overnight oatmeal in a jar

Oatmeal is one of those crazy health foods that you should eat everyday.

But when it's steamy hot outside, the last thing I want to do is eat a huge bowl of warmth. But I love oatmeal, and I want it in my belly even though it's summer time.

I've been reading all over the internets about this overnight oatmeal. You take some oats and some milk, toss it in a jar, leave it in the fridge overnight and voila!¡ You've got oatmeal.

I have some steel cut oats and milk in the house, and I've got 5 minutes, let's try it.

I really liked it. It's not like the warm, traditional oatmeal in the sense that it's creamy with almost no liquid. This is almost like cereal. The oats have softened but not completely, so they have a really nice chew to them. I added some brown sugar, blueberries, and chopped walnuts to my bowl this morning and it filled me up without feeling like a lump in my stomach.

This recipe is so versatile, you can use soy or a nut milk in place of the dairy, you can add whatever sweetener you prefer, and add whatever topping you have in the house. Chocolate chips, marshmallows, and raspberries? You go for it.

It's oatmeal, no matter what you add to it, it's still healthy.

Overnight oatmeal
[ from the Kitchn ]

Like I said above, this recipe can be adapted to any tastes. Feel free to replace the milk with your favourite non-dairy option, maybe take out the brown sugar and use agave syrup.

1 cup steel cut oats
2 cups  non-fat milk
2 teaspoons brown sugar
toppings of your choosing

In a large mason jar, or medium sized bowl, combine the oats, milk, and brown sugar. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, stir and pour a serving (about 1/2 cup of mixture) into a bowl. Top with desired topping and enjoy.

"hamburger" soup

It's supposed to be summer.

It was supposed to start a few weeks ago.

Here in Vancouver, it's STILL RAINING.

To be clear, it rains close to 8 months a year here. Vancouver doesn't get a ton of snow, only on the mountains. It's not the snow barren, igloo palace one might think.

We've had maybe a few days of sunshine, the rest, rain.

Rain, rain, and more rain. I'm swimming in rain over here.

My strawberries are waterlogged. I'm waterlogged.

I made soup. I should not be making soup in June.

I should be eating salad and watermelon, wearing shorts, and working on my tan.

Not drinking tea, baking cookies, and wearing socks.

Anyways, I made hamburger soup, but without the hamburger. I made it with ground turkey. You can also make it with your favourite fake meat product, I like Yves ground round. If you are going to use fake meat, just add it towards the end of cooking.

"Hamburger" soup
[from Jen's mom]

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey
1 onion, finely chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 28oz can whole tomatoes
2 cups water
3 cups vegetable broth
1 can tomato soup
8 tablespoons barley


Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the ground turkey, onion, carrots, and celery, cook until turkey is no longer pink and the onions are translucent, about 10 - 15 minutes. Add the thyme and bay leaf, continue cooking for 1 minute.  Add can whole tomatoes, water, broth, and tomato soup, stir to combine thoroughly. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the barley and turn down to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, or until barley is tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

lemony quinoa, chickpea, + kale salad

Running.

Laundry.

Coffee.

Feed and change the baby. Times a thousand.

Catch up on the t-flo debacle.

More laundry.

Trying to bake in the 25 minute naps my daughter takes. About 5 times a day.

Stuffing my face with quinoa salad, feeling healthy, but then eating some chocolate right after.

Balance people. I'm still trying to figure it out, but it's getting better.

In my search to find balance, I'm always searching for a healthy meal. For some reason, I always seem to think meatless / vegan / vegetarian meals are best. Nothing makes me feel better than whole grains, beans, and tons of veg. 

Well, a really big spoonful of cream cheese frosting makes me feel pretty damn good too.

ps. every time I hear about Joy & Tracy refer to mesh panties, I almost pee from laughing.

pps. I need cookie butter.

ppps. Trader Joe's need to be in Canada, ASAP.

