Savory Oatmeal with Mushrooms Onions Chickpeas And Greens

We went from -30 degrees to 50 above in 2 day. What the F! Yesterday the day rained but got nice and warm, then the temperature fell hardl and last light the world started to get so slick and slippery. Going out was getting a little scary because of the ice. I went to bed a little afraid that I have to leave the house today for fear of slipping and smacking my face. It's a real fear and I know its bound to happen. I can already picture it, me walking along, maybe whistling a little tune, and smack, just like a cartoon character slipping on a banana peel.  I will go down fast and hard. I am not a graceful person.

But the day is going to happen and I have things to do that involve leaving he house.. I have the arnica and frozen peas ready just in case, but I might just leave on my hands and knees.

Enough about my irrational (but totally rational) fear. Lets talk about food. I am already thinking ahead to dinner. Or more like I am thinking behind to last nights dinner of oatmeal. A grain typically used as a breakfast food, cooked until light and fluffy, topped with sugars and fruits and sweet things.  Oatmeal for breakfast is always welcomed and always will be. But today my friends I am going to blow your mind and tell you to eat your oatmeal at dinner time,with salt and pepper and lots of yummy savory beans and veggies. 

Pow!

But doesn't make complete sense? Oats are so good, hearty, heart healthy, and pretty freaking cheap. Easy to cook, goes with everything. It's almost like rice, but I find is even more filling and contains more protein. Have no idea what to do for dinner. Grab the oats and a can of beans! Had a long day at work and just want something quick and easy and comforting. Oats with a bunch of veggies!  You can pretty much do anything with a bowl of oatmeal and it will be good. (tomato sauce, crispy tofu, a fried egg, cheese if you like.. you get the idea) It seems weird to me now that people all over are not eating oatmeal for dinner all the time.... yet. I have a strong feeling that everyone is going to be eating savory oatmeal for dinner very soon, so I am giving you the heads up so you can jump on this wagon now!

The stuff. A big cup of old fashion oats, a few mushroom, an onion, some cooked chickpeas, a clove or two of garlic and a mound of chopped greens. And we are going to also need a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and, if you have any, a small handful of cashews (or any other nut).

Begin by dicing up the onion and the mushrooms nice thing ans tossing them into a skillet with a touch of olive oil. Stick the skillet on the stove on medium heat and begin to cook.

When the veggies are on the stove, bring 2 cups of water to a boil, sprinkle it with salt, then dump in your oats. Give the oats a quick stir, then tun the heat down to medium and place a lid on the pot and leave it alone.

Once the veggies have cooked down a bit, mince up the garlic and toss into pan, along with the chickpeas (drain any liquid). Add a good glug glug of balsamic vinegar and continue to cook on medium heat until everything is nice and cooked and golden brown and tasty.

And lastly, toss in the chopped up greens and stir around until wilted.

And i bet that your oatmeal is done by now, cooked until oats are soft and the water has absorbed.

And the veggie bean mixture is ready.

A big heaping scoop of oatmeal, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and topped with a hearty heap of the cooked veggies and chick peas. Adding a few chopped nuts on top and another glug of vinegar.... It's the most perfect meal.

Happy Wednesday and watch you footing!

-C

---

Savory Oatmeal with Mushroom Onions Chickpeas and Greens

Serves 2

• 1 cup old fashion oats
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup or so of cooked chickpeas
• small onion
• 3-4 large white or cremini mushrooms
• 2 big handfuls of chopped greens (kale,spinach, collards, or broccoli leaf.. whatever greens you got!)
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• handful of cashews or some other nut (optional)

Start by chopping you mushrooms and onions and tossing them with splash of olive oil into a skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and Begin to cook on medium heat.

Grab a heavy bottom pot ans bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, dump in the oats, add a pinch of salt, give a little stir and reduce heat to medium low. Stick a lid on pot and leave it alone for about 10 minutes.

Once the mushrooms ans onions are starting to cook down, mince up garlic and add in, along with the chickpeas (drained of liquid) and a few tablespoons of the vinegar. Continue to cook until the veggies are browned, the chick peas are hot, and everything tastes good (give it a taste) Lastly, add in the chopped greens and stir around until wilted.

And the oatmeal should be done. (it;s done when its nice and light and fluffy and that water has absorbed)

Grab a bowl, add a big scoop of the oatmeal, sprinkle with salt and pepper, top with a large amount of the veggie bean mixture and top with another glug of vinegar and some of those cashews all chopped up.

