(Almost) Wordless Weekend...

PICTURE WEEKEND RECAP:

Saturday night...

Sunday Morning Breakfast...

"Greek Donuts"

Stocking up...

Slow Cooker Sunday...

Happy Monday!

Not dinner party worthy but....

Blog News First:  I'm sooo happy to say that as of last night, I FINALLY updated all of my Recipe, Travel & Food Finds links!  That has been overdue project for me since August...go meJ

Next up was our dinner from last night.  And while I wouldn't exactly serve it at a dinner party, it took a classic SUPER HIGH FAT "CARNIVAL FOOD" and gave it somewhat of a healthy spin!

Don't be alarmed, as that yellow 'blob' on my plate is actually an OVEN BAKED CORN DOG!!!!!

The only corn dog I've ever eaten in my life was at the Halloween Fest in Salem and this thing was about as far from healthy as you can get.  But come on, they are pretty damn good!

So how to have all of the same flavors without all the deep fried fat??  Answer:  The oven! 

I rounded up all of my ingredients (based on this recipe):

• 1 1/2 cups of corn muffin mix
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup egg beaters
• a dash of cumin & chili powder

And of course, the main star of the show:  3 boiled hot dogs...

I honestly can't tell you if those measurements are correct, because I kept having to add more and more muffin mix to create the SUPER thick batter that is needed.  It was the only way to get the mix to 'stick' to the dogs... 

These were like the "Goldilocks" of corn dogsJ  The first dip in the batter was too thin.  I added more corn muffin mix and it was...well, STILL too thin.  And finally after a couple adjustments, I got it *almost* juuuustttt rightJ 

15 minutes in a 400 degree oven and these babies were good to go.  Again, FARRRR from winning a beauty pageant, but that extra 'spread' of cornbread just made more of a coating to munch on.  Who can complain about that??? 

Oh, plus they were REALLY, REALLY tasty!  And for a food that is probably 10 zillion calories normally, this was a great way to get ALL of the flavors without all that SUPER GROSS DEEP FAT FRIED taste.  (although if you're out and about and find yourself at a fair...knock yourself out.  That's what carnivals are all about!  Now to only make a baked funnel cake...J) 

And in RANDOM SIDE DISH alert, in keeping with this weeks theme, I delved in my freezer/cabinets and whipped up a little sauteed spinach (in garlic & olive oil)... 

...mixed with white beans.  Can you believe we were JUST NOT IN THE MOOD FOR FRIES????  Crazy, I know. 

Also this dish cropped up because my friend had wrote me and told me she made (a pureed version!) of white beans & spinach for my little hummus eating buddy and he couldn't get enough of themJ  So Little N: These are for you, bud!J  hahahahhahahaa.... 

Sooo that's what I got for you today!  Do you guys have any fun weekend plans?  Not sure what tonight is going to bring, but tomorrow night is reserved for a FUN CHRISTMAS TRADITION which I look forward to from....well, January 3rd.  hehehehehhehehe....I'll share on MondayJ

Until then, have a GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Ode to Oatmeal...

Soooo since the blustery weather has FINALLY arrived in Jersey (coincidentally...coinciding with Scott telling me he has to work outside every day until Christmas...opppss..sorry Scott!J), I thought today would be a PERFECT day to talk about one of my favorite cold morning breakfasts:  OATMEAL!

OK, OK..I pretty much eat oats for breakfast all year long, but it is just WAY more "soul satisfying" on those brisks mornings of winter.  And since I have 'a little extra time on my hands' at the moment, I giddily realized it was the perfect time for the return of STEEL CUT OATS!!

Steel Cut oats need a little more 'love' as they take about 25 minutes to make.  But they are the LEAST processed of all of the oats and therefore, the most nutritious.  You can easily whip up a big batch over the weekend and reheat it for a quick and SUPER FILLING breakfast for the weekdays.  So here are two recipes I made this week...one is quick and one is a bit of a leisurely weekend treat...

Sooooooooo in my attempts to 'celebrate the season,' I had gotten my brain wrapped around wanting a Christmas flavored oatmeal.  And while eggnog has NOT entered my house yet during our 'grocery store ban' (although it is a-comin VERY SOON!J), I had to go with the SECOND best Christmas flavor option: GINGERBREAD! 

I had made my oats (which you can make slow steel cut, your standard quick 3 minute oats OR ye ole 'make at your desk' oats) and added in alllll of the gingerbread flavors once it was cooked...a 1/4 teaspoon each of:

• Molasses
• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Cloves
• Nutmeg
• All Spice
• & 1 teaspoon of brown sugar and vanilla extract

I added a little milk to the top and delved in.  It was sooooooooooooo warm, spicy & FESTIVE.  So good in fact, that I actually made it for breakfast again this morningJ hehehehehhee...me thinks this will be a staple ALL SEASON LONGJ

My now-decorated Gingerbread/Kitchen tree approves... 

So when I made my batch of Steel Cut Oats on Tuesday morning, I had made enough to save a second serving for the next morning...

And this time, turned those oats into: OATMEAL PUDDING!!!!!! 

I had been wondering how to turn my oats into a 'rice pudding hybrid' and a quick internet search led me to Katie's recipe and a now new favorite of mine!

Into a pot went:

• 1 serving already cooked oats (1/4 cup of oats cooked in 1 cup of water)
• 1 cup of milk
• Cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• handful of craisins (or raisins)

Bring the milk to a boil, add the rest of the ingredients & let cook until thickened, about 15 minutes.  I was soooo excited when the oats ACTUALLY smelled like rice pudding and I was MORE than happy with the creamy & dreamy texture and great chew from the craisins....so good!

