top
  • A circle of butterscotch chips
  • A half tbsp or so of toffee pieces
  • A melty spoonful of Barney Butter

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The flavors, the chew, the toppings, and the volume were all perfect. I’d estimate this bowl at about 400-450 calories. 

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My Barney Butter melted while I took my photos so I just swirled it on top for a change

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Plus coffee –

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I DVRed the movie Love Actually last night and am working through it. It’s a great “get in the Christmas mood” movie (I also love The Holiday with Cameron Diaz and Serendipity with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale). Love Actually’s opening monologue is so beautiful and uplifting –

“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion is starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed. I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the twin towers none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge. They were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love, actually is, all around.”

I hope you all have a great peaceful Sunday 😎

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  1. ooooooooo love actually is my 2nd fav holiday movie after ELF.

    at our wedding, they are going to play ‘all you need is love’ when we kiss, like they do in the movie!

    and the scene when the little boy dashing down the airport for the american girl always gets me!!

    have a great day!

    Reply

  2. That is the second reccomendation I have heard for Love Actually in the same number of days. I must rent it!
    Your oats look delish.
    Hatha Yoga is my favourite!

    Reply

  3. i love that movie 🙂 and the other two you mentioned, too! my favorite christmas movie of all time will always be “a christmas story”, though 🙂

    Reply

  4. Hi Kath,

    I’ve lurked on your blog for a long time, but figured it was time to jump in–especially since today you’re highlighting one of my favorite movies: Love Actually.

    Love, love, love your blog! Your healthy lifestyle and embrace of good, well-prepared food are really inspiring and speak exactly to the things I care about. Thank you for such an excellent blog.

    Reply

  5. Love Actually is such a great movie, and I play the soundtrack often at this time of year.

    Your oats look great, and I am looking forward to trying out some of those combinations soon.

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  6. Ah, that is my absolute favorite movie – especially at this time of year!

    Definitely, Maybe is pretty cute too if you’re looking for more sweet, romantic comedies.

    Reply

  8. You should rent Home for the Holidays. It’s from like 1995 and it’s hilarious. Cast includes Holly Hunter and Robert Downey Jr. Sometimes you can catch it on cable, but it’s definitely worth renting! We do every year. And those oats look amazingly awesome!!

    Reply

  10. I watched Love Actually last night and it is my absolute most favorite movie! I can watch it many times over and swoon. I always thought it was so well rounded, especially when Liam Neeson’s character Daniel finds out about his stepson Sam’s love, and asks him about the girl, “or guy.” I woke up this morning wanting to watch it again! Enjoy your peaceful day!

    Reply

  11. Beautiful oats!

    Love Actually is me and my friends go-to Christmas movie, in fact, we were thinking of drinking wine and watching it tonight! So uplifting 🙂

    Reply

  13. Hi Kath! Yay for relaxing days! I look forward to some of my own soon. Someday. LOL.

    I bookmarked the yogadownload page to check it out! Thanks!

    I have an almond butter question for you! I am a HUGE peanut butter fan. I’ve tried almond butter but it doesn’t really have the same appeal. I’m wondering if the brand makes a difference. What makes you like Barney Butter? Any other brands you recommend?

    Reply

  14. Just a warning on the 30 min class from yoga downloads – if it’s in the same series, it will be the same class plus 10 extra min. (Which may not matter but I thought each class in a series would be different, and that’s not always the case) Glad you found one you like!

    Reply

  15. Thanks for the yoga video link! I will be trying this one out. Yoga bores me easily as well.

    HOLY MOLY! Those oats are fabulous!!!

    I love The Holiday! I saw it twice in theaters, it’s so cute =)

    Reply

  16. thank you for the “love actually” quote- i really loved it when i had watched the movie and kinda forgot about it 🙂 the oatmel looks a-m-a-z-i-n-g! yummo! (i am currently watching some racheal lol…)
    have a lovely and relaxing day!

    oh, and thank you for getting rid of the “more” feauture. there are many blogs i just can’t get into becuase of that feauture and i was sad to see it on yours because your blog is pretty much my favorite!