Grab a fork or a spoon and eat your oatmeal!

Tahini Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

I wanted to be in the kitchen so I asked the mr what he wanted me to make him. Anything he wanted, like a cake, or cookies, or donuts.

He asked for granola bars. (so cute)

I think the reason that he requested granola bars was that he knew I wanted to test out the golden syrup that I brought back from Ireland and I had mentioned that I was going to make myself some granola.  (not him, me) but I went with it. And really, I was excited to bust out the golden syrup.

Now what kind of granola bars was the question, but I didn't even ask him I just went with tahini chocolate chip. Tahini cause its amazing, chocolate chips because, just because. And the golden syrup. The bit of research that I have done on golden syrup had told me that this stuff is like glue (it really is) and that it can be used in lu of other binders that I would normally add to granola bars (like dates) It is pure can sugar that has been turned into a thick, golden syrup (hence the name) and has a more nutty, earthy flavor then just sugar, which went together quite nicely with the oats ans tahini in these bars. (next thing to try it with.. rice crispy treats!)

 So I got some kitchen time, the bars where made, the syrup was used, the mr was happy.

Win win win. WIN!

The stuff. Oats, tahini, golden syrup, cinnamon, sesame seeds, chocolate chips, and sea salt. Not a whole lot of stuff and nothing else is needed. But if you are feeling it, add some more. (cranberries, chopped dates, coconut, some nuts)

In a big bowl, combine the oats, cinnamon, sesame seed and chocolate chips.

In a separate (microwave safe) bowl or jar mix together the golden syrup and the tahini. Stick it in the microwave for 15 seconds, take it out, stir it, then another stick it in for another 15 seconds. You just want the mixture to be runny. Another way you could do this is on the stove top or, Like me, place jar in the oven and stir until loose. (I don't have a microwave and I didn't want to dirty a pot)

Pour the warm mixture into the oat mixture and stir until all the oats and stuff are all coated.

Dump the mixture into a parchment lined pan and press it down as hard as you can with your hands or a bottom of a glass

And optional, but really good, sprinkle the top with sea salt. (do not use table salt)

Now here is the deal. You can do one of two things. If you want a chewer granola bar, place these bars in the fridge for at least an hour until they set up and call them done. For a cruncher bar,  stick the granola into the oven for a little bit to give them a slightly crunchier texture

I tossed my into the oven, just for like 12 minutes, just to give them a little color and a bit of crunch. (the longer you leave them in there, the harder and crunchier they become)

Pulled from the oven, chillin out and waiting to be cut.

And piled high. a stack of bars, awaiting a mouth to eat them.

What a bar. The mr is a lucky guy.

Happy day to you!

-C

---

Tahini Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

makes 8 Bars

• 3 cups oats (gluten free if needed)
• 1/3 heaping cup golden syrup (can be bought at some grocery stores but can be found online as well)
• 1/3 heaping cup tahini
• teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2-1 cup of chocolate chips
• a few pinches of sea salt(optional)

Note. Feel free to add more mix ins if you want (nuts, coconut, dried fruit) just don't add more then another 1/2 cup of stuff.

In a large bowl toss together the oats, cinnamon, sesame seeds and chocolate chips. In a separate microwave safe bowl (or a pot), combine the golden syrup and the tahini. Place in microwave for 15 second increments,  stirring in between until the mixture is loose and pourable. (or heat on stove on low heat until pourable)

Add tahini mixture into oat mixture and mix until all the oats are evenly coated.  Dump into a parchment lined, 9x9 inch baking pan and evenly press the granola down as hard as you can with either your hands or a bottom of a glass (or whatever) Sprinkle the top with sea salt.

And now you have two decide if you want a more chewy granola bar or or a slightly crunchier bar. For a chewier one,  stick the pan into the fridge for at least an hour until they firm up. For a but more crunch,. place bars in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 350, just until they get a slight golden brown and a little bit of crunch on top.  Remove from oven and let cool.

Once bars are ready, remove from pan, grab a knife, cut into bars (or whatever shape you want) and eat them. Store extra in an airtight container (raw ones in the fridge, baked ones are ok on the counter)

Peanut Butter Banana Pop Tarts

We are back.. Woo hoo!! Did you miss me? cause I missed you guys.