Lemony quinoa, chickpea + kale salad

[ adapted from Love and Lemons ]

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 clove garlic, minced
1 14oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups green kale, roughly chopped
4 radishes, sliced
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 fresh basil, chopped
salt & pepper to taste

dressing:


3 tablespoons olive oil
juice and zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon amber agave syrup

In a small bowl, whisk together all of your dressing ingredients. Season to taste with salt & pepper, set aside.

Place the minced garlic in a large bowl, followed by the warm quinoa and kale, toss to combine. Let rest for a few minutes and then toss in the remaining ingredients. You want to give the kale time to wilt a little bit before added all the other good stuff in. Toss in the dressing and season to taste with salt & pepper.

banana muffins with steel-cut oats

Yesterday was the husband and I's second wedding anniversary. 

I thought we were going to keep it low-key since we're going to a fancy night out in a few weeks, but he came home early to take me out for a surprise lunch. 

Nice right?

I wasn't home. I was having lunch with the ladies from my baby group. 

I felt bad, but then again, I didn't know he was going to come home. Anyways, he gave me a beautiful orchid and a stash of french macarons. 

To make up for everything I was going to make a lovely dinner and we were going to have some wine, and just enjoy ourselves at home. 

The reality slapped us in the face and we ended up spending the evening at a walk-in clinic (over 2 hours to be exact) because Avery's finger has somehow gotten infected. 

After the clinic, getting the prescription, putting Avery to bed, and making a quick dinner, we weren't in the mood for anything but the couch. We watched No Reservations, Vancouver episode (!!!) and then went to bed. 

Sounds like a pretty fantastic way to spend an anniversary to me.

Banana muffins with steel-cut oats

[ from the Kitchn]

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour ( or any other whole grain flour)

1/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup mashed banana (about 2 large)

1/3 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup cooked steel-cut oats (cooking instructions here)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tin with liners, or grease liberally with butter or non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Whisk to blend completely. 

In another medium sized bowl, whisk together the banana, milk, lemon juice, oil, vanilla, eggs, and the steel cuts oats. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. 

Spoon evenly into prepared muffin tin and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until muffins are lightly golden and a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

love this guy.

cranberry almond quinoa cookies

There are few cookies that can be eaten for breakfast.

I've been known to eat more than my fair share of chocolate chip cookies for breakfast, but let's be real, we shouldn't eat those everyday.

So naturally, when I come across a recipe labelled as a "breakfast cookie", my spidey senses go crazy.

Will it be sweet? Will it have chocolate ? Does it involve kale and flax seeds?

Yes, no and thankfully, no.

The ingredient list is nothing super crazy, except the quinoa. I personally love quinoa. It's a super food. Extra tasty for dinner with some butter, black pepper, and lemon zest. Even more crazy delicious for breakfast with some maple syrup and walnuts. So really, could quinoa in a cookie be a horrible thing?

quinoa

It's not. It's probably the best thing ever to happen to cookies.

It makes these cookies, fluffy like muffins. They're more tiny muffin tops than cookies.

The cookies are sweet, but not overly sweet, the honey gives them just the right amount of sweetness, the oats and quinoa make them hearty and chewy and the dried cranberries are a really nice touch.

Cranberry almond quinoa cookies
[ from Bon Appetit ]

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled to room temperature
1 cup large flake oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup slivered, unsalted almonds

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In the bowl of your stand mixer, or in another large bowl, beat together the butter, sugars, and honey for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and the extracts and beat for another 2 minutes until smooth. Slowly beat in the flour mixture, in 3 additions, until well blended. Stir in the quinoa, oats, cranberries, and almonds.

Spoon 2 tablespoon-fulls on to baking sheets, about 1-inch apart. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until cookies are set and golden brown.

Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

mushroom & onion risotto

Over the weekend, the husband and I had one of our most treasured things, a night at home, just us two, with a great bottle of wine and a homemade meal.

I love going out, visiting, eating at new restaurants and going to friends houses' just as much as any other social butterfly. But since Christmas we've been non-stop, so it's kind of nice to have just a night at home where I don't have to do my hair, put on makeup or wear anything fancier than lululemon pants.