Peanut Butter & Fig Overnight Oats for Vegan Wednesday--Plus some "Name Dropping" ;)

Hey guys and gals!  As happens from time to time, I have quite a few posts I want to write, but not enough time to do multiple ones.  (I'm sure many of you can relate!)  To try to conquer that, I'm going to combine a few in one.  My dear friend @heart-to-heart has so graciously told me previously she doesn't mind me piggy-backing my #veganwednesday submission with another challenge, so this week I'm tying it in with the #steemitnamechallenge. I think you might agree the two challenges actually go hand-in-hand for me.  The latest #veganwednesday post is here: https://steemit.com/veganwednesday/@heart-to-heart/winner-winner-no-chicken-dinner-veganwednesday-challenge-week-16-starts-now

I was nominated last week by @deerjay to do the name challenge in this post.  There have been a few really neat challenges that have gone around, but this one was one I definitely wanted to join in on since my username contains no part of my actual name.  It is kind of funny to think that I have gotten quite close with some of the wonderful people on here without actually knowing first names. :)  Here are the challenge instructions copied from @deerjay's post:

This challenge was created by @felobtc who was inspired by @lymepoet!

Here are the rules:

Tell us in a post how you chose the current Steemit username you have and the story behind it.

Tell us your real name!

If you could change your current username, which name would you choose and why? If you have a possible usernames list, mention it!

Use the tag #steemitnamechallenge so that the creator of the challenge can track all the posts and check them out.

Nominate 5 people for this challenge.

I actually agonized quite a while over picking a name when I started blogging.  I knew I wanted to focus on food and fitness, so at the very least I wanted a name that blended those two facets of my life together.  For whatever reason I am also drawn to alliteration.  Rolls off the tongue nicely, I suppose.  Since I focus on a whole foods, plant-based vegan approach to nutrition "plants" was an obvious pick.  From there I went though my list of "p" exercises and planks ended up being a nice fit.  I also truly feel that eating this way has enhanced not only my overall health but also my athletic performance, so plants really do lead to better planks for me. ;)

My real name is Katie.  Just Katie.  I think my parents may have had some premonition when they were choosing a name for me in sticking with something simple as I try to instill simplicity in my life as much as I can.  It's not short for anything as many people have asked throughout my life.  I think @dksart had originally suggested I pick a name like "Katie's Kitchen" for my blog, but there are a lot of variations of that already in use.  My other top contender was something like "beetsandburpees", but I'm pretty happy with the moniker I ended up with and have no plans to change it.

There are some really interesting usernames that I'm not sure if I have seen the origin of, or just don't know if I recall seeing these folks real names so I'll throw out nominations for @deadgrlsuppastar, @primersion, @birdsinparadise, @hangryginger, and @anthrovegan.  Feel free to join if you wish! :)

I think that's a sufficient intro for my #veganwednesday submission. :)  My pal @nicoleslife and I seem to be on trend this week with some overnight oats (check out her post).  I love any breakfast option that is easy yet so versatile.  You can make so many different options that they never get old.  I love peanut butter and jelly, so my version this week very much reminded me of a slightly more grown up version of a childhood classic.  Though this is healthy enough for kiddos old enough to eat solid foods, as well.

Peanut Butter & Fig Overnight Oats

• plant milk of choice
• rolled or steel cut oats
• chia seeds
• natural peanut butter--just peanuts!
• dried figs (can use fresh if you're lucky enough to have some)
• black mission fig balsamic vinegar

I love a mason jar for oats, especially the ones with the units of measure on the side.  I fill mine with plant-based milk up to the 6 ounce mark.  Then I add 1/2 cup of rolled oats and 1-2 teaspoons of chia seeds.  The peanut butter I used a scant tablespoon in each jar, a teaspoon of the vinegar (you can omit but it added some extra figgy goodness), and one chopped up dried fig.  Let sit in the refrigerator overnight and eat cool or warmed up the next day!