Berry Nutty Oatmeal

I once had a stepfather who liked to say something (or someone) was "pretty twice: pretty ugly, and pretty likely to stay that way." This oatmeal could easily be described as such, but it's a third and fourth kind of pretty: pretty tasty and pretty healthy, too!

It's a simple, filling breakfast for when you want something interesting, but you don't want to put a lot of time into it. I made one serving because I'm the only oatmeal lover around this morning, but the recipe would easily double (or triple or quadruple). It's heavy, but I like a big breakfast. If you don't, you could probably eat half and be satisfied.

Ingredients
1/2 cup rolled oats (aka old fashioned oats - these are the oats with the 5 minute cook time. Other oat types will be way less awesome here, I promise).
1 cup water
2 TBS walnut pieces
1/2 cup mixed berries (I used Trader Joe's organic mixed berry blend)
1/2 TBS agave
1/2 TBS coconut shreds
1 TBS flax meal

Bring the water to a boil, reduce heat to medium-high, then add the oats and walnut pieces. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the berries and cook for about 3 more minutes, until the berries are warm and the liquid has largely evaporated. Drizzle on the agave, sprinkle the coconut and flax on top, then eat! You can add almond or soy milk if you'd like, but I enjoyed it without that. The picture I took after I added the flax meal was too blurry, so this is before the flax:

Nutrition (for entire recipe)
Calories: 379
Fat: 16 g
Carbohydrates: 50.7 g
Fiber: 12 g (48%!)
Sugars: 13.3 g
Protein: 10.3 g
Vitamin A: 5%
Vitamin C: 30%
Calcium: 5%
Iron: 20%

Spicy Oven Roasted Tomato Scones

My daughter hates tomatoes, so I only cook with them when she's not around (or I use tomato paste/sauce which she doesn't mind). Since she's at camp, the idea for this savory tomato-laden scone came to mind as I was thinking about what to make for breakfast this morning.

This one is SUPER good!! I asked Aaron how it was and he said "It was excellent. You should sell those." :) They're not terribly healthy - they're scones - but they're so satisfying that when paired with a serving of veggie sausages, one is enough! The list of ingredients is long, but it really comes together quickly!

Ingredients
1 TBS flax meal + 3 TBS warm water, whisked together in a small bowl and set aside
2 cups flour
1 TBS baking powder
1 TBS sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1.5 tsp red pepper flakes (use less if you're not into spice)
1 tsp jalapeno flakes (optional - adjust for preferred level of spice)
1 tsp cracked black pepper
2 tsp dried basil
1 pinch ground fennel or pizza seasoning
5 TBS Earth Balance (or other vegan margarine)
1/2 cup Kirkland Oven Roasted Tomatoes (from Costco - this is what I used) or sun dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped into little pieces
1/2 cup plain soymilk

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 400 and get a baking sheet ready (I use parchment for anything that goes in the oven under 420 degrees).

In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and all of the herbs and spices (garlic to fennel). Mix it well, then cut in the margarine using a pastry blender or forks until it looks pebbly. Add in the tomatoes, the flax/water combo, and the soymilk and mix - you'll probably need to use your hands to get it to mix fully. Then knead it for a minute. Form into a circle on the baking sheet, then cut it like it's an 8-slice pizza. Put it into the oven for 15-18 minutes, then serve hot.

Nutrition
per scone
Calories: 204
Fat: 9.4 g
Carbs: 26 g
Fiber: 2.1 g
Sugars: 3.6 g
Protein: 4.3 g
Vitamin A: 2%
Vitamin C: 5%
Calcium: 4%
Iron: 8%

Banana Muffins for Everyone

So many of my weekend brunch recipes contain banana. This is largely due to the fact that bananas have only a brief time in the zone of perfection and then they become way too ripe overnight. I buy them fairly regularly and wind up with brown mushy bananas pretty often. So what to do?

Banana pancakes are good for when you only have 1-2 ripe bananas and not much time, banana muffins are good for when you have 3 to 4 and more time, and banana bread is for when you have 3-4 and plenty of time. Smoothies are also a good option, if you're feeling like not turning on the oven at all! You can peel and slice the bananas, then stick them in a bag and put them in the freezer for later use in smoothies, too, if you're not in a banana mood.

So nutty! Just right for me, perfectly repulsive to the rest of my household!

Today, I made banana muffins for everyone. Why are they muffins for everyone? Because you can pick the toppings at the end to customize for your own preferences! I live in a house full of nut haters, but I LOVE banana bread with walnuts or pecans, so I can sprinkle nuts on top and have it my way. My boyfriend and my daughter are really into chocolate with everything, so I add chips to the tops of theirs. I usually make a few Switzerland muffins with no toppings so everyone can enjoy them! 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons flax meal + 6 tablespoons water, mixed together in a small bowl and set aside

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups well-mashed bananas (about 3 or 4 bananas)

1/2 cup applesauce (you can add a 1:1 ratio to make up 1/4 cup of the banana if you don't quite have enough)

1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

Grab another mixing bowl and mash the banana in it. I used to use a fork, but it's easier to use a potato masher if you have one. If you can't get it to a pureed sort of state, you'll want to get a fork and make it so.  Add in the flax stuff (should be thick), apple sauce, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla, stirring well.

Pour  the liquid ingredients into the bowl with the flour and mix until totally incorporated (don't over-mix!)

Grease a muffin tin - you don't want to use the paper liners for this one.

Then place a little more than 1/4 cup of batter in each (this fills my medium muffin cups to the top).

Top with walnuts, pecans, or chocolate chips (if desired), then put into the oven for about 20 minutes (start checking around 17 minutes, especially if your oven runs hot). They're done when a knife stuck into the middle of the tallest muffin comes out clean and they're very slightly browned on top. Let them sit for a few minutes so they don't fall apart when you try to get them out of the muffin tin.

