Yogurt Granola Bowls – in pictures

Banana, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, sliced almonds, granola and yogurt.

Raspberries, blueberries, homemade granola and yogurt. With coffee.

Mostly granola. There is yogurt under there, along with blueberries and banana.

Strawberries, blueberries, granola and yogurt sprinkled with coconut flakes.

Coconut cashew granola, raspberries, blueberries and yogurt.

Banana, blueberries, Kind peanut butter granola and yogurt.

Yogurt on the deck.

Noosa and granola.

Pineapple and raspberries. Chia seed granola. Yogurt.

Blueberries, granola, almond butter and yogurt.

Mostly strawberries.

Lined with blackberries and served in bed.

Deconstructed bowls in our boat.

Blackberries, strawberries, granola and yogurt.

Blueberries, yogurt and granola bowl in the morning sun.

 

Oat and Almond Spice Granola

On Saturday evening I discovered our water wasn’t working. How does water not work you ask? The hot water wasn’t coming out of the faucet at all and the cold water was trickling. There wasn’t enough pressure to flush the toilets. Panic! I called a local small plumbing company solely based on the fact that they were located close to our house. As I dialed I thought “I didn’t ask neighbors for a referral. I didn’t even read Yelp. What’s wrong with me?”. But Mike picked right up, confirmed based on my description that we probably had a pipe burst and told me that he had gone to 20 jobs that day! He agreed to help us come turn off the water BUT he couldn’t do the repair until today. We freaked because WATER. And then we freaked because COST. But we really got lucky. Our water was only out of commission for around 20 hours and the total repair cost under $400 (we had heard “thousands”). I still couldn’t help but think that I could have bought the crib I want for that money. BOO!

In other, less dramatic news, I had granola on my grocery list and completely forgot it. It was either run to the store or sift through the cabinets because I MUST HAVE GRANOLA! I chose to make some while waiting for the plumber.

I made a similar granola a couple of years ago called Spiced Pumpkin Seed Granola. This version is better! The roughly chopped almonds have so much more crunch and flavor than the sliced almonds. Also, the balance of the other ingredients just worked better. I frequently have a issue with homemade granola being either to crunchy/over-baked or too soft. This was the prefect texture and balance of flavors.

The water is back, the dishes are clean and the plumber is paid. Still would have rather have had a crib!

• 1 1/4 cups unsalted raw almonds
• 2 heaping cups old fashioned oats
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• raisins or dried cranberries, optional

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Chop the almonds coarsely and pour them into a large bowl.
• Add the oats, salt, brown sugar, sunflower seeds and pumpkin pie spice into the bowl with the almonds and stir to combine.
• In a small microwaveable bowl, combine honey and coconut oil, and heat for 40 seconds. Stir to dissolve the coconut oil and add the vanilla extract.
• Pour the honey mixture over the oats and stir so that they are evenly coated.
• Pour the oats evenly onto a Silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.
• Bake the oats for 5 minutes and then stir them around. Return to the oven for 5-7 more minutes (I cooked for 7). Watch closely so it won’t burn. (It didn’t look ready to me but I took it out, trusting the recipe, and I’m glad I did. The stated cooking time produces a perfectly crunchy granola)
• Pour the granola and onto a piece of wax paper to cool. Spread it out into a thin layer, about 1/4 inch thick.
• After it cools completely, break the granola into clusters and store in an airtight container.

I adapted this recipe slightly because I only had 2 cups of oats vs. 3. Also didn’t feel like getting the food processor out so I chopped the almonds by hand. Recipe from Lovely Little Kitchen

Buckwheat, Oatmeal Pumpkin Cookies

Devin’s girlfriend, Rachel, came over today and since I’ve been craving cookies I decided to get them to help me! I got everything out and then sat down and gave them directions and snapped pictures.

I asked her to add the dry ingredients a little at a time and she took it literally by adding 1 tablespoon at a time. It was cute but Devin was tired of stirring!

Cookie – cookie – cookie!

• 1 3/4 cups of rolled oats
• 3/4 cups of flour
• 3/4 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ginger
• 3/4 cup of white sugar
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, soft
• 1 egg
• 1 cup of canned pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cups of white chocolate chips

Method

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silpat mat (I used parchment paper).
• Combine the flour, oats, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger together in a bowl. Mix until well combined.
• Using a mixer, beat the sugars together with the butter and egg until cream smooth. Add the pumpkin and stir until well combined. Add the oat mixture into the pumpkin mixture until just combined then add the white chocolate chips until well mixed.
• Drop spoonfuls of the the dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Place into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 2 minutes before moving the cookies to a wire rack to cool. Serve with ice cold milk if desired. Enjoy.