The past two weeks we nutters. We traveled so hard, did and saw so much stuff. We had such a blast. I will tell you all about it with lots of pictures, but give me a few days cause I am still on crazy, sleep deprived, jet lagged brain and am still having a hard time comprehending normal world activity.. I think I am going to need the rest of the week to recover and get my head back into the real world. ( I don't mind living in a fog for a little while, it suits me) And if my writing is a little wonky or maybe doesn't make sense.. again, jet lag brain.

So anyways, lets talk about food. Right before we left we had a sleep over with the littles. I figured I would make them something kind of special for breakfast because I am awesome ans because we weren't going to see them for a while. Pop tarts. Who doesn't like a pop tart?  These littles, they love them a pop tart. Not that long ago they went through a phase where all they wanted to eat were pop tarts (I did not support that habit). So that is what I made (a bit more healthy then the store bough ones) and yup, they were amazing (so I was told) and devoured with every sprinkle eaten and fingers licked clean. I mean, peanut butter anything is good, and banana with that is even better. Stick a little chocolate and sprinkles into with that...Everyone can get down with these

The stuff. For the crust we need some flour, a little brown sugar, salt, cold earth balance, some peanut butter, and some ice cold water. For the filling, just some more peanut butter and a couple of ripe bananas. And completely optional( kinda) chocolate spread and sprinkles to top with afterword.

Start with the crust. A big bowl with the flour, salt and brown sugar that all gets whisked together. Then cold peanut butter and earth balance go in.

Just like a normal pie crust, use a a pastry cutter or fork to cut in the fat until a crumbly mixture forms.

Then, a few tablespoons at a time, add in he ice water until the mixture starts to come together into a dough.

Dump it onto a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap and gather it together into a ball. Wrap it really tight and stick the dough in the fridge (for a least an hour, but a few hours or over night would be good)

When the dough has chilled and you are ready to proceed, grab the dough and roll it out onto a lightly floured surface. You want to try and keep it a kind of a rectangular shape and rolled about 1/2 an inch thick.

Trim the edges (bake off scraps for a little extra treat) and cut the dough in half length wise then in 6 equal sizes width wise.(you should wind up with 12 pieces)

Take one side of each pair and place on a a baking sheet. Smear each piece with a good glob of peanut butter but leaving a little boarder.

Then slice up the bananas and layer those on of of the peanut butter.

Place the tops onto the bottoms (gently) and with a fork, crimp the edges of the tarts closed. Then take the fork and poke a few holes into the tops.

Now into the oven they go.

After about 25 minutes or so, you end up with the most magical smelling, golden brown pop tart.

And because it's a pop tart, you must drizzle on a little some thing something (nutella or chocolate spread of any kind) and sprinkles. Do not forget the sprinkles.

Ready for eating.. Peanut Butter banana greatness. Best served a little warm and with some type of cold milk (plant, nut, or cow) and eaten in front of tv watching cartoons.

These will ruin store bough pop tarts for you. Sorry (not sorry)

Have a great day guys.. Really am happy to be back!

-C

---

Peanut Butter Banana Pop tarts

The Crust

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup earth balance
• 1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 7-8 tablespoons cold water

The filling

• 2 ripe bananas thinly sliced
• 6-8 tablespoon peanut butter

Optional toppings

• chocolate spread or Nutella
• sprinkles

Start by making the crust. Grab a big bowl, add in the flour, salt, and brown sugar ans whisk together. Then add in cold earth balance and if you think of it, cold peanut butter. Cut that into the flour with a pastry cutter or a fork and when the mixture is kinda crumbly start adding in tablespoons of ice water until the mixture starts to come together then dump the dough onto a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap, press together, wrap it all up, and stick it into the fridge. Let chill for at least ans hour or up to over night.

When you are ready for pop tarts, preheat oven to 375 and grab dough from fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface,  into a large, 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Trim the sides of the rectangle and cut in half length wise. Then cut that into 6 even pieces width wise, giving you 12 pieces.

Place the 6 bottom pieces of the dough onto a baking sheet. Smear each piece with about a tablespoon of peanut butter and then top with a few pieces if thinly sliced banana. Place the top pieces on each bottom and using a fork, press the edges of the dough together. Then take fork and pop a few holes into the top to let the steam escape.

