Tag Archives: oats

Rethinking the Classics

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Forget pumpkin pie, think pumpkin cheesecake oats!

Because there’s no way any piece of pie could be better than this bowl.  (Well, key lime pie, but we are talking seasonal here!)

cooked

  • 1/4 cup oats
  • 2/3 cup liquid (50:50 mix Unsweetened Silk Almond Milk and 1% milk)
  • 1 medium banana
  • ~1/3 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 pinch salt

topped

  • 1oz cream cheese
  • 2 tsp brown sugar

Readers, even if you don’t listen to another word I say, please, please try this bowl!  You bring your liquids to a low simmer, then carefully stir in the rest of your ingredients.  Stir continuously with a wooden spoon (breaking up the banana with the back of your spoon) until most of the liquid is gone and you’ve reached the consistency you like.  Then top and give the entire bowl a 20second spin in the microwave to get the toppings nice and melty.  The banana endows this great sweetness, the sugar starts to brulee, and the cream cheese gives the perfect amount of tang.  It is life-changing.


So seriously, try it and report back!

On the agenda for today –

  • a single nutrition class (it’s a 2hr class and we scribble furiously the entire time, there was no way I was going to try to miss and make it up)
  • a group meeting to discuss a project
  • finding some last-minute additions to our nieces’ x-mas gifts
  • picking up the husband from school
  • a blog giveaway
  • packing, x2 (I told the husband I’d pack for him if he cleaned the shower)
  • a mini workout
  • dinner out

On the agenda for the holiday –

  • we drive to Ohio early Wednesday morning to have turkey with my grandparents
  • then on Friday we drive to PA for a second celebration with my in-laws
  • and Sunday we make the looooong drive home so I’m back in time for my huuuuuge Orgo test on Monday

What are your plans for Turkey Day/weekend?

Three Sets of Cookies

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Man, oh man, has it been an interesting day!  Many ups and downs and LOTS of time in the kitchen.  This has to be an extra long post to fit in all of the crazy!

I started things off this morning with a pot Wegman’s eggnog flavored coffee.

I had two big mugs with a sprinkle of nutmeg and lots of skim milk.

The coffee made me feel so full that I never got around to breakfast, which was a good thing because I spent the morning immersed in Orgo Lab work.  I got so much done that I had extra time to play this afternoon (also a good thing!).

In addition to schoolwork I spent some time in the kitchen.  Many blogs have led me to believe that you can turn this –

into coconut butter with some food-processor loving.  25minutes later here’s what I got –

Not quite what I was hoping for.  This was actually my 2nd failed attempt; the last time I was afraid I didn’t blend long enough so I decided to give it a second go.  Well, today I processed for 25minutes (10minutes longer than all the recommendations I’ve read) and I still didn’t reach creamy perfection.  I did, however, make my food processor very, very hot, so it seemed like time to quit.

I was feeling down about my failure when I realized that I could still turn my pulverized coconut into something amazing!  I got so excited I wanted to get started right away, but that would have meant missing Orgo and Anatomy and since I skipped class two weeks ago to catch up on Grey’s Anatomy that seemed like a bad idea 😉

Instead I grudgingly ate lunch.

Progresso Chicken Tortilla Soup (bought with a free coupon from BlogHer).

This was just spicy enough and very satisfying.  More on that in a minute though…

I also had a small Sweet Tango apple and a serving of Garden of Eatin’ Blue Chips.

Yums all around, the Sweet Tango was so crisp and juicy.

Sadly, lunch ended up turning into a massive fail, as I spent the next 45minutes throwing up  😦  I have an intolerance to some (not yet identified) food preservatives and apparently the canned soup contained an offender.  Side note – if random additives don’t make you puke I still highly recommend the soup!

I headed to class and when I felt 70% better at 3pm I headed to the gym.  I realize that sounds a little crazy, but it’s been practically a month since my last workout (!!) and I’ll be damned if a can of soup is going to keep me off of the treadmill!

I walked for 3minutes to warm up, ran/sprinted until I reached 2miles (17.5minutes), then walked another 5minutes to cool down.  All total – 25minutes and 2.3miles.  All the while thinking of cookies.

