State Fair Caramel Apple Oatmeal

This morning, I made State Fair Caramel Apple Oatmeal from Kathy Hester's blog, Healthy Slow Cooking.  In actuality, I did not slow cook this oatmeal and I think it would have been better if I had.  I just didn't have an oatmeal "vision" for today's breakfast last night.  So, I cooked it in my rice cooker.

Here's a couple of interesting things about the rice cooker.  One, when cooking steel cut oats with almond milk (versus water), expect that the milk will "foam up" (and I do mean FOAM UP!!!) while cooking.  Two, don't close the lid of the rice cooker.  Rather, vent it with a wooden spoon laid across the top of the pot.  Three, when you don't think about items one and two, expect that the almond milk will boil over, come out of the top vent, and generally make a mess all over the kitchen counter.  (No, I did not take pictures of that!  ha!)  Trust me, next time I will be making this in my little 1½ quart slow cooker. Sheesh!

This is a very tasty morning oatmeal dish.  I really liked it.  I will say that next time, I'll cut down on the brown sugar as it was a bit sweet for me.  Yes, I did add a touch of brown sugar for the picture (at the top), but this picture is without the added brown sugar and it was still just a tad sweet (but my sons would have loved it).  Of course, that could have been because I didn't slow cook it, but rather fast cooked it in my rice cooker.  I'll still add less brown sugar and see how that is because I did love the flavoring.

If you haven't visited Kathy's blog to explore her 40 recipes for steel cut oats, you need to visit it and start exploring Love Your Oatmeal Celebration.  Kathy has non-oatmeal recipes on her blog, too!  I have her cookbook, The Vegan Slow Cooker, and love that, too!

And now, a request ... Gateway Pet Guardians in St. Louis has been feeding homeless dogs and cats that live on the streets of East St. Louis for years.  You can visit the blog here and read about the wonderful things they have done and see videos of Pj feeding the cats and dogs, something she has done daily for years.  Gateway is one of many competing for a cash award from Monsanto.  Monsanto may not be your favorite corporation, but please go to the competition website and vote for Gateway Pet Guardians.  It's the animals that will benefit from your vote.  Currently, GPG is in 3rd place, which could mean $5,000 to them.  If we can get them to first place, it would mean $15,000.  Please vote daily. The voting doesn't end until January 29.  The more votes GPG gets, the closer they will come to 1st place and the more good these animal angels can do for homeless dogs and cats.  Thank you! :)

Eggless Nog Pancakes

 

I bought Soy Nog for the first time this year.  I used to like drinking Egg Nog, within moderation. I wanted the coconut milk version, but didn't see it at Whole Foods.  (I'm sure it was there and I just missed it.)  So, I bought Soy Nog.  OK, not only did I buy one quart, I bought two quarts.  Never mind that I haven't had any in years.  I'm not sure why I thought I'd drink so much of it. Good thing for me, the Soy Nog doesn't expire until January 30, 2012.  

I wanted to make baked Soy Nog French toast, but I couldn't find a recipe I liked and I didn't want to botch one up.  So, I decided that I would alter a vegan pancake recipe.  I used the Vegan Pancake recipe by the Happy Herbivore as my base.  I've not made the basic pancake recipe, so I'm not sure how those turn out.  Perhaps that should have been my first step.

I don't "measure" my flour or other dry ingredients that are in "cup" measurements.  I weigh those as I feel it gives a better result because weighing ingredients is more consistent.  The pancakes were too dense for my liking.  Even given my weighing the ingredients, I think using the whole wheat pastry flour was much too heavy for these pancakes.  Could be that I didn't use any water, but used all Soy Nog.  I'll try these again sometime (read: this December), but make a few alterations to try to get a lighter, fluffier pancake. Below is my recipe.

Eggless Nog Pancakes

8.50 ounces whole wheat pastry flour (equivalent to 2 cups)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

1 3/4 cup Soy Nog (can use 1/2 cup water for part of the Soy Nog)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 

2 tablespoons maple syrup

Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients to mix.  Let batter rest for a few minutes.  Heat griddle pan (heat medium high).  Use 1/4 cup ladle to pour batter onto to skillet. Cook for a couple of minutes and then flip.