Not to mention...it never ceases to amaze me how adding extra liquid and cooking oats longer REALLLLLY bumps up the volume!  Picture 1 is my 1/4 of cooked oats, and picture 2 is that same cup cooked the extra 15 minutes in the cup of milk.  Big difference, no??? 

(ps-And using Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk REALLY brings the calorie count down low!  That's 110 calories a cup from 1% milk vs. a mere 40 from the almond milk!)

And there's one other ingredient I add to ALL of my oatmeal (and smoothie!) recipes and it's the Chia Seed...

Chia seeds have become my EXTRA best friend lately, because while salmon is not exactly appealing at the moment, I am still able to get ALL of the Omega 3's I need from 1 scoop of these seeds.  I try to fit them into my diet at least once a day.  Like I said, they are great in oats, smoothies & next I'm going to try to remember to stir them in yogurt or toss them in a salad dressing.  You can read about all of the great benefits here...

...but what I'm here to tell you is the MOST important part:  You can not taste them AT ALL!J  And in combo with the oats, they make a SUPER FILLING breakfast that 'lasts' for HOURS.  Not too shabby, right??   

OK, OK...enough Chia love and back to something else:  CHRISTMAS LOVE!!!!!!!! 

We finished decorating our tree the other night and I had to laugh about a 'decorating trend' I've noticed.  So the tress of my childhood used to be DOMINATED by all of the Hallmark Barbie & Madame Alexander series ornaments, but now the 'places of honor' on the tree (aka-the front!) are now reserved for not only our 'event ornaments'... 

...and the ones we've picked up 'along the way'... 

But also very much by my SUPER OLD SCHOOL ORNAMENTS!!!!! 

These guys are older than me and, while they used to be banished to the back of the tree in lieu of dear old Barbie,  are now front row & center for all to bask in their 'old school Christmas glorty' J 

They even just SMELLLLLLL like "Old Christmas"....can't buy that in Hallmark, let me tell ya!J 

 OK, OK...so I think that's enough oatmeal, chia, tree talk outta me for one day!  Hope you guys have a great ThursdayJ

Cornbread Stuffing: Deconstructed...

So after yesterday's successful attempt to 'cook from the cabinet,' my brain started to wander on what other things I could whip up from our refrigerator stranglers.  While yesterdays meal was based on our abundance of pork & polenta...my thoughts immediately turned to "WHAT THE HECK could I make with our abundance of CELERY & APPLES"...

(ohhh...I DID lie a bit.  Scott HAD stopped at the grocery store last week to pick up a bag of apples since he & I try to eat one once a day.  I'm sure you can forgive me for our 'keep the doctor away' habit..hahahhahhaaJ)

Sooooo anyways....since I had originally bought the celery for some sort of 'Thanksgiving stuffing dish that never was to be', my brain got stuck on stuffing.  And I thought with a little something here and a little something there, I could somehow turn STUFFING into a MAIN DISH (a carb lovers DREAM, right??)....

The result:  "Deconstructed" Cornbread Stuffing!

OK, OK...so let me explain!  First up, into a pan I added:

• 3 diced celery stalks
• 1 diced onion
• 1 diced apple

Preheat your pan with a little olive oil and chop & drop all of the ingredients as you go along...

Next into the pan went an ingredient I found in the DEPTHS of my freezer that I knew would work PERFECT:  2 Apple Chicken sausage links!

I added the diced sausage to the middle well and let them pick up a little color for a few minutes (they were already fully cooked)

Then I added a little of the quintessential 'stuffing seasonings':  Sage, Thyme, salt & pepper...

...and a little chicken broth to completely soften the ingredients & to make everything just a LITTTTTLE SAUCYJ

Meanwhile, we got to the actual 'bread' part of the stuffing.  My solution for making this a Main Dish???

CORNBREAD PANCAKES!

I took my corn bread mix (this Marie Callender one is awesome because it contains NO hydrogenated oils!) and mixed it with enough water & eggbeaters to form a pancake batter.  I also tossed in a little sea salt & diced scallions to make em extra savory...

OK, OK...I lied:  Scott, being the pancake master of the house, whipped up the batter & got busy flippin the cakesJ  He takes his job of making the Perfect Pancakes quite seriously...J

Meanwhile, I let all of the celery/apple/onion/sausage mixture all cook together & gather tons of color and flavor...

...before topping the pancakes with the mixture and WALLLAH....

"Main Dish Stuffing!"J

It was funny cause I was ONLY dreading biting down on crispy celery and apples along with the pancakes, but thanks to letting them simmer in the chicken broth, all of the topping had 'broken down' to perfect savory perfection on top of the fluffy pancakes.  And the sausage was a definite MUST!  It just made the dishJ

A pretty fun dinner, I must sayJ

And I have to share one more thing!  So I decided to indulge in a slice of leftover Chocolate Babka for dessert last night and was DELIGHTED to find out that there was an actual part of the bread THAT HAD NICE & NEAT SWIRLS!!!

Hahhahahahaha...I at least got the 'ends' of the bread looking SOMEWHAT like it was suppose toJ hahahahahhaaha...

So that about wraps up my post for the day on yet ANOTHER dreary day in Jersey...yesssh!  I hear that cold weather is on the way and even a little SNOOOWWWW might be in the forecast!  I'll have not one, but TWO good COLD DAY breakfast recipes to share with you tomorrow...hopefully just in time to usher in the frostyyyy airrr...J 

Happy Mid-Week everyone!