this has gotta be a record

Morning #5 of oatmeal for breakfast.

This time: Citrus Steel-Cut Oats with Apricot and Cinnamon, from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals

I was on a mission this week to use up a sandwich baggie filled with steel-cut oats that I brought with us from OHIO! Thankful oats don’t really go “bad”…

I used most of them in the baked oatmeal from the other day, and the last 1/2 C made two servings of oatmeal this morning.

I prepped the oats last night by par-boiling them with a cinnamon stick, then removing them from the heat and covering for an hour while they absorbed the water. I refrigerated overnight, then all I had to do this morning was add milk, water, cut-up apricots and orange zest.

You can see the golden raisins (added last night) and apricots in my bowl. Andrew is more of an oatmeal “purist,” so he wasn’t a huge fan. Not to mention his aversion to apricots in general. Oh well–more for me! Up to this point, there wasn’t any sweetener at all in the oatmeal, so I sprinkled about a teaspoon of brown sugar along with some ginger maple syrup on mine.

Yum! I paired the oatmeal with some plain yogurt and half a grapefruit. This breakfast kept me full from about 7 – 11:30, when I was hungry after my workout. I snacked on a couple honey wheat sticks and an orange while my brown rice cooked for my leftover Beef and Broccoli from Steamy Kitchen. (Which was a HUGE hit by the way… Andrew loved it!)

After this it’s HOMEWORK CENTRAL for me!

oatmeal, take 3 and 4

Who knew I was such an oatmeal fan? (Especially considering our current heat wave…)

I mean, I know I’ve gotten way more into oatmeal since I discovered Kath’s blog, but that’s not saying a whole lot since it was never more than an occasional winter breakfast for me before.

I found a recipe for Baked Oatmeal on Nourished Kitchen’s website and have been meaning to try it ever since. It intrigued me that I could make oatmeal in bulk, essentially, and freeze ‘grab and go’ portions for busy mornings.

It calls for an overnight soak, so I prepped that the night before and whipped it up (along with eggs, grapefruit and cut-up Trader Joe’s Mango Chicken Sausage–which Andrew didn’t eat) for breakfast yesterday. Sadly, I didn’t take any photos.

I did, however, take some (dark) ones this morning at O-dark-thirty when I was up having the leftovers before swimming.

Here’s a side view–you can see the square shape. I topped mine with a little peanut butter and half a banana for added energy in the pool. A drizzle of maple syrup topped it all off.

You can see the hunks of dried apricot and cinnamon on top.

I made a lot of notes on this one. Andrew liked it (his exact words were “I would eat this again” without being overly excited about it), so I definitely filed it away.

It calls for steel-cut oats, but I was hoping for a creamier texture (as opposed to their chewy, crumbly texture), so I think I might use rolled oats next time and skip the overnight soak. Also, apparently Andrew isn’t a fan of dried apricot (it calls for cranberries as well), so I think I might go the traditional route and use chopped apple and raisins next time.

Other than that, it was great. Relatively easy with fantastic results. We were both able to have breakfast yesterday, breakfast today (well, Andrew will when he gets up) and three more servings went into the freezer. (And that was only half the recipe.) Hurray!

Is it crazy that I’m making MORE oatmeal tomorrow? I found “citrus-scented oatmeal with apricots and orange zest” in my Ancient Grains cookbook…

homemade coffee creamer

So, I’m trying to kick my coffee creamer habit.

I know, this is drastic. Very. But it just means I’m one step closer to going all-organic, all-natural, all-local… At least for the most part. I, obviously, eat out with no problem, and when I saw that an organic pork loin was $15.99 a POUND at Wegmans last night (should’ve bought the one from Arden Farms yesterday morning at the co-op…grrr), I almost passed out. Seriously, I had to double-check to make sure the price was right. Yup, it was… And I’m sorry, I’m willing to pay more for organic produce and milk, but be reasonable people! FIVE TIMES the price is insane!

Anyway, back to creamer. If you’re just joining me, you can read about my thoughts on coffee creamer here.

A little bit ago, a friend of mine left a comment here on the blog about Deliciously Organic’s homemade coffee creamer recipes. I was intrigued, to say the least. I’ll be honest, I always felt a little guilty touting all this healthy-food info, all while keeping my fridge stocked with something so blatantly UNhealthy. (When I say ‘unhealthy,’ I’m usually referring to something processed or from a box, as opposed to actual fat and calorie count. Real food is what I’m after, not necessarily low calories.)

Anyway… I decided I’d give it a try. I finished up what remained of my Cinnamon Sugar Latte flavored creamer and purchased the ingredients to make the Cinnamon Streusel flavor. (I’m a huge cinnamon fan.)

Whole milk, heavy cream, maple syrup, cinnamon and vanilla and almond extracts. Simple enough. One of my main concerns with making my own creamer is that it won’t last as long in the fridge, since it isn’t chock-full of artificial stuff and preservatives, obviously. I ended up making the whole recipe (end product is about 2 C), and I’ll see how long it lasts.

You heat the milk and cream just until it starts to steam, then add your flavorings. The recipe recommended straining out the spices, but I didn’t have anything fine enough (note to self: buy cheesecloth), so the cinnamon that didn’t settle to the bottom make it in. It has since settled to the bottom in the container (below) so it’s not a problem in the coffee.

I have one of those handy-dandy Tupperware salad dressing shakers that I don’t use (I usually make so little at a time that I just whisk it together in a small bowl), and I thought it would be perfect for this, and it was. The 2 C fit perfectly and it seals well with a great pour spout–hurray!

And the verdict on the creamer is…

….unfortunately, only so-so. It’s not as sweet, which isn’t that bad since it’s probably better for me to get used to a less-sweet cup of joe, but I still want SOME sweetness. In terms of texture, the creaminess of it was great. And there are definitely hints of cinnamon and the extracts, but overall, I don’t think it added much flavor. So, I think I’m going to try another recipe next time. Or adjust on my own. I’ve been adding about a teaspoon of sugar to my cups in addition to the 2 tbsp (72 calories = about the same as the bottled kind) of homemade creamer. Deliciously Organic has some additional recipes that seem to have a different ratio of cream to sweetener, so I might try one of those next (after calculating the calorie-count!) to see how I like it.

However, making my own creamer has made me wonder, do I even NEED a flavored creamer? Wouldn’t sugar and milk or half-and-half do just fine? Maybe. But I do want to enjoy my coffee, and I really like tasting a distinct flavor. Which brings me to my next point: the flavor of coffee.

One day, when our little Keurig bites the dust (it’s actually starting to make some funny noises), I’d like to get a really nice coffee maker and grind my own beans. I mean, if I’m going to have a cup every morning, I’d actually like to (one day) be able to really TASTE the coffee itself, and have an appreciation for a certain type of bean or roast. I mean, if I’m going to grind my own beans and make it in a french press or something like that, I don’t want to dumb-down that hard-earned flavor with bottled crap!

So, perhaps I’m just starting out on this journey to transition from Kuerig coffee with creamer to good coffee in a coffee maker. For now, I think I’m still interested in experimenting with homemade recipes–one that will give just enough sweetness and actual flavor, without breaking the caloric bank or pumping me full of artificial ingredients.

I’ll keep you posted! Happy SUPER BOWL Sunday all–I’m off to the pool for a swim before church 🙂