Because the batter was so dense, it didn't "bubble" like regular pancakes, so I had to watch the pancakes more closely so they wouldn't overcook.

The flavor was good.  I liked the subtle cinnamon/nutmeg flavor.  I do think a combination of a lighter flour and subbing some water for part of the Soy Nog would lighten up the density.  I much prefer a batter that is thinner and pours onto the griddle. This batter was so thick that I had to put it on the griddle and then spread it around.  If you like dense pancakes, this is definitely the recipe for you.

Jordan, January 20, 2012

On another note, here's a picture of Jordan playing in the snow on Friday evening.  We got SOCKED with snow on Friday, which meant a 2½ hour commute home for me.  I was so glad to be home.  I used my electric snow thrower shovel to make quick work of my driveway.  Gotta love the electric aspect of it!

Coconut Banana Pecan Coffee Cake Oatmeal

I have not been feeling the best the last couple of days.  I drove to Springfield, Illinois, 3 hours from my home, so that my sons and I could have Thanksgiving dinner with my Mom.  On the way back, I had a coughing fit before I even got out of the Springfield area (which I attribute to the air freshener I got at the car wash the night before and was promptly thrown out), and once that was done, I had a scratchy throat for the rest of the drive. Yesterday, I woke up with a mild sore throat and a hoarse voice.  Today, I had a voice, but I had a moderate sore throat.  Needless to say, a green smoothie was not appealing in the least.

I remembered Kathy Hester's website, Healthy Slow Cooking, and that she had a TON of recipes for steel cut oats.  The only problem being, the recipes all call for a 1½ to 2 quart slow cooker, which I did not own.  That is ... until I ran out and bought one this morning at 9 AM.  :::smile:::

After looking at all of her oatmeal (steel cut oat) recipes, I finally settled on Coconut Banana Pecan Coffee Cake Oatmeal.  Yes, it does take a long time to cook (7 to 9 hours), and by the time I washed out the crock pot and put the ingredients in it, it was 10:20 AM.  I didn't care.  I decided I would eat the rest of the soup I had in the fridge early and eat the steel cut oats later.

I only did a few things differently than the recipe, and I'm sure they did not affect the taste.  First, I used unsweetened almond milk (not vanilla flavor) and upped the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon.  I used agave instead of a low calorie sweetener and I used walnuts for my nuts instead of pecans.  I didn't have any pecans in the house and walnuts just seemed close enough.  I don't know if my slow cooker cooks at a warmer temperature than Kathy's does, but 6 hours was long enough for my steel cut oats.  To cook it overnight, I think I'll add a bit more liquid and put it on so it will only cook for 6½ hours at the longest.

This is an absolutely delightful steel cut oat dish.  It's extremely tasty.  It would be good with a splash of almond milk in it, too.  As a bonus, the vegan bowl I ordered from Etsy.com came today, so I got to eat the oatmeal in my new bowl.

I can't wait to try more of Kathy's oatmeal recipes.  These will be perfect for the upcoming winter months.

Cabbage, Chickpea, & Sweet Potato Soup

I started out to make one soup, Chickpea Rice Soup with Cabbage on PPK, and ended up making an entirely different soup.  Part of the problem was I didn't have any carrots.  The other part of the equation was although that is a good soup, it was too bland for my palate.  I like soup with a little zing.

