Tag Archives: oats

Coconut Combats Crazy

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2011 is going to be my year, but so far it has not been my January.  Something about having nothing pressing to do means I’ve done absolutely nothing.  Days on the couch would be exciting, if I hadn’t just come off a year of unemployment.  Plus, even though nothing is urgent, I have tons of crafts I was exciting about pursuing.

I’ve decided the remedy is to make today a day of nothing …. nothing but fun activities.  I’ve got tomorrow to run my upcoming school errands and finally go to the gym.  Today’s agenda includes

  • reading a new cookbook
  • a big pile of magazines
  • working on my magazine binder project
  • baking
  • our first real dinner since we got back from the city

When I rolled over and saw that I was still in bed at 10:40, I knew that breakfast brunch would have to be something special to ensure I didn’t get into a slump.

Done and done.  A creamy, perfect bowl of stove top oats topped with excitement.

The oats included 1/2cup each skim milk and water, 1tsp vanilla, a pinch of salt, 1/3cup oats, and 1 extra ripe banana.  Then came the toppings.

A smidge of coconut oil.

Found, finally, way on sale in the “ethnic” aisle of the grocery store.

Candied walnuts.

I know I can’t resist these so I made a single serving batch – 15grams chopped walnuts, 1tsp real maple syrup, and a pinch of salt; in the 400* oven for 5minutes.

The finished bowl ended up being so satisfying.

Every time I eat stove top oats I’m reminded of how I should make them more often.  I’m not 100% on the coconut oil, it’s very reminiscent of candle wax, but I’m excited to try it again.

Off to tackle my day of nothing!

Have you tried coconut oil before?  What is your favorite use for it?

Almost Done!

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I’m done!  Well, almost done; I have a presentation tomorrow morning but it’s so easy I can basically say – “I’m done!”

This morning started off with a seasonal favorite,

nog overnight oats.

Last night I mixed together 1/4 cup oats and 1/2 cup Silk Soy Nog, and this morning I stirred in a Yoplait Fiber One Vanilla yogurt and a healthy shake of nutmeg.

Topped with Christmas sprinkles, of course.

I headed to campus early today, I was on foot and I wanted to make sure I had time to return my book rentals and gym it before my exam.  Book buy-back was a total failure, but the gym was a success.  I took my notecards to the treadmill for 45minutes of brisk walking on a slight incline.  2.6miles later, and I knew my stuff.

Sort of.  My exam was pretty polarized – I got a definite 100% on all the cumulative material but I’m pretty sure I failed all of the new material.  Which is extra embarrassing because the new material was on reproduction.  I failed an exam on the menstrual cycle?  Way to be a 25-year-old FEMALE, Emily. 

Also fun?  When you fumble on the treadmill and your “vagina” notecard goes flying back into the cute boy working out behind you and he has to get off of his elliptical to bring it to you.  “Oh god, I have an Anatomy exam today!  I’m not studying up for a sex change, I swear!”  Way to make it less awkward, Emily.

I had a short break between the my exam and meeting with my presentation group, so I dug into my lunch from home.

That baggie of carrots was consumed alongside Monday’s sandwich twin, Arnold’s Whole Grain White Sandwich Thin, 1 slice 2% Provolone, 3 slices Applegate Farm’s Turkey Bologna.

Good lunch, good meeting, quick walk home, and I’m done!

A question for the females (Adam knows more than me and it’s embarrassing, so no men allowed) – if you had to take an exam on your reproductive cycle, how do you think you’d do?

No Complaints About the Food

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Today was – – – tiresome?  It wasn’t a terrible day, but I certainly have a lot of complaints about it!  I woke up to the realization that I’m getting sick, I felt sick all day, we were so busy all day that I couldn’t study for Monday’s two finals, and in the midst of not studying I found out that I got a B in my Anatomy Lab…  Boo.

One thing I have no complaints about is breakfast.

Kath‘s oat smoothies are genius!  And my holiday twist was pretty darn smart too 😉  This was a leftover serving of oatmeal, 1 frozen banana, and 2/3cup Silk Soy Nog, with a healthy shake of nutmeg.

Mmm-mmn!  The nutmeg totally took it to Christmas morning.  So did these pepermint flavored Now and Laters.

And then I was out of the house for the rest of the day.  We had lots of errands and doctors appointments, all of which moved like molasses.  Adam has a birthday tomorrow (25!) and I’ve got an idiopathic bone lesion.  Fun.

Lunch from Wegman’s salad bar was a bright spot.

But since I didn’t eat “lunch” until 4pm my hunger was so out of control that this barely filled me up.

A slice of buffalo chicken pizza was soon to follow.

Not gonna lie, this slice of pizza was not cooked and I went ahead and ate it anyway.

Adam headed to a coffee spot to study after the grocery, but I knew my best course of action was to get myself into my pjs and tuck into a large bowl of vanilla bean with caramel sauce.

Yep.  I’ll be on the couch if you need me!

Goodness

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I ended up not having a bowl of ice-cream last night – though I did have two handfuls of dark chocolate almonds – mostly because I was so excited about this bowl:

I’d been excited about breakfast for 12-straight hours and I was not disappointed!

I started by whipping up a double batch of stove top banana oats.

That’s 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 banana, 1 pinch salt.

After I removed tomorrow’s serving (I’ve got an oat smoothie in the works), I stirred in ~1/3 cup low-fat cottage cheese.