Nutrition (not so healthy, but hey, it's brunch and 2 will definitely fill a person up!)

Per 12th of the recipe without optional toppings:

167 calories

6.3 g fat

25.8 g carbohydrates

2 g fiber

7 g sugar

3.5 g protein

6% vitamin C

1% calcium

5% iron

Strawberry Shortcakes With Coconut Whipped Cream

One of my favorite desserts growing up was my mom's strawberry shortcakes. Here's a tasty vegan version. I advise you to make sure others are around when you make this or you are likely to eat a great deal more than one serving. It's so rich, I don't recommend that!

This recipe has 3 components. You'll want to do step 1 the night before you want to make this. Really, I promise this matters. Step 2 requires an hour of waiting. In other words, this recipe isn't the right thing to make if company is about to come over on short notice. 

1. Refrigerate an unshaken can of full-fat Thai Kitchen brand coconut milk overnight. 

2. Wash, hull, and slice a quart of ripe strawberries. The redder, the better! Add them to a bowl, then add 1/3 cup of sugar. Mix it up and set it aside for an hour. 

3. Make the shortcakes!
4. Serve!

Ingredients:

1 can of full fat Thai Kitchen coconut milk (no shaking!)

1 tsp vanilla extract
2 TBS powdered sugar

1 quart of ripe strawberries

1/3 cup sugar

2 cups of all purpose flour

2 TBS sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup shortening (I use Spectrum)

3/4 cup non-dairy milk of your choice (I picked vanilla soy)

Heat oven to 450. 

Mix flour, 2 TBS sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
Cut in the shortening until the mixture looks like little pebbles.
Add the soy milk until just blended, then turn out onto a floured surface.
Knead it for a few minutes, then roll to about 1/2" thick and cut with a 3" cookie cutter (or just use a glass like I do). I often make mine a bit thinner and smaller so I can get more cakes, but it's all in what you like! 

Place the disks on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes (they'll be lightly golden)

While that's cooking, turn the can of coconut milk upside down slowly and gently, then open the can from that end. Gently pour off the easy-to-pour fluid, leaving behind very firm coconut milk goodness to scrape out. Scrape that into a medium-large bowl and beat it with a hand mixer until it starts to look a little whipped. Add in the vanilla extract and the powdered sugar and keep beating until it looks right. DO NOT TASTE IT because you will EAT IT and then you won't have any left for the shortcakes!

As long as it's been an hour since you started the strawberries on their journey toward awesomeness, you can now serve your treat! Split open a shortcake, take a tablespoon or two of the coconut whipped cream and slather it on there, then cover in about 1/3 cup of strawberries and the sweet liquid they made! 

If you make them flatter, you can get 12, but if you make them big and fluffy, you'll get fewer cakes, obviously.

Spicy Scrambled Tofu

I wanted something spicy and heavy on the protein today, so I opted for a double-whammy of vegan protein: tofu & seitan. You have surely heard of tofu, but seitan may be new to you. It is a high-protein item that comes in various formats (slices, crumbles, chunks, you name it) and is wheat gluten based. Sounds weird if you haven't had it, but it really makes some of the best meat substitutes out there, if you're into that sort of thing. I am! This was easy and SO FILLING.

It wasn't very pretty, but my stomach didn't care one bit.The picture's colors are a little off, but I can't seem to adjust them in a way that makes the salsa on top red without making the tortilla look like it fell into a bowl of turmeric.

1 block extra firm regular tofu, drained and broken up
1 package Upton's Naturals Chorizo-Style Seitan
1/2 TBS olive oil
3/4 cup salsa (as spicy as you'd like!)
2 TBS nutritional yeast**
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp sharp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Fajita Seasoning
1/2 tsp cumin

Add olive oil to the pan, then add the tofu to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the chorizo-style seitan and cook for another 5 minutes, then add the salsa and spices and cook until nicely combined. Serve with toast or tortillas (I shoved it into the tortilla after I took the picture; it's nice like that) and add a dollop of salsa to the top.

**Nutritional yeast is one of those ingredients that's you probably haven't heard of if you're not vegan or vegetarian. It adds an incredible depth to things while adding tons of vitamin B12. It's worth looking for, since even my local Kroger sells it in the natural foods section nowadays. Do not try to use any other kind of yeast (baking, brewer's, etc) these are nothing like this stuff!

Makes 4 extremely filling servings! We rated it a 4/5.

Nutritional Information, per serving:

Calories: 224
Fat: 8.9 g
Carbs: 11 g
Fiber: 2.1 g
Sugars: 1 g
Protein: 26 g
Vitamin A: 3%
Vitamin C: 11%
Calcium: 6%
Iron: 52%

Peaches & Cream Oatmeal

Growing up, my favorite flavor of oatmeal was always peaches & cream. Sadly, they don't make it without the dried milk powder, so I haven't had it in MANY years! This morning, I decided I'd try to make some, since I had some freeze-dried peaches on hand. It was pretty good (but not very pretty, sorry).

1 cup rolled oats
.5 oz freeze-dried peaches, broken into little pieces.
1 cup water
1 cup Very Vanilla soy milk (regular will work too, it just won't be as sweet. Coconut milk would be amazing, but calorically dense).
1 TBS sugar
1 pinch salt

Boil the water and add the oats and peaches once boiling. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the soy milk, sugar, and salt and cook until thickened.

Makes 2 servings. We rated it a 3.75.

Nutrition per serving:

Calories: 262
Protein: 8.2 g
Fat: 4.3 g
Fiber: 5.3 g
Sugars: 19.8 g
Vitamin A: 2%
Vitamin C: 30%
Calcium: 23%
Iron: 29%