Here is what I did:

Cabbage, Chickpea, & Sweet Potato Soup

1 onion, sliced or diced
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (I used Penzey's minced equivalent to 2 cloves)
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon dried jalapeno flakes
1/2 teaspoon of red cayenne pepper
sprinkle of salt and pepper
1/2 to 2/3 cup brown rice
1 squirt (about 3" long) of Thai spice blend (in the tube in the produce section)
1/2 head of cabbage, shredded or cut in 1/4" or less ribbons
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced in 1/2" squares
6 to 8 cups of water
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of Better than Bouillon, no-chicken flavor
2 cups cooked chickpeas (I use frozen that I've cooked at home)
1/2 teaspoon dill weed

1 teaspoon Tofutti Better than Sour Cream per bowl of soup

Saute onions in the olive oil until soft over medium heat; add garlic, thyme, jalapeno flakes, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, and brown rice.  Saute another minute or two over medium heat.  Add cabbage, sweet potatoes, water, and Better than Bouillon.  Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.  Add the chickpeas and let simmer another 20 minutes, until the rice and sweet potatoes are tender.  Add dill weed.  Let simmer another minute or two.

Ladle soup into bowls.  Add 1 teaspoon of Tofutti Better than Sour Cream per bowl (no more than 1 teaspoon - you only want a hint of richness to keep the soup on the lighter side versus it being a heavy soup).  Stir to mix in and enjoy.

This soup is not over-the-top spicy, but rather has a little zing, just enough to make the soup interesting and keep you coming back for another bowl.  YUM!  It's a keeper.

Butternut Squash with Couscous and Dried Fruit

I needed to use the butternut squash that I roasted the other day.  I didn't want to make a risotto, although I think that's what I should have done as I love winter squash risotto.  Instead, I was trying to find a soup that I could make.  I ended up settling on a recipe from VegWeb.com called Butternut Squash and Couscous.  This would be my first time making couscous.

I chopped the onions and minced the garlic and ginger.  Then, I sauteed them for a few minutes and added a fruit medley.  I was going to use a craisin/raisin blend, but I had a bag of mixed fruit that I needed to use.  It contained papayas, pineapples, raisins, and bananas (which I picked out).  (In hind sight, the fruit medley would have been perfect in a rice pudding.  Go figure that occurs to me now!)

I sauteed that mixture for a bit and then I added 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/8 teaspoon allspice, and 1 teaspoon (at least) of freshly grated nutmeg.  I sauteed that for about 30 seconds and then added 2 1/2 cups of water and the couscous.

Since my butternut squash was roasted, I didn't need to complete the step to let it simmer until tender.  I thought I'd up the spices and add a few more to give it more of a sweet and savory type of taste.  I decided I didn't want it to be a thick pasta dish, but rather a creamy soup.  So, I added a handful of garbanzo beans, 1/4 cup of SO Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer, and about 2 cups of water.  The "soup" (very thick soup) turned out too sweet, not enough savory.

I ended up putting a squirt of Sriracha in my bowl and that helped, but it was still missing something.  So, I added 1 teaspoon of red curry paste and about a teaspoon of Sriracha to the pot.  That was more like it.  It's much better now.  However, in the future, I'll leave out the fruit all together.  I'm not a fruity soup person and would have never thought to add it before reading the recipe on VegWeb. I also didn't care for the minced ginger.  If it was grated, that would have been better.  The ginger flavor was too strong when biting into a small cube of ginger.

While I won't make this soup exactly the way I did today, I will try making a butternut squash soup again.  I love winter squashes.  I'm glad I experimented as it brings me closer to finding the exact spice ingredient combination that is perfect for me.

Today, it is cloudy with a temperature in the lower 50's with a wicked wind whipping around.  I took the girls for a walk at Lake Katherine today, which is our favorite place to walk.  However, I under-dressed because I'm thinking 50's, not 30's or 40's with the wind chill.  Brrrrr!  We only walked 1 mile and then came home.  (Our norm is 2 miles.)  I guess that 1-mile walk was enough to tucker the girls out, because here they are this afternoon.

Kobe is in the dog bed, which she OWNS and has actually pushed Jordan out of when Jordan had the "nerve" to lay in it the other day.  Jordan is in the rocker/recliner, which she owns. ha!

They've been in these positions for the last hour at least.  They need to rest up because tomorrow morning, we'll be back out there walking our 2-miles and I will be dressed more appropriately!

