Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole via Oh She Glows

My work was having a "Heart Healthy Potluck" and I was stumped as to what I should bring. I can whip up chocolate chip cookies super quick but I don't think that's where they were heading… As I was perusing Buzzfeed I found this post: "15 Yummy New ways to Eat Oatmeal
That got me thinking. I had recently purchased some oatmeal so I decided to look for a recipe that I could use up some of that and also make something for work.
I decided to make #4 Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole.
Imagine my happiness when I hit the link and discovered it was from one of my favorite cooking websites- ohsheglows.com!!
Isn't that the coolest website name! It practically makes you want to eat healthy immediately!

Here is the recipe:
RECIPE

Cook oatmeal, milk and Chia Seeds

Oatmeal and milk with Chia Seeds. 

Banana and canned Sweet Potato

I didn't have any Sweet Potatoes but I did have a can of sweet potatoes so I decided to try and see if this would work. I think it worked fine but starting with full potatoes make give the casserole more tooth. I'll have to try it again someday with sweet potatoes and see.

"Almond Crumbles"

The recipe calls for pecans but since I didn't have any, I pulsed some unsalted almonds in the food processor and make the topping with almonds instead. Very tasty!!

Batter!

One for my family, one for work, and one small ramekin just for the tot

The batter made enough for three different ramekin sizes. I took the largest to work to share with folks.

For work!

Work yumminess! It was GONE!

Can't wait to eat!

Just a few bites left for me!

Garden seedlings 2014 and Thrift Stores!

A My husband is the KING of thrift stores. He finds the most amazing things in their aisles.
This year we found me everything in the first two pictures. Trays, a "Germination Station, pots, peet pellets and more. All ready for use!!

All goodies found at the local thrift store

This has a heating pad you can plug in and place underneath. All the parts were there!

Some of the flowers I hope to grow from seed. I chose about 1/2 Perennial and 1/2 Annual

Veggies from SeedsNow.com

www.seedsnow.com
This website sells Non-GMO, heirloom seeds. The packets are small but only $.99!  Besides- Other than a farmer who needs 300 seeds?  The packets I had came with more than enough seeds and it came with mylar light protective sleeves for storing extra seeds. I'm real happy with their website and the speed of delivery!


I use the book "Square Foot Gardening" for our vegetable garden. It worked really well last year.
Book: Square Foot Gardening

1/2 compost, 1/3 Peat and 1/3 Vermiculite

The trick to mixing the different types of soil (1/3 compost- 2 40 pound bags of compost-two different kinds!) 1/3 peet, and 1/3 Vermiculite is to pour it all onto a large tarp. It's easiest to do with two people but I was home alone so I had to improvise. You fold the tarp back and forth turning over the soil. You are trying to mix it all together and then you can slide the tarp to your garden area and dump it off.

After mixing

VEGGIES!!

Veggies and some flowers

Miss Lily Belle wanted to help.

FLOWERS!!

Seed station!  Top of the fridge provides warmth, enough sun and safety from two cats and a toddler!

UPDATE:

Alyssum seeds already sprouting!!

Wild Perch and Broccoli Cheese Ramekins

While browsing at our local Lucky's Market, I checked out the fish counter. I want to ONLY eat Wild fish as the "Farm" fish are dangerously high in Mercury and full of health warnings. The only WILD fish they had that day was Perch. I have never made Perch but I figured, why not? I can probably find an easy recipe on the internet.  And I did!

Pan Fried Perch Recipe.

Fried Wild Perch

Cookbook as recommened by author of 100 Days of Real Food

I started out making "Bakery-Worthy Mini Broccoli and Cheese Crustless Quiches" (page 31)

I figured this is something that Lily would like as she loves cheese, broccoli and eggs.

I altered the recipe a bit as it calls for Bragg's Liquid Aminos  and wheat germ and I don't have those two ingredients.