Plated (bowled?), topped with strawberries,

and a Nutella spoon.

<– Goodness!

My ‘nana-berry-cheese-nutella oats were muy bella.

I’m loving the texture of that cottage cheese and you really can’t go wrong with nutella.

And now I’ve got a warm/full belly for my 20* walk to school!  I have a couple of meetings, my final Anatomy class, and a trip to the gym planned before my Orgo Lab shut-down at 6pm.  I made an ice-cream date with the husband, which means he’ll be picking me up; thank goodness!

When it’s snowy and icy outside do you walk or drive?  If you are normally a walker, what temperature drives you to your car?

We actually have a 2nd car now, but I didn’t purchase a parking pass for my school so instead it’s turning into a snow drift.

Nog Makes It Nice

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I love egg nog.  Like, a lot.  If I wasn’t so obsessed with keeping holidays within their “slots” I’d probably drink it year round.  But then there’s also that whole ‘fitting into my pants’ issue.  Which is what makes this product so amazing.

Silk Soy Nog.  95% as tasty as the original, and the nutritional stats are 95% better than the original.

It is so fabulously tasty, and healthfully low-fat that it even works well as a breakfast staple.  Overnight oats anyone?

Soy nog overnight oats are so good that I’ve basically stopped eating regular o.n.o. the rest of the year!

Yesterday evening I stirred together 1/3cup oatmeal and 2/3cup Silk Soy Nog and put them in the fridge overnight.  This morning I stirred in 1 Low Fat Vanilla Stonyfield and a dash of nutmeg.  Topped with holiday sprinkles, of course!

Packed into a go-cup for the car.

I ate in transit so I could cram for my test once I got to school.  I think I did pretty well, ~B, there were a few questions on there that we had not covered at all in class so that was frustrating.

My schedule today was class – break – meetings – break – evening class.  I used my first break to study for my upcoming Anatomy practical.  Fueled by Reese’s Pieces.

ET made me do it!  I ate about half of this bag, or approximately 1.5servings.

Just in case you aren’t sure that I’m a dork, I have to show you that I was taking my notes with a peppermint scented red and green striped pen –

‘Tis the season!

My meeting concerned the application process for the program I’m applying to (due the first week of the spring semester) and gave me major anxiety.  I have a lot to do over Christmas break.

My plan for the second break was to get a veggie sub and study for Orgo.  Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that “a little bbq sauce, please” was code for “please dip my entire sandwich in sauce, thereby making it impossible to eat and work at the same time.”

That messy monster contained green pepper, red onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles, pepperjack, and bbq sauce.

Sidenote on the sandwich – what I really wanted was an enchilada burrito from Taco Bell.  I hate most fast food but, not gonna lie, I sort of love Taco Bell.  But I recently realized that just because Taco Bell isn’t McDonalds (eww), doesn’t mean that their chickens are any tortured.  If I only buy “humane” meat to cook at home then I shouldn’t eat “evil” meat just because I’m not at home.  Obviously there are road trips and restaurants and other people’s houses, but I should probably be done with Taco Bell 😦

My night class went quickly, and then I came home to a quick but random dinner.

Actually, we were both starving, so while we cooked the husband and I split a quicksadilla (that’s a tortilla with sharp cheddar microwaved in it).

When I was at my grandparent’s house for Turkey Day, they served the tastiest brussels sprout dish.  I wrote down the recipe – by Cat Cora for a magazine – to make again when we got home.

3 lbs brussels sprouts
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 Tbsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp capers

Prepare brussels sprouts by peeling off the outside leaves and cutting off the steam.  Using a paring knife, mark the core where the stem was with an X.  Cut the sprouts in half.
In a 4-qt saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil.  Season with 1 Tbsp salt.  Blanch sprouts for 10minutes or until fork-tender.
In a 10-inch saute pan, brown the butter and add sprouts.  Cook over medium-high heat until caramelized, 10minutes.
Remove from the heat and add the capers and lemon juice.  Season with remaining salt.
Serves 8.  Per serving: 130calories, 5g protein…

I have to warn you about my entrée – it tasted better than it looked.

There was a serving each left of kugel and hoppin’ john…

…so I put them together!

The sweet and spicy mix was actually very tasty.

I’m almost definitely going to have a repeat of last night’s dessert (vanilla ice-cream with strawberries and homemade caramel sauce) but I have a few assignments to tackle so I’m going to say “goodbye” to blogland now and switch into work-mode.  See you in the am!

***Via random integer generator, the winner of my OhNuts! giveaway is #8 –

Yvonne, please e-mail me (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) so I can get you your prize!

Deck the Halls

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Christmas time is here…

Well, not quite, but we are watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and we decked the halls so it’s feeling pretty festive around here.

We don’t have much in the way of decorations (and we didn’t even put them all out), but even a few little touches will help you feel seasonal.

Even my breakfast felt a little special.

I made the traditional stove top oats (with 1/4 cup oats, 1cup skim milk/Silk almond milk, a pinch of salt, and 1 banana) and stirred in ~1/3 cup each canned pumpkin and low-fat cottage cheese.

Topped with some coconut “snow.”

Yummy, yummy.  Although somehow I made waaaay too much; I left almost half of it in my bowl.

We’ve got a lot of work and fun on the agenda, got to get to it!

Have you decorated for the holidays yet?

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my OhNuts! giveaway!

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.