I walked home from the gym and wandered down Elmwood gathering my needed ingredients.  After a quick trip to Wegman’s it was time to get baking.

My yellow stand mixer, wedding gift love!

I hunkered down in the kitchen and ended up churning out three different varieties of cookies!  I tweaked/created the recipes to accommodate my pulverized coconut surplus and achieved success!

First, an attempt at Jenna’s macaroons with coconut subbed in for almond meal.

Plus some cinnamon cream cheese frosting.

To make Coconut Mini Macaroons with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling (recipe at the end of this post).

Holy creative culinary masterpiece, I am so proud of these cookies!  This was my first time using my stand mixer, my first ever attempt at macaroons, a recipe combo I thought up on the spot, and these little beauties are so tasty!  Mine are not as pretty as Ms. Eat, Live, Run’s, but there is no way hers are any more delicious!

Next, I made a batch of American-style coconut macaroons.  I followed this recipe from Cooking Light, but used 2cups of pulverized coconut and full fat sweetened condensed milk.

They don’t look anything like the original (and they spread a little bit) but the taste was fantastic!  If you like coconut but don’t like the stringiness of traditional macaroons I highly recommend trying this variation.

I had extra batter (just coconut, flour, vanilla and sweetened condensed milk) so I poured in ~2/3 cup of oats to make some no-bakes style cookies.

Coconut Oat No Bakes?  These were awesome as well; I might make a batch of batter again sometime just to create the no-bakes!

I did a meal’s-worth of snacking while baking alone (assume ~2 of each cookie), but I still took the time to make a snazzy dinner for the husband, bazam!

Mushroom and Sausage Ragu with Polenta from Cooking Light.  I used plain button mushrooms and subbed in 12oz of Al Fresco Roasted Garlic Chicken Sausage, but other than that I stuck to the recipe.

Delish!  This was rich and creamy and meaty but not too heavy.  I think the sauce will be even better leftover.

This won’t be as early of a bedtime as I’d hope for my 10 day challenge, but with the amount of kitchen productivity I had today I’ll take it!

Have you ever made macaroons (either kind)?  Are you comfortable going your own way with recipes or do you prefer to stick with the book?

My version of the cooking recipe follows.  I know the instructions seem lengthy, but these are deceptively simple, and definitely worth the effort!

Coconut Mini Macaroons with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling, makes about 25 mini sandwiches

for the macaroons

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup pulverized sweetened dried coconut*
  • 2 large egg whites, room temperature
  • 5 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 drops green food coloring

for the filling

  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon extract
  • 4oz 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese, softened
  • 1 drop red food coloring
  1. Preheat the oven to 350*.  Line three baking sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Combine powdered sugar and pulverized coconut, mixing to achieve a homogenous mixture.  Whisk if needed to eliminate any lumps.
  3. In a large, clean bowl with the speed set on high (speed 8 on Kitchen Aid stand mixers) whisk the egg whites until they are foamy.
  4. Add granulated sugar and food coloring and resume mixing on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks are formed.  Watch carefully; if you overmix the air bubbles will be destroyed and the mixture will curdle.
  5. Working in two batches, use a spatula to fold in the coconut mixture.  Do not overmix.
  6. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag, or a large baggie with the tip of the corner cut off. 
  7. Pipe small circles, evenly spaced onto the baking sheets.  Each cookie should be between the size of a quarter and a sliver dollar.  You can use the tip to flatten/spread the batter; peaks or “kiss” shapes will keep the sandwiches from sitting flat.
  8. Bake for 12minutes at 350*.  Do not open the oven door during baking.
  9. Wait 90 seconds after removing from oven, then carefully peel the macaroons from the parchment paper and set aside to cool.
  10. Meanwhile, prepare your filling.  Combine all filling ingredients in a medium bowl and beat 1-2minutes until smooth.
  11. Identify sets of two cookies that are similar in size.  Spread a thin layer of filling on a flat (bottom) side and sandwich macaroons together.
  12. Store uneaten cookies (if there are any left!) in an air-tight container.

Plug, Plug, Plug

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Is everyone having a good weekend?  In spite of my vacation status I was actually super busy working all day, plugging away at my homework.  I got a lot accomplished, but that’s not to say I didn’t have some fun too 😀

For breakfast I dug into the oatmeal packet stash I brought with me.