Broccoli and onion cooking

First, Preheat the oven to 350 and butter jumbo ramekins or jumbo muffin cups. (I used ramekins)

In sauce pan add butter, and onion and sautee till brown. I added ground Flax seed instead of the wheat germ and added salt and pepper.  This cooked till the broccoli was softened. Remove from heat.

Egg, cheese, and milk mixture

Next mix 6 eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, and 3/4 cup of shredded cheese. Stir broccoli mixture into the egg mixture. Portion into ramekin or muffin cups and bake for 35 minutes or till browned on top.

Yummy broccoli goodness!





So yummy! As these were baking I started on the Perch.

Here is the recipe again.

Pan Fried Ocean Perch

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Instead of regular flour as the recipe calls for, I used Corn Flour and Whole Wheat Pastry Flour.

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Frying the Wild caught Perch

Fry perch for 4 minutes each side.

Mix some mayonaisse and sweet relish for a simple and tasty Tarter Sauce

YUM!!!

Overall best lunch I have had in a loooooong time! And the munchkin loved her own little egg/broccoli ramekin but wouldn't try the fish. Oh well! I will try again another day, another way!

Pumpkin Pie Muffins

While at the library, I spotted this cookbook. I like to find books that have recipes that Lily might enjoy helping me make AND like to eat.  I found a Pumpkin Pie Recipe and was excited because it calls for Whole Wheat Pastry flour.  If you saw yesterday's post Mac and Cheese with Quinoa Noodles You remember that I had been looking for this flour and wanting to find recipes that call for it.
So! To find a recipe that needs whole wheat flour and the can of pumpkin puree I had in my pantry made me go for it!!

Amazon.com has the book for purchase. I found this copy at the library. I may have to buy it..

Weight-Watchers-Eat-Move-Play Book

First up, mix the dry ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 cup raisins.

Combine wet ingredients:

2 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/3 cup canola oil (I used vegetable oil)

1/3 cup water

2 tablespoons raw pumpkin seeds. (I didn't have any so I skipped this ingredient)

Add pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Spoon into muffin cups. I use an ice cream scoop for the easiest distribution.

Bake 20 mintues at 350. Muffins are done with a toothpick comes out clean. 

(Our oven is woefully slow….my muffins took 30 minutes)

The recipe made 19 muffins. On the second batch, add some water to the empty cups. This will help the muffins bake more evenly.

Lily Belle just had to hold the pedestal

Mac and Cheese with Quinoa Noodles!

My friend posted a comment on Facebook the other day about making pesto for her son. She mentioned how she put this pesto over Quinoa Pasta. Quinoa Pasta??? I never knew there was such a thing! I love Quinoa and I have been looking for a healthier version of pasta. (my waist line....don't get me started....) so I thought I would like to try this out. I found some at Lucky's and cooked it right up. Quinoa Pasta

It LOOKED good! I liked how the noodles were larger than regular elbow macaroni. Now what to do with it? Should I make a Spinach Pesto? I swear I saw a recipe for that somewhere but couldn't for the life of me remember in which cookbook I saw it. I thought the last time I tried homemade Mac and Cheese I didn't use enough cheese and I wanted to try it again. ALSO, I had just bought Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. I knew you had to add flour to make it so I wondered, "Can I use Whole Wheat Pastry Flour? Would this further my desire to eat less flour and gluten?" Heck! Let's give it a try. I didn't have time to look up a recipe and my daughter was watching cartoons on the computer so I decided to wing it!! Here's what I did….

To make the pasta, I followed the directions on the box but used 1/2 water, and 1/2 chicken broth. (for more flavor) To make the cheese I threw a handful of shredded Mozarella (maybe 1/2 a cup), 1/2 cup of milk and then shredded maybe 1/4 cup of Muester cheese on top. As the cheese melted, I added in two tablespoons of the Whole Wheat Pastry Flour.

After everything was melted, I tossed in the pasta and stirred till all the noodles were covered. As a YUMMY last mintue touch I decided to cook up some Uncured Natural Bacon as garnish on top.

