steel cut oats

A post about oatmeal?

I eat it every day, so why not.

I just love this stuff so much I think everyone should at least give it a try.

When I started my new diet last year (40 lbs. ago) I stopped eating regular cereal for breakfast (aka Captain Crunch). For a long time I ate plain shredded wheat with skim milk. I lost most of my weight with that as my breakfast. After a while I switched over to plain oatmeal.

Instead of getting sick of it, I LOVE IT. I look forward to a steaming bowl every morning, and seriously the only thing I usually put on top is some wheat germ. I have also given 5-grain and 10-grain cereals a try. YUMMY, YUM, YUM.

So I thought I would let you know that this stuff is wonderful, and let you know it is also easy to cook. Steel cut oats have kind of a satisfying little nutty texture like a tapioca or acini de pepe. And it keeps well in the fridge so you can make a bunch and eat it every morning for a couple days.

Also BUY BULK! It is so much cheaper to get a big bag of this at Winco that to buy a little container of it off the shelf. It is a bit more expensive than regular oats but the serving size is half of that of regular oats so really you get twice as much.

Directions for Cooking Steel Cut Oats:

The ratio of oats to water is 1:4

1/4 cup dry oats is one serving

Bring oats and water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Make sure to stir it occasionally to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Serving suggestions: In the picture I put some banana slices and sugar-free maple syrup on it.

Another delicious treat is to put on some vanilla yogurt like Dannon Light and Fit and top with berries. That is like a dessert to me.

good and hearty pancakes

These are my new favorite pancakes. These take a little more time than my regular whole-wheat pancakes but they are worth it. They are dense, moist, and hearty, and I love that they have whole wheat flour, oatmeal, and wheat germ in them.

One thing about wheat germ that I just discovered: buy it bulk. I bought my first jar at Walmart for almost $4. I just refilled it from Winco bulk section for about 25 cents. Quite a difference.

Oatmeal Pancakes

(taken from recipezaar #13372)

Serves 4

2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I fill up my liquid measuring cup with almost 1/4 cup of applesauce and then top it off with about a tablespoon of oil and it works great)

My two additions for flavor:

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. In bowl, pour milk over rolled oats; let stand for 5 minutes.

2. In another bowl, stir together flours, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

3. Beat eggs and oil (applesauce) together; add o dry ingredients along with the milk/oats mixture, stirring just until mixed. (If it is too thick at a little more milk)

4. Cook on large skillet or griddle.

5. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake and cook for about 2 minutes or until bubbles on top break but do not fill in, and bottoms are golden and set.

6. Turn over and cook for about 30-60 seconds longer, or until set.

The recipe recommended serving with peeled apple slices that have been sautéed in butter and brown sugar and kept warm. (sounds good to me)

I like it topped with applesauce or fruit.

Or there's always maple syrup.

Wonderful Whole Wheat Waffles

I an unashamed to admit I love waffles. I could eat them for every meal. And dessert.

This is a really fast and simple recipe that works every time.

Favorite Waffles

Adapted from "Favorites" the Ivory family cookbook

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (you can use white if you must)

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup canola oil (I have substituted applesauce with great results!)

2 tsp cinnamon (more or less, I just dump some in)

1 tsp vanilla (more or less)

Mix ingredients well and bake in a hot waffle iron. Top with something yummy. (My favorite is half a banana sliced up, sugar-free syrup, and some light redi-whip)

Enjoy!

Irish Soda Bread

I made this for the first time this St. Patrick's day after a search for a great recipe. I don't know how this compares to other recipes, but it was DELICIOUS so I don't think I'm going to go searching for any others.

It has a thick crispy/chewy crust and a dense moist middle. It was very sweet and good. This would be a perfect bread for a brunch and I will be using for much more than St. Patrick's day.

The recipe came from allrecipes.com submitted by penguin lady.

Irish Soda Bread

1/2 cup white sugar

4 cups all-purpose flour (I believe I substituted whole wheat flour for half)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

3 cups raisins (that is A LOT of raisins. I put in 2 cups and that made it packed with raisins still.)

1 tablespoon caraway seeds (left that out)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 inch round cast iron skillet or a 9 inch round cake or springform pan.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour (reserving 1 tablespoon), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins, and caraway seeds.

3. In a small bowl, blend eggs, buttermilk and sour cream. Stir the liquid mixture into flour mixture just until flour is moistened.

4. Knead dough in bowl about 10 t o 20 strokes. Dough will be sticky.

5. Place the dough in the prepared skillet or pan and pat down. Cut a 4x3/4 inch deep slit in the top of the bread. Dust with reserved flour.

6. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 65-75 minutes. Let cool and turn bread onto a wire rack.

Here's a phot of our St. Patrick's day spread:

Irish Soda Bread Muffins

Again another gem from Taste of Home.

2 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon sugar, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup dried currants or raisins

In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda and the caraway seeds. In another bowl, beat the egg, buttermilk, butter and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in currants.

Fill greased muffin cups three-fourths full. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack. Serve warm. Yield: 1 dozen.

Healthier Banana Bread

I was trying to find a better alternative to my favorite banana bread recipe which is scrumptious, but contains a whole stick of butter.

I found a muffin recipe that I thought might work. I also reduced the sugar in it, substituted wheat flour for part of the white, and added vanilla. Really there wasn't a noticeable difference from my other banana bread recipe as far as taste or texture go, and my family ate a whole loaf in one sitting.