This wasn’t all that filling, but thankfully we ate on my niece’s schedule so lunch and dinner both came a bit earlier than usual.

After breakfast we all headed to the Y to watch my niece’s cheerleading practice; it was a ton of fun to watch the little girls be active.  The lunch choice was less exciting, more fast food.  I went with another grilled southwest chicken salad.

This just wasn’t as thrilling the second day in a row, I ended up leaving more leftovers than usual.

Normally I would be totally bummed to have to have McDonald’s twice in 2 days, but this definitely helped to soothe my pain –

You better believe Adam and I both spent some time on the jungle gym with our niece!

Honestly, all that crouching and climbing actually felt like a pretty good workout!

The fun continued with some bowling, but I had to pass in favor of being an uber-nerd…

Don’t judge the girl on her laptop in the bowling alley, I completed an important assignment!

Dinner took us to Adam’s favorite Mexican place on the planet.  I’m less of a fan because the vegetarian options are lacking but he was so excited that it was worth it.  I ate my fair share of chips and salsa.

And for my meal my vegetarian plate came with 1 chile relano, 1 cheese enchilada, and rice and beans.

It was basically a big plate of cheese.  Yum/yuck!  I demolished my chile relano but let the husband take home 1/2 of my enchilada and 2/3 of my beans and rice.

Normally I’d been all junked out after that dinner but Michael found me jalapeno poppers with cream cheese and there’s no way I was passing that action up.

Soooo worth my months’ long obsession with getting my hands on cream cheese jalapeno poppers!

I completed all of my assignments for one of my classes, I got to run around with my niece, and I got some ccjp; ’twas a great day 😀

What’s the strangest place you’ve ever worked?  Shock me- bowling alley, poolside, a wedding?!

Squashing My To-Do List

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When Adam and I were miserable, teaching in New York, we would escape in entertainment.  I genuinely believe that “Scrubs” saved our sanity (and our marriage!) during our first year.  During our second year, things had gotten much easier but they were still much harder than we had ever imagined.  On Sunday nights, when none of our plans for the week were complete and things felt hopeless because even after we stayed up all night writing them we’d still never get to teach the damn plans, one of us would say it – “Do you want to see what’s playing at the movies?“

Something was always playing.  And if there hadn’t been I’m pretty sure we would have convinced ourselves that something from the previous week was worth rewatching.  Our studio apartment was on the corner of 2nd Avenue and the movie theatre – a fabulous revamped spot with a galaxy of stars sewn into the carpet and classic movie posters lining the walls – was on the corner of 13th.  Those eleven blocks, and every single store and restaurant along the way, are forever etched into my memory.  No matter how we felt before the decision to see a movie, that walk always felt hopeful.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

But times have changed.  Now I’m in a Dietetics program (that I quit my job career to join), and letting Adam talk me into seeing “Paranormal Activity 2” (I hate scary movies) at 9:10 on a Tuesday night is just a bad idea (a really bad idea).  But that’s what I was doing yesterday!

Thankfully, today I really did get it together and I managed to take care of my to-do list.  My eats were nothing if not unorthodox and I can’t help but credit that in my success at actually taking care of business.  Should I have chocolate for breakfast every day?

Because that’s what I did today.  I let Adam gobble up most of the homemade pb cups, but this one was special.  A layer of chocolate and a layer of butterscotch, sandwiching a layer of crunchy peanut butter?  Oh yeah!

Breakfast’s dessert was significantly healthier.

Yesterday I roasted this delightful orange acorn squash with a teeny bit of honey and salt.

And today all I had to do was reheat and mash with a bit of Smart Balance Light.

Sort of like mashed potatoes, but a thousand times better.

For lunch I crunched through Anatomy with a bag of baby carrots and sliced Empire apple.

Btw – after the curves I scored an 89 on the Orgo test and a 74 on Anatomy.  I need to step up my Anatomy game for the remainder of the semester (I do, however, have a 96% as my Anatomy Lab current class average!).

Adam came to study with me between classes and Orgo lab and generously shared a few bites of pizza with me.

