Oats and More Oats

Who ever thought I could have fun with oatmeal? I've been jazzing up the usual oatmeal lately and I'm so please without how it turned out. Now I have so many oatmeal ideas I just want to eat different oatmeal recipes all day.

It started off with discovering a box of Trader Joe's Whole Grain Instant Oatmeal with Cranberries in my pantry. The bag of steel cut oats was looming on the top shelf but I was hungry and wanted to eat soon.

Yesterday I mixed the oatmeal packet with water and added a bit almond butter. After heating I added some sliced banana. I didn't miss the packet of sweetener I usually add to oatmeal.

Slightly Jazzed Up Oatmeal

1 Packet Trader Joe's Whole Grain Instant Oatmeal with Cranberries
1/2 water
1 tsp Almond Butter
1/2 small banana chopped

Yesterday I picked up a few healthy items at Publix. In fact, by the time I checked out I was feeling like a bit of hippie health freak. I can't say it was a bad feeling. I had a cart full of stuff I usually never buy. I'm excited to start adding them into the foods I already make to improve the nutritional value.

I started my mad scientist additions with my oatmeal for this morning's breakfast. It was so good!

I made the oatmeal like yesterday's but I used vanilla soy milk instead of water. I also added a teaspoon of milk and egg protein powder (which I already had on hand). Now for the really fun stuff...I bought the Publix Greenwise Whole Flax Seeds from the dried fruit and nut section. I also picked up a container of wheat germ. I added a bit of both along with the usual sliced banana and tad of almond butter. It was thick, rich, nutty and sweet. Again, I didn't miss the missing sweetener packet. It was also very filling. According to the calorie counter on My Fitness Pal it totaled up to about 306 calories.

Jazzy Nutty Oatmeal

1 Packet Trader Joe's Whole Grain Instant Oatmeal with Cranberries
1/2 c Vanilla Soy Milk
1 tsp Almond Butter
1 tsp. MLO Milk and Egg Protein Powder
1 tsp. Publix Whole Flax Seeds
1 tsp. Wheat Germ
1/2 small banana chopped

Combine all of the ingredients except for the banana and zap for 1 minute in the microwave. Stir and add on any additional time if needed. I noticed the soymilk didn't absorb as fast as water and I cooked it for 1:20. Add chopped banana and enjoy.

This afternoon I discovered another blogger at Eating Bird Food who loves oatmeal and I'm excited to try her overnight oats recipe.

She also adds in Chia seeds. I've seen them have never tried them. I suspect they will be in my next hippie shopping basket full of stuff.

I'll try to post pictures. I just get so hungry the food is gone before I think to take a photo.

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

I put this together with stuff I had around the house. Each pepper is enough for one person. It cures my Italian cravings without all those nasty pasta calories. The dish is low fat and lower in calories than the meaty option. With all the other seasonings you don't miss the beef. You can probably make the mix a day before and refrigerate. Since you are really just heating things through there is very little chance for error. If you have picky non-veg eaters you can probably make this with beef. It's ok to eyeball the quantities to get the consistency and taste you want...that's what I do. It's hard to goof this up.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 medium onion
2 bell peppers (get the wide and squatty ones and look for ones that will sit upright
1 bag of 90 second brown rice or 1-1/2c of cooked brown rice
1/2 bag of Boca (fake ground beef) crumbles
1/2c diced baby bella mushrooms
2 c Marinara Sauce (eyeball it)
1 tsp Italian seasoning, adding extra oregano and basil is optional
Red pepper flakes (optional)
1-2 cloves of garlic
2 tsp chopped or 1 tsp dried parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Wash peppers. Cut the tops out to create a bowl. Rinse out any loose seeds and use your fingers to pull out any white pith. Boil a pot of water and par boil the peppers for about 3-5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to move them around if the water doesn't cover the entire pepper. Take them out, and turn upside down on a clean towel to cool. Dice onions and saute in a saucepan at medium heat until the onions are soft. Add spices except for garlic. Stir to combine. Add in crumbles and stir through to heat. Add rice and make sure rice is distributed and not clumpy. Add garlic, diced mushrooms and stir through. Add parsley and 1/2-3/4 c of the marinara sauce to the mix. The mix should hold together and be thick. It's cooked so it's safe to taste. Add spices to taste. Remove from heat and allow to cook while you prep peppers.

Scoop the mixture into the pepper bowl and compress with a spoon.

Add EVOO to the bottom of a bake pan to prevent sticking. Sit the peppers upright in the pan. Spoon the rest of the marinara sauce over the stuffed peppers.

Bake at 350 for 30-40 until the peppers are cooked.

Tips/suggestions: For kids, you can also hide other diced veggies by adding to the mix to conceal them. To hide the mushrooms you can saute those with the onion. Adding them later gives nice texture.

One pepper is a filling meal. Cut in two to serve as a side dish or look for small peppers. Because there is no meat it travels and re-heats well.

Low Calorie Omelets

So this is a take on the South Beach omelet. I've never made that one before but my former boss did. I've jazzed this one up a bit but the cooking is similar...

Behold! A super hi-tech frying pan. 

Preheat oven to 350. Spray PAM in a muffin pan that holds 12 muffins. Yes, muffin pan, no lie.

1 pint Egg Beaters
1/4 c Soy chorizo
1/4 c diced portabella mushrooms
1/4 c chopped bell peppers
1/4 c chopped green onion (1-2 stalks)
1/4 c low calorie shredded cheese
Salt and pepper to taste, go easy, the chorizo has lots of flavor
Paprika (optional)






Spray a saute pan with PAM and add the soy chorizo (I like Trader' Joe's). Brown the chorizo over medium heat for 5-7 minuets until you see little brown pieces starting to form.

In a bowl, add all the other ingredients, stir to mix and add to the muffin pan using a 1/4 cup measuring spoon.

The veggies before adding eggs

Veggies with browned soy chorizo and Egg Beaters

Bake for about 20 minutes or until the egg sets.

Makes 12 1/4 c omelettes. 93 calories per serving (according to My Fitness Pal).

I put the extras in a zip top bag and have two each morning for breakfast with a 100 calorie English muffin.

                                            

                                               I like a little smoked paprika on each one. Makes it festive!