Place into the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the tarts are nice and golden brown. Remove from oven, drizzle with nutella or chocolate and cover with sprinkles.

Eat right away with a tall glass of some kind of milk

Any left over (if that happens) can be stored in the fridge for a day or two or frozen to be enjoyed whenever the craving hits you.

Persimmon Maple cornbread

This time next week the mr and I will be on our jolly (the word jolly is way underused) journey through the hill of the Irish countryside.  I am getting a bit nervous. First off, we have yet to book a single b and b (we are air bnb-ing it the whole time.) We still haven't reserved a car, have just starting looking at baggage requirements and have no clue how we are getting home from the airport. But we did print out the plane tickets last night, so that's something!!  I make it sound like we have been slacking, but it really isn't our fault (most of it). We have most of the stuff we need to book ready to pay for, but our credit card we ordered for this trip was lost in the mail and we can't book anything without it. Aagh!  But hopefully the new one will be in the mailbox today and we can get on our way to planning the best trip ever

With the trip getting so close, my mind is doing this weird thing where it doesn't want to research things anymore. It is sick of looking up attractions or prices of this, or how to translate that. I have done all the research that I can handle and am mentally tired. I just want to chill on the internet stuff and spend the rest of this week cleaning the house and baking things until we leave. You know, smash in as much domestic things as I can.

So clean I do and bake things I am. The other day I bought 4 beautiful vanilla persimmons (yeah persimmons!)  and instead of hoarding them all to my face, I baked a little persimmon cornbread concoction for the mr(he doesn't get excited about fresh persimmon like I do) This way he gets in on some of the persimmon action and I don't feel as guilty about buying 4 persimmons.

Dense, moist on the inside, crispy on the outside. A nice sweet maple glazed layer of soft persimmon nicely layered on top to take it to the next level .This bread, it's and all sorts of good. It hugs the boarder of a bread and cake. but still makes a great side to a big bowl of squash soup, black bean chili, or whatever.  The mr, he ate a piece for a snack after I made it, then a chunk with his dinner, a little slice for late night snacking and then a piece for breakfast. I might just make him a lunch situation with the rest of it for him today. And then it will be gone.. whoa.  I guess that means it perfect for anytime and it's just that good.

I am that good. But we can talk about me later, for now, the cornbread.

The stuff. A persimmon, some white whole wheat flour, yellow cornmeal, baking soda and powder and salt. Maple syrup, melted earth balance, and some soy milk are going in too.

Start by preheating the oven and then thinly slicing the persimmon into the prettiest little rounds

And now whisk together all the dry stuff in a big bowl then dump in all the wet stuff.

Mix it all together until full just incorporated. (don't over mix.)

Grease a 9 inch pan (can use a 9 inch square) and coat the grease with cornmeal.

Spread the mixture in the pan then layer the top with the sliced persimmon.

Lovely right.

Now stick it into the oven.

After about 25 minutes, the cake is just about done. Remove it from the oven and quickly brush the top with maple syrup then stick it back into the oven to finish baking.

And when the bread is completely baked, the persimmons nice and soft and glimmering,  remove from the oven and sit on a rack to let cool.

And when you can't wait any longer..... cut yourself a big piece

Along with a cup of coffee.....

Nothing to worry about here.

Have a great day.. Wish me luck!

-C

---

Persimmon Maple Cornbread

make a 9 inch round bread cake

• 1 cup white wheat flour
• 1 cup yellow or white corn meal
• 1/3 cup melted earth balance
• 1/4 cup maple syrup plus about 2 tablespoons more for brushing the top of bread
• 1 1/2 cups soy milk
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• pinch of salt
• 1 large ripe but firm vanilla or fuyu persimmon (If you have smaller ones, you might need 2)

Preheat oven to 375

First off, slice the persimmon into really thin slices.

Next, combine the flour, the cornmeal, baking soda powder, ans the salt into a large bowl and whisk together. Add in the maple syrup, the soy milk, the melted earth balance and the apple cider vinegar. Mix together until just combined.  Dumb the batter into to a greased and cornflour coated 9 inch cake pan and layer persimmon slices on top, starting with the outer edge and layering inward (or whatever way you want to)

Place bread into oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until the cornbread has risen and is starting to brown, but could use a few more minutes. Take cake out and brush the persimmons with maple syrup. Place back into over to bake for another 8-10 minutes or until the cornbread is completely cooked.(tester comes out clean)

Remove from oven and let cool in pan on a wire rack

Slice, serve, and eat.