When I realized that I was actually considering punching him in the face and trying to make a break for it with the pizza I deemed it time for an early dinner.

Huuuuuge chicken burrito.

We took a quick walk around the ‘hood on the way home (glorious!), so 4 hours after my burrito I had dinner, part 2.

Low fat plain yogurt topped with 1/4 cup gingerbread granola, 2tsp maple syrup, a sliced plum, and a sprinkle of unsweetened shredded coconut.

I need to remember this combo in December, it felt very ‘visions of sugar plums.’

Maybe you’ve noticed my lack of gym time?  My plan/goal is to smash my to-do list over the next 4 days.  Whether I succeed or I fail in that endeavour, I’m returning to the gym come Monday!

Do you ever escape in entertainment?  How often do you go to see a movie?

Save the Second Bowl

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We had a great Halloween last evening, cozy and creepy, exactly as it should be.  Sitting on the couch, eating nachos, watching “Hocus Pocus;” pretty much perfect!  But I guess that holiday’s over…

Smashing pumpkins sans Billy Corgan aside, my excitement level was high this morning.  I knew in advance, breakfast was going to be good.

For the most part I tend not to follow blogland trends.  My cabinet is not stocked with chia seeds and I’ve yet to find the obsession allure of almond butter.  But when Kath describes something as “oat batter” I know it’s time to get on-board.

My smoothie contained

  • the 2nd serving of yesterday’s oats
  • 1 medium frozen banana
  • a splash of vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • ~1/2 cup skim milk

In addition to being tasty, this kept me full so long that I didn’t even want to eat lunch before I headed to class!  That’s not to say I wasn’t starving when I got home at 3:30 😉

I made myself a snack plate very quickly.

A sliced apple,

and 1.5 servings of Sahale Snacks Sing Buri Cashews.

I also ate a serving of these Pillsbury Sweet Moment Caramel Chocolate bites (free via coupon from BlogHer).

I wasn’t expecting to be a fan, but these were pretty good.  You know how sometimes cheap cakes have that granular sugar mouthfeel?  I know a lot of people find that gross, but I love it.  Anyway, these had that.

On a more serious note, I want to remind you to take care of your health.

In order to keep your boobs safe, I’ll give you a close-up of mine –

My mom sent me this “Save 2nd Base” shirt from a fundraiser she attended a few weeks back.  I sported it to school today, and I just wanted to remind my readers that you (or a loved one) should be feeling you up each month, for safety!  Just don’t try to give me a pink ribbon…

Did you get to watch Hocus Pocus this year?

Happy Halloween

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We haven’t done loads of studying (I have another test on Friday), but it has been a good day.  Besides, Halloween is about eating loads of crap, and I’ve done that!

Have you ever had Halloween oats?

This was actually my first attempt at making a double batch – I’m doing something very fun with the second bowl tomorrow! – and I think it went well.  For two bowls I stovetop cooked 2/3 cup oats, 1 & 1/3 cup liquids (a mix of skim milk, unsweetened Silk almond milk, and water), 1 banana, and a pinch of salt.  And then in honor of Halloween I topped today’s bowl with the last vegan pumpkin pecan blondie.

Delish!

Brunch/the first half of lunch were turkey corn dogs from Jimmy Dean.

And then I brought out of my salad leftovers from last night.

A little soggy, but still good!

I also split a bag of cheetos with the husband.

And what’s the 31st without candy?

Mmmmn!

Have you eaten any Halloween candy yet today?

Alternative Night

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It’s been a strange sort of day ’round these parts.  Very glad it’s almost Friday!

Things started off quite well, with a shockingly good bowl of oats for breakfast.

Cooked: 1/3 cup oatmeal, 1/3 cup each skim milk and water, 1 medium banana, ~1/3 cup canned pumpkin, and a pinch of salt.

Topped: 1 Tbsp each chunky peanut butter and butterscotch chips.

This was ah-MAZE-ing!  I don’t know if it’s the stove top cooking, the banana, the extended cooking time, or what, but my recent attempts at oatmeal have been my best yet.

The texture of this bowl reminded me of tapioca pudding (creamy with bits of chew) and the banana turned into banana clouds of awesomeness.