Healthier Banana Bread

(adapted from a muffin recipe in the Favorites cookbook)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream sugar and oil well. Add eggs and mashed bananas and beat. Add flour, soda and salt. Pour into greased pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes for small loaves (it baked 3, 7x3 1/2)

(It would probably make 2 medium loaves or 1 large loaf. Increase bake times accordingly.)

(also makes 18-24 muffins, bake for 18-20 minutes.)

(UPDATE: I just made this again the other day and substituted applesauce for all of the oil. It was a little more dry, but still very yummy.)

Sticky Buns

Okay since we are putting on our favorites from and pretty much comfort food I will put the recipe on that helped me win the YM/YW cookoff back in my mutual days. No I am not putting the Toxic Waste Jello Salad (but that would be pretty cool since tomorrow is Halloween), I posting Stinky Buns. This is one of the easiest (obviously since I can make it) and yummiest (I won the cookoff and my gourmet minded friend wanted to know how much time and effort went into these delicious little marvels because she loved them soooooo much). So here we go.

• 12 frozen Rhodes Dinner Rolls (you could make the rolls yourself, but why really)
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine melted (one stick)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 package cook and serve butterscotch pudding

Place the rolls in a bundt pan (I use my Pampered Chef Stoneware Fluted Pan and it is perfect.)Melt the butter (I have found the least messy way is to put it in the microwave on defrost for a while. You all probably know this little trick, but since I am the least domestically inclined of all us, I thought I would share this superb trick.) Mix the brown sugar and pudding into the butter and drizzle over the top of the rolls. Cover pan and let sit over night to allow the rolls to raise. Then I just follow the baking instructions right off the Rhodes Rolls package, it is just perfect. Here is to happy cooking and more delicious seasonal recipes!

Ham and Broccoli Quiche

This was a very easy dish to prepare, and though the kids had qualms at first, once they tried it they liked it. Though the pie crust makes this so its not as healthy as it could be, we all agreed that was the really tasty part. I found this recipe through a google search for a ham and broccoli quiche and it didn't have any credits. Thank you to whoever.

Ham and Broccoli Quiche

1 package pillsbury prepared pie crusts

1/2 lb. ham

1 cup chopped onions

16 oz. frozen broccoli

5 eggs beaten

1 cup milk

1 cup swiss or monterey jack cheese (I had neither of those so I used cheddar)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray 2, 9" pie pans with Pam and press in the pie crusts. A 9X13 also works, you just have to trim the crusts to fit into it.

Brown onions in a large skillet.

The recipe didn't say anything about thawing the broccoli so I stuck it in with the onions for a while when I beat the eggs and grated cheese.

Stir the onions and broccoli together with ham and cheese.

(I also made one addition at this point by putting in a layer of sliced zucchini at the bottom)

Layer ham/broccoli mix in next.

Stir together beaten eggs and milk and pour over the top.

I pressed the crust down to the level of the filling at this point so it wouldn't get to crisp.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. (Mine came out great at 45)

Sorry if my instructions are a little muddled because I only copied the ingredients and basics down and gave you instructions of what I did.

We served it with ketchup and salsa to convince the kids to eat it, but I liked it just the way it was.

Try it, you'll like it.

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

These were very simple and very yummy. I made them mini-muffins because I love smallness. I got the recipe off of recipezaar because I had some bananas that were past their prime.

• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup quick oats
• 3/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup ripe banana, mashed (about 2 bananas)
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 egg

Directions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 400.

2. 2

   Grease a muffin pan.

3. 3

   In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and soda.

4. 4

   In another bowl stir together oats and yogurt, stirring in banana, oil and egg.

5. 5

   Stir mixture into flour mixture and stir until moistened.

6. 6

   Put in muffin pans and bake for 20- 25 minute until done.

Low Fat, Chewy Fruit and Oatmeal Bars

These are part cookie, part breakfast-bar from a recipe on the Quaker Oatmeal container. They are still chewy and delish even though they are low fat. I don't believe they are low calorie though because I want to keep eating and eating them. I used 1/2 whole wheat flour this time and may try going to all whole wheat. My next step is to try using splenda to lower the calories, but the kids may start complaining at that point. They didn't notice the 1/2 whole wheat flour.

LOW FAT CHEWY FRUIT AND OATMEAL BARS

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

8 ounces of plain or vanilla low-fat yogurt

2 egg-whites, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. fat free milk

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used 3/4 wheat 3/4 all purpose)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3 cups Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked) (I used old-fashioned)

1 cup diced dried mixed fruit, raisins, or craisins (I mixed raisins and craisins)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, combine sugars, yogurt, egg whites, oil, milk and vanilla, mix well. In medum bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add to yogurt mixture; mix well. Stir in oats and fruit.

2. Spread dough evenly onto bottom of ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan.

3. Bake 28 to 32 minutes (I love that odd exactness; not 27-31 minutes or 29-33, but I'm just weird.) or until golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack. Cut into bars. Store tightly covered.

That's it!

Johnsonville French Toast Bake

(I haven't tried this one either, but it sure sounds interesting)

1 package (12 oz.) Johnsonville brown sugar and honey breakfast links
12 eggs
1 can (30 oz.) pumpkin pie filling
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
15 slices of white bread, cubed
Confectioners' sugar
Maple syrup

Cook sausage according to package directions. Cool slightly; cut into 1/4 in. slices.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, pie filling, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla.
In a very large bowl, combine sausage and cubed bread.
Add pumpkin mixture; stir to coat. Transfer to a greased 13 x 9 dish.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 35-40 min. or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Dust with confectioners sugar.
Serve with syrup.
12 servings.