Adapted from For the Love of Cooking

Oatmeal, Nectarine and Banana Smoothie

My new fav smoothie combo has oatmeal in it. It makes the smoothie thick and gives you something to chew on! The trick is to let the oats and chia seeds sit in the almond milk for a few minutes before you blend it all together — I haven’t tried to let them sit overnight yet but that might work too!

Nectarines have been the sweetest fruit I’ve had this summer. Great in a smoothie, sliced up in oatmeal, on frozen yogurt or as an afternoon snack.

 

What is your favorite summer fruit?

• 2 1/2 cups unsweetened, vanilla almond milk
• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 heaping tablespoon chia seeds
• 2 nectarines, pits removed
• 1 large frozen banana, broken into chunks
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup ice

Method

• Put almond milk, chia seeds and oatmeal in a Vitamix blender and let sit for about 10 minutes. Add nectarines, banana, bluenerries, cinnamon and ice and blend on smoothie setting. Makes 3 servings.

My first time making Overnight Oats

I’ve been reading a blog called Kath Eats Real Food like it’s a book. At first I started from her current posts and read backwards but after awhile I decided to go back to January 2012 and read forward. Still only in June 2012 after a couple of days of reading!

After viewing what seemed like hundreds of pictures of her breakfasts I had to try overnight oats. She starts with a basic recipe and always adds different fruits and nut butters and cereal or granola for crunch. Sound good??!

I topped my oats with sliced nectarines, a little cherry granola crumble (more on that later) and a spoonful of sunbutter. Delish!! Chewy and crunchy and sweet from the juicy nectarines. Filling – in a good way. Totally making this again tomorrow!

Overnight Oats

• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup milk (I use either organic skim milk or almond milk)
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 banana, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds
• pinch salt
• pinch cinnamon

Method

• Stir everything together in a bowl (I used a plastic bowl with a fitted lid and tripled the recipe for myself, Travis and Devin). Place in the fridge overnight. In the morning top with something crunchy and something with healthy fats – like a nut butter or sliced almonds.

From Kath Eats Real Food

Sweet Potato and Oatmeal Dog Biscuits

Why am I making dog biscuits? At least this is what I asked myself as I cleaned all the flour-y mess from my counter tops. Answer: because I saw the recipe, had all the ingredients and wanted to experiment! Walter and Randolph thank me!

Here they are in an airtight container for storage:

Hungry yet? 🙂

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, baked
• 2 large eggs
• 2 1/2 cups white wheat flour, plus more for dusting
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a bowl mix peeled sweet potato together with the egg. Add flour and cinnamon and mix until combined. Fold in oatmeal. If dough is too wet add more flour.
• Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick cut out with cookie cutter any shape. Fill your cookie sheets. Bake for 35-40 minutes until biscuits are hard to the touch. Let them cool and place in air tight container.
• Makes 2 dozen large size dog bone shaped treats!

From Just A Pinch

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal

Me preparing in advance for breakfast? What? I’m the person who buys Cliff bars, Luna bars and and Kashi granola bars and calls that breakfast on the weekdays. I don’t know what came over me!

Well, part of it is that Devin doesn’t eat breakfast in the morning unless I put it in his hand. Protein bars are expensive and get boring. Other frozen breakfast meals are bad for him and again…expensive. But he does eat oatmeal! I decided to make a large batch and put it in smaller bowls in the refrigerator to be eaten on the go in the morning. I’ve still had to microwave it for him and put it in his hand but he eats it. Hopefully it will also help him focus better in school 🙂

And it’s not just for Devin. I ate some a few times last week before I went to work out.

• 4 cups skim milk
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup organic steel cut oats
• 3 tablespoons organic peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Method

• In a large sauce, whisk together the milk, mashed banana and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Add the oats, turn the heat down to low and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. The oats are done when soft and the liquid is absorbed. Stir in sugar and peanut butter.
• Makes 4-1 cup servings. Can be served with extra sliced bananas. Serve hot. I made mine while I was cooking dinner one night and refrigerated the servings in small plastic containers. When reheating you may want to add a little more milk.

Based on the recipe from The Pastry Affair

Note: I bought steel cut oatmeal which takes more liquid to cook than the old fashioned oats from the recipe I was following. That’s why I added more milk, banana etc.