Lake Katherine

Roasted Red Kuri Squash & Coconut Soup

I have a variety of squash at my house.  I have a spaghetti, butternut, acorn, and red kuri squash along with a pumpkin pie pumpkin at my house.  I've had these squashes for weeks.  OK, some since mid-September.  I figure it is time to start using them.  So, I threw the red kuri and butternut squashes in my roaster that doubles as a slow cooker, and slow cooked them for 8 hours today.  I knew I wanted to make soup or risotto or something with the red kuri squash as I've never had it before.

So, I put it on a plate to remove the skin.  I really wonder why I needed to remove the skin.  The skin was extremely thin and was almost as tender as the squash flesh.  I think next time I roast one of these, I'll leave the skin on it.  I've seen recipes that use it unpeeled, so that's what I will do.  It was an absolute M-E-S-S to peel the thing.

After looking at MANY recipes (and bookmarking a few of them), I decided to make Roasted Red Kuri Pumpkin & Coconut Soup.  Technically, I don't think the red kuri is a pumpkin, but it kind of looks like one.  What I can say, regardless of the title, this soup is the BOMB!  LOVE IT!

It took a bit to put it together between chopping shallots, mincing garlic, and grating ginger.  I was supposed to "crumble" a dried red pepper in with the shallots/garlic/ginger, but I discovered that my pepper wouldn't crumble.  Oh it's dried and has been sitting in a cellophane pocket for months, but it was still a little gummy. So, I chopped the CRAP out of it and added it.

 

This is my first recipe using coconut milk.  I bought a can for something (I have no clue what), and finally used it today.  When I first put the coconut milk in the soup and tasted it, I could taste the coconut strongly.  After simmering for 30 minutes, it no longer has a strong coconut taste.  While I did add the lime juice, I only added 1 tablespoon, not two.  Also, I didn't use the garnishes.  Maybe they add a ton to the soup, but I have to say, I absolutely LOVE the soup without them.

This soup is a keeper and will be a repeat in my house.  There is a link in the comments for the blog entry for this soup for a butternut squash soup.  It's called Spicy Butternut Squash, Apple and Coconut Milk Soup.  Since I already have a roasted butternut squash, I'm thinking this is my next soup.  Although, this soup uses far less coconut milk, which is a good thing.  I could probably get away with using 1/2 cup of almond milk.  I'll keep you posted. :)

Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween.  As Halloweens go, the weather is pretty nice.  It's been just a so-so day for me.  The State of Illinois, in its infinite wisdom, sent new license plates for my son's car.  I found out, when I was trying to take the old plates off, that the bolts were rusted.  After researching the problem online, I headed off to the auto store to get some PB Blaster to spray on the bolts.  The biggest advice on the internet was to be patient and go slow.  OK, sounded easy enough.

So, I spray the bolts, wait about 10-15 minutes and go out with my vise grip pliers.  The right bolt turns reluctantly and comes out.   YAY!  The left bolt seems a bit more stubborn.  Do you think that I sprayed more PB Blaster on it and waited?  Nope.  I snapped the bolt head off, leaving the screw inside the nut.  It snapped off flush with the nut, so there was no hope of using pliers to get it out. Back to the internet!

The next procedure was to get a bolt extractor kit, make an indentation in center of the bolt fragment, and then drill into the center of the bolt fragment.  Once there is a pathway through the bolt fragment, I was supposed to tap the bolt extractor into the pathway and screw counterclockwise to remove the bolt.  Sounded scarier, but hey, I was up for the challenge.  Alas, I couldn't get an indentation in the middle of the fragment, which meant that when I tried to drill, the drill drifted.  Rather than risk more damage to the nut, I took it to the car dealer, which was the only place that would drill out the old bolt (believe me, I called around for a cheaper alternative).

I had the dealer remove the bolt fragment and then install the new plate on the back.  (This could or could not have involved tapping out the screw and rethreading the nut, I didn't ask.)  Then, I had the dealer install a new bracket for the front plate, which has been missing for years after someone rear-ended me and pushed me into the car in front of me, popping the license plate and bracket off of the front of the car.  While I've not been ticketed for a missing front plate, it's a distinct possibility in Chicago, so I just had them replace it.  $200 later, the car is back home.  :::sigh:::

So, while I was waiting for the car to be fixed, I decided to make some Slow-Cooker Black Bean-Mushroom Chili.  I received the recipe in a Recipe of the Day email.  I made a few alterations.  First, I halved the recipe as it's a TON of chili.  Second, I added some ingredients and changed one.