Farro with Balsamic Roasted Mushrooms Onions and Spinach

I made the decision to not go grocery shopping for the rest of the week so I can completely empty out and unplug the fridge while we are on our adventures. Why? Well if I unplug it, I won't have to de-ice it when we get back and that would be great. Plus why use electricity when were are not here to enjoy it? But yesterday I realized, we don't really keep a lot of food in the fridge. No that's not true. When I go grocery shopping, I buy a shit ton of veggies. like 5 lbs of greens 10 lbs of carrots, and 5 lbs more of other veggies... and it's gone within 4 to 5 days.  So yesterday when I opened the fridge, it was basically already empty besides the few condiments that I keep in there like mustard, soy sauce and pickle juice (all of which can be left out of the fridge when we are gone). What I did have were a few mushrooms. and a little bit of spinach. It was really sad. So I went grocery shopping. A big, fill the fridge with tons of veggies shop. And I will probably will have to do it one more time before we leave so I am going to stop worrying about emptying the fridge. It empties out pretty fast already.

What can I say, I like me some veggies.

Putting the grocery hall away, the last of the mushrooms and the spinach came out first to be consumed. I have a bunch of onions that I need actually do need to be eaten before we leave and it close to dinner time.. So I grab that stuff and some farro. Yup, farro, a kinda hardy wheat grain that all the cool kids are eating right now. I figured that I should be a cool kid too and make a farro bowl with those veggies. Roasted stuff tossed with balsamic vinegar and cooked farro, served in a pretty bowl. So good. so cool.

What do you think of farro?  I am curious because I am totally into it (me being a cool kid) But the mr, not so much.  I though for sure he would love it, but no. He said it was too chewy and too seedy and just not great. I think that maybe if he wasn't a cranker butt last night that he might have actually liked it, but whatever. You win some you lose some. I consider this a win cause I get to eat it all myself. Like all the cool kids.

The stuff. A onion, a bunch of crimini mushrooms, and a few handfuls of baby spinach. And we also have some farro, balsamic vinegar, water salt, pepper, ans a bit of olive oil.

Get the farro going by dumping it into a pot with water ans a pinch of salt and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, stick a lid on it and turn heat down to low and let it simmer.

Now chop up the onion and mushrooms and toss in to a oven safe skillet or baking sheet with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt ans pepper

Stick into the oven to roast.

After a good 20-25minutes of so, the mushroom onion mixture is all nice and roasted. Remove from the oven for a sec, dump in some balsamic vinegar, mix to coast everything and stick the skillet back into the oven for few more minutes until all the liquid has absorbed and the vinegar starts to caramelized. (but not burn)

Remove it again from the oven and now toss in the spinach.

And the farro should be done by now too(It should be soft but still a bit chewy.) If there is any extra liquid left in the pot, just strain it out.

Then mix he cooked farro into the roasted stuff.

Serve into a bow with a little more vinegar if you want and pepper. Lots of cracker pepper.

Now eat it and serve some to your boyfriend who says he doesn't like it, then eat his too!

Happy day to you

-C

---

Farro with Balsamic Roasted Mushrooms Onions and Spinach

serves 2

• 1 cup dried farro
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 medium onion
• 6-7 crimini mushrooms
• 2 big handfuls of baby spinach
• 4-5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper
• olive oil

Preheat oven to 400

Combine the water ans farro into a pot, sprinkle in a pinch of salt and place on the stove top on high heat. Bring to a boil then place a lid on pot ans turn heat to low. Let farro simmer for about 30 minutes or until tender but still slightly chewy.

Once you have the farro on the stove, chop the onion into 1/2 inch chunks and dice the mushrooms into smaller sized pieces. Place on a baking sheet or cast iron skillet, toss with a drizzle of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place into oven and roast for about 20 minutes or until the mushrooms and onion are nicely browned and yummy looking. Remove from oven and mix in the balsamic vinegar. Place back into over for another 6-8 minutes or until all the vinegar has been absorbed. Take back out of oven and mix together with the spinach and the cooked farro.(If farro is cooked but there is still liquid left, just strain it out.)

Serve with a cracked pepper and a splash more of vinegar if your feelin it.

Also tastes great at room temperature of cold out of the fridge.