    Reply

  23. “Love Actually” is probably one of my most favorite christmas-time movies. It has every form of love you can imagine – romantic, unrequited, parental, first, true, physical, friendship, brotherly… I cry everytime because I’m overwhelmed with the message of how love truly is “all you need”. Enjoy!

    Reply

  24. Hi Kath – I’ve been reading your blog almost daily since June (!!), so can you believe this is my first comment? Anyway, love the site – I’ve tried so many of your recipes and you have inspired me to try so many things.

    Question for you/the husband: My husband too brews beer all of the time. I showed him your labels and commented how cool I thought they were. How do you print those?

    Keep up the good work – I love it!!

    Reply

  26. Wow that is some serious drool oatmeal! I like both those movies! I saw Love Actually for the first time in spanish, in madrid, and even though it was english it felt like home–despite a few jabs at the US.

    Enjoy the day!

    Reply

  27. That oatmeal looks SO GOOD! I had a really awesome Chocolate Pumpkin porter beer the other night, it was awesome, and I couldn’t help but to think of KERF while drinking it.

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  28. Love Actually and Seredipity are two of my favorite movies! I always cry at the end of Love Actually when they show the real footage of people at the airport, they all look so happy!

    Reply

  29. Kath, I loved that movie! It’s so sweet and my idea of true love!

    So glad that you’ve began your journay on yoga. Those classes on yogadownload.com are really nice. Enjoy them all ^_^ they definitely worth your money (I’ve purchased many 60 min vinyasa classes)

    Reply

  31. Your mention of August made me realize that’s about the time that I started following your blog…. and that made me think it would be neat to have a reader poll sometime (maybe for your next contest?) asking people to comment on when they started reading and how they found your blog. I’d be curious to read how and when others found their way here! 🙂 (I followed a link from the forums on the Runner’s World for your baked oatmeal bars, and have been hooked ever since! 😉 )

    Reply

  37. I love watching people great one another at airports! It’s one of the reasons I like to park and go into the airport when I can, instead of just picking up my arriving loved one at the curb.

    Reply

  40. Liz ,
    Thanks for your comment!

    Jen ,
    Yes, I think there is a lot of variation by brand. Try MaraNatha’s No Stir Almond Butter if you don’t want to order BB yet. I liked that one a lot. Barney Butter is more roasted than others, which is it’s charm.

    BethT ,
    Yeah, I guess I could just do this one twice, but those 10 minutes seem to have a few more key poses. For $3-4 it’s probably worth it.

    Jessica ,
    Thanks for the comment! For the labels he paints it by watercolor, scans the original onto our computer, shrinks it down to a standard label size and prints them out. There are tons of different kinds of labels at office stores. I don’t think it’s a special beer kind – I think it’s just a package label or something similar.

    Greta ,
    Oh my! What brand?

    Alison ,
    Great idea! I am shocked when people tell me they’ve been reading about my life for over a year. Sometimes I forget I am even blogging!

    Kath

    Reply

  41. Hi Kath,

    I have been reading your blog for a long time now, but never made a comment. I felt compelled to de-lurk after hearing you talk about Love Actually; it’s one of my favorites and I’m going to watch it again tonight! Anyways, I love your blog and your healthy attitude about food and exercise! I used to never eat oatmeal and now I eat it almost everyone morning thanks to all of your creative suggestions and combinations! I also think you and your husband are so cute!

    Reply

  43. I’ve been doing yoga every day for the past two months, and I love it. I started with 20 minutes, and am now doing 60 minutes. I like yogatoday.com, yogajournal.com podcast, and recently yoga to the people podcasts. yoga to the people is full of power yoga, heart-warming sun salutations and really strengthens the core.

    Love, Actually has been on my holiday viewing list every year since it came out. I truly, truly love this movie!!

    Reply

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