I sauteed the mushrooms, tomatillos, and onion in the spices and 1/4 cup of water.  I probably sauteed them 15 or 20 minutes before the liquid from the vegetables started to evaporate.  Instead of adding mushroom broth, which I didn't have, I added 1 carton of Imagine Organic No-Chicken Broth.  I still added a full can of tomato paste and two chopped chipolte peppers in adobe sauce.

I let the broth heat up so it was steaming before I added it to the crock pot.  I put 3 cups of frozen black beans that I had cooked on Thursday, and I added 1 poblano pepper, chopped to the crock pot.

I also added a cup or so of a black bean/corn/bell pepper frozen vegetable blend and a third of a bag of vegan crumbles that I had in the freezer after I added the broth to the crock pot.

Since the beans are already cooked, I figured I didn't need to let the chili cook as long as it would have needed to for uncooked black beans.  I put the chili on high and let it cook about 4 hours.  I will be eating mine with a little avocado and a teaspoon of Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream.  If it's not quite zippy enough, I'll add a little Cholula Hot Sauce, chipolte flavor.  Here is the recipe as I made it.

Addendum:  The chili is da bomb!  I didn't add any avocado (due to laziness), but I did add 1 teaspoon of Tofutti Sour Cream and a couple of dashes of Cholula Chipolte Hot Sauce.  This chili rocks.  I'll definitely (A) be freezing some portions for future meals, and (B) be making this again during the winter season.  Next time, I need to make some rocking cornbread to accompany it.  Tonight, I'm just satisfied with the chili. :)

Black Bean and Mushroom Slow Cooker Chili

3 cups black beans, cooked*
1 poblano pepper, chopped
1 cup corn (or corn/black bean/bell pepper blend)
1/3 package of vegan crumbles (my best guess is 1 to 1½ cups)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon medium hot chili powder (Penzey's)
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
4 oz. tomatillos, coarsely chopped
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
8 oz. sliced mushrooms (I used button)
1 carton (32 oz.) Imagine Organic No-Chicken Broth
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
2 chipolte peppers in adobe sauce, minced**

Chop poblano pepper and add it to crock pot with black beans, corn, and vegan crumbles.

Roast spices (mustard seeds through cardamom) in 1 tablespoon of olive oil for 30 seconds to a minute (mine were popping all over, so I don't think I did this for even 30 seconds).  Add tomatillos, onions, and mushrooms with 1/4 cup of water and saute/simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes until the mushrooms have released their water and the mixture is starting to dry.  Add broth, tomato paste, and chipolte peppers.  Cook another 5 minutes or so until the broth is heated through.

Add broth mixture to crock pot.  Cook on high 3 to 4 hours or on low for 5 or 6 hours.  Serve with avocado slices, Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream, and Cholula Chipolte Hot Sauce.

*  Can use two (2) 15 ounce cans of black beans.  If using canned, rinse beans well to remove excess sodium.
** I froze the rest of the chipolte peppers in an ice cube tray.  I put one pepper per ice cube portion and evenly distributed the remaining adobe sauce.  After the peppers and sauce were frozen into cubes, I dumped them all into a ziploc bag and threw them back in the freezer.   I had 10 portions left over.

Happy Halloween!  Here are pictures of the girls in their Halloween costumes.  Seeing as they are both named after great basketball players, what better costume could there be, but to have them wear the basketball jersey for their respective player.  Kobe's jersey is left over from when my sons were young and my oldest first started loving Kobe Bryant.  This is back in the day when Kobe Bryant wore #8.  Jordan is in a Michael Jordan jersey, #23, his most famous number.  Don't they both look thrilled?

It's a really nice day here in Chicago.  The girls are much happier looking out the back screen.