Now the real test! Give it to the 3 year old! Would she like the Quino Noodles? Would she like the cheese sauce? Would she eat it? The answer is YES! YES! and YES!

Lily liked it so much she ate it right up. She wouldn't even look at me for the picture. At one point she put her arm protectively around her bowl lest I try and take it from her.

The amazing news is, my stepson, Calvin came home from school. He was looking at my portion that I had set aside to take to work. I saw that he was curious. I asked if he wanted some? He said, "Yes." So, I got out my pots and started all over again. :)

Cooking on Cold Medicine.......What could go wrong???

I have had a cold that has lasted almost two weeks now. I even lost my voice for a few days!  I feel okay day to day if I take a DayQuil in the morning. I don't know which is worse-the runny nose or being completely scatterbrained and not being able to do anything to completion. I have felt in a fog for about two weeks.

I THOUGHT I felt better and so I decided to bake.

I wanted to make a Zucchini Pie and decided while I was at it I would also make a loaf of Zucchini Bread.

Right away I messed up. I only needed about 4 cups of shredded Zucchini…..instead I have about 7. I guess I wasn't paying attention to marks on the food processor OR the amount of zucchinis I was zipping through.  Now what to do with the extra?

Next up, I started to make the crust of the Zucchini Pie. I mixed the dough, cut in the butter and then added two CUPS of water. I couldn't figure out why it was so much WETTER than usual….. Then I looked at the recipe and realized it was supposed to be two TABLESPOONS.  crap. This I had to throw out and start over. Trying to figure out how much flour I would have to add to save this and how many extra crusts that would make and then WHAT to do with all of these extra crusts or dough was beyond me. So I started over...

Oops! WAY too much water!

THIS is how the crust is supposed to look.

Next up, I went to wash the Food processor. You can guess what I did when I pulled the blade off…. 

What a MESS. I can't even think!

Then I started trying to make the Zucchini bread. I noticed half way through it makes TWO loaves. So…..great I could only find one pan.  Now what?? I tried to roll with it and eyeball 1/2 of the batter (which by the way that extra zucchini ended up working out for me on this recipe!)

Guess I didn't eyeball "HALF" very well……..

After it was all done I discovered that I hadn't greased the pan….so we had Zucchini bread "Crumbles"

Though I must say once I got everything done (which was a challenge because I could honestly not formulate an organized plan…) everything tasted good. Even the "overflow" part of the Zucchini bread was good! It had a crunchiness to it that was quite tasty.  I guess at the end of the day even if it's not "pretty" if it tastes pretty good you have done okay. 

Zucchini Bread Recipe

Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies!

RECIPE

Momma needed chocolate! I have had a pretty bad cold. I even lost my voice and had to miss two days of work. When you are feeling down, one needs some pep. Momma needed sugar and chocolate combined into a warm, delicious cookie and Mommy needs it to be EASY!

Hence, the "Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake" recipe that I like to convert to cookies when I don't feel like greasing a cake pan.

The recipe calls for a stick of butter at room temperature. It has the potential to get messy in a kitchen as  SMALL as mine but I try and leave a stick out if case the urge to cook something hits me. Nothing worse than wanting cookies and having to stare at a stick of butter thinking "Is it room temperature now? Now? Surely it is now?"

The recipe is super easy. You can literally have it on the cookie sheet in less than 7 minutes. I try to always keep my kitche stocked with:  Chocolate Chips, flour, Vanilla, Brown Sugar, Baking Soda, butter and eggs. If you have these things (the exact ingredients, by the way)  :)  then you are good to go any time the chocolate cravings hit you.

Cookie Dough is so hard to resist!

Delicious sweetness straight from the oven!

Miss Lily Belle could not resist

After I had photographed the cookies, Lily Belle swiped one. I found her in her room doing a magic trick…..making a cookie disappear!

Kids Baking Cookbook on Amazon.com