Awesome as it was, I could not finish this bowl.  Even with only 1/3 of a cup of oats, the banana, and the pumpkin, plus the decadent toppings were just too much.  I ended up leaving a couple of bites behind.

You can be sure I picked all of the banana clouds out first though 😀

And from breakfast things went downhill…..  My Anatomy quiz went ok, and lab was no more frustrating than usual, but halfway through class I was unbelievably nauseous.  I felt like I was going to throw up and I was light-headed and queasy.  The sick feeling continued all throughout the day, at one point in my food lab I actually had to go sit down.

I’m not sure what exactly caused it, because I’m feeling ok now.  Too much sugar for breakfast?  Hunger?  Residual effects from my flu shot?

Call my crazy, but in spite of my quease-factor I pushed through between classes and made a visit to the gym.  What?!  I went to school dressed in gym clothes and I wasn’t about to “waste” a day without a cute outfit!  I did 30 (difficult) minutes on the elliptical, random, level 6.  Those 30minutes were the best I felt all day!

I did feel significantly worse once the gym-high wore off though.  Extra bad news for me, a group in food lab made cheesecake today and I was too sick to eat it 😦  I did have to take a few bites of my group’s experiments, but nothing photoworthy – 3 bites of grilled cheese with different processed cheeses and small bites of puddings made from a mix and whole/2%/1%/skim milk.

I dragged myself home after lab and parked myself on the couch.  Sidenote – I have a deeply ingrained habit of rocking myself back and forth when I’m sick I and it drives the husband crazy!  Around 5, when he was fully ready to throttle me, I redeemed myself by pulling out a coupon for this –

ColdStone has debuted fall flavors!  I got a “small” cup of cookie batter and caramel apple ice cream (swoon!) with some caramel Ghirardelli mixed in.

I know it sounds insane but I felt so much better after I ate this!  I think my nausea at that point was just hunger.

Revived, I decided to do an “alternative” sandwich for tonight’s dinner.

The Wafflewich!

I used a serving of Van’s Berry Boost Waffles as my base, and sandwiched chicken salad (stewed chicken from Tuesday, mayo, pickle relish), a slice of melty Colby cheese, and a drizzle of maple syrup in between.

The waffles got a bit mushy when I microwaved them to melt the cheese, but other than that this was delicious.

Tomorrow?  The final night of Sandwich Week, a ton of school work to make up in the early morning, and some vegetables!

What “alternative” sandwiches have you created?

Thanks for “Finding” Us!

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Growing up in the Caribbean means I spent years studying the Arawaks and the Caribs, so I’m more inclined to think that Christopher Columbus is a monster than a hero.  However, a free Monday off from school?  I’ll take it!

Unfortunately the morning started off like this –

I wasn’t even taking a shower; I was about to wash my face and I felt creepy for some reason so I checked in the shower!  Thankfully I’d already brushed my teeth, so I went all Zena Raid Princess, sealed off the bathroom, and washed my face in the kitchen with one of the face wipes I use for travel.

My heart felt like there was a axe-weilding murderer in the shower instead of a hairy bug so I turned on Pandora and did a bit of quiet stretching.  I’m keeping yoga duds on all day so I can squeeze in mini workouts around my studying.

Around 9 I headed into the kitchen.  First things first, I had to prep some tofu for tonight’s dinner.

I wanted to get this done early because I’m marinating the tofu and wanted to give it ample time to bathe.  Note – even when I’m marinating, I always press the water out of my tofu first.

Since I was in the kitchen anyways, I decided to (finally!) try my hand at a bowl of stove top oats.

Oh. My. God!  How have I not been doing this?!?!  I actually don’t think microwaved oats are terrible, but this was just so much better!

I cooked a 1/2 cup of oats with a 1/2 cup each skim milk and water, and a medium banana.  Then I topped my bowl with a serving of butterscotch chips and a dollop of chunky peanut butter.

To die for, for real.  Even without the toppings the banana made the oats perfectly sweet and the texture wasn’t sticky or gummy at all.  Delish!

I (per usual) didn’t get much done this weekend so I’ve got to hit the books hard.  See you for lunch!

Do you get the day off today or are you reading this at work?