How to Make: Instant Oatmeal

A while back I had saw a blog post talking about the prices of a box instant oatmeal, compared to an entire pound of oat. The blog post talked about it being no more difficult to turn on the stove and make the real thing instead of the processed box version which often was full of sugar, additives and very little fruit. The blogger showed how he just boiled it away on the stove top for a few minutes and that was that. This, I thought, was a great idea! My husband loves oatmeal in the winter time and will eat two packages of the instant stuff at a time. When you go through two boxes a week at about $4 a pop for the organic stuff, it gets a little pricey! So I told him that I was going to buy regular oats that he could just cook in the pan in the morning. This was met will all sorts of heartache. He hates to cook and he certainly didn’t want to find a pan, measure the oats, measure the water blah blah blah. Basically he was telling me it would be to much work for him. So, I set out to create an instant oatmeal that was just like his packets. All he would have to do is add water and pop it in the microwave. What I came up with is so much cost effective then those pre-made boxes, and better for you too.

One Year Ago: Plum Crumble


What You Need: (Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal)
9 cups quick oats
1/3 c brown sugar
1 1/2 c raisins
2 tbs cinnamon


What To Do:
Remove 2 1/2 cups of the quick oats and place into a food processor. Pulse a few times until they are broken down, but not quite to powder form.  Stir the raisins, brown sugar and cinnamon into it and then combine the whole thing together with the rest of the quick oats. Once combined thoroughly, store in an air tight container, making sure to label it. One heaping 1/2 scoop is equivalent to one packet of the store bought stuff. Just add about 3/4 c water and place in the microwave for 1 minute. If this isn’t sweet enough for you, add in some honey, maple syrup etc, after cooking.
Not a cinnamon raisin fan? Make a chocolate version by adding in some cocoa powder and dried milk, maybe some chocolate chips? Omit the raisins and add in a bit more sugar for a cinnamon roll version. Add dried apples instead of raisins. The possibilities are endless.

Oven Baked Chicken Fingers

Nothing satisfies a tyke more then chicken nuggets, at least in my house that is. I don't buy chicken nuggets, or chicken fingers from the store. To many preservatives and who knows just what parts they make their nuggets from. I like to marinate mine for a bit in some low fat yogurt and dijon mustard, not just for the flavor but it because it helps to tenderize the chicken. Crusted with a mixture of wheat germ, saltine crackers and some corn flakes, they are super yummy and pretty good for you too!

What You Need:

2 chicken breast, about 1 pound
1/2 c plain low fat yogurt
1/4 c dijon mustard
1/2 c wheat germ
1/2 sleeve, saltine crackers
2 cup corn flakes
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp garlic powder
pepper

What To Do:

Slice the chicken breast thinly, into "fingers". You should get at least 12, if not a couple more. Mix together the yogurt and the dijon and place the chicken into it. Stir until the chicken is well coated. Let sit for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 425 degree. In a food processor, pulse the crackers until they are crumbly, then add in the wheat germ, cornflakes and spices. Pulse several times until the crackers become crumbs and everything is well mixed together. Turn out in to a bowl. Remove the chicken from the yogurt mixture and shake off the excess. Coat it with the crumb mixture, pressing it onto the chicken so that it coats it evenly. Place each piece on a cooing rack that is set into a baking sheet. Make sure you spray the rack with a bit of cooking spray before laying the chicken onto it. Place into the preheated oven and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.

For a great honey mustard dipping sauce, combine 1/4 cup of dijon mustard with 3 tbs honey and 1 tbs of mayo, serve with the chicken fingers.

Mac and Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli

Mac and cheese makes a great comfort food for a cold winters night, but it's also great to eat any time of year. I'm not talking about the boxed pasta with that powdery cheese, or even the deluxe version with over powering fake cheese sauce. I'm talking about the creamy, luscious, real cheese sauce that coats every inch of the pasta you're using. The traditional pasta, of course, is macaroni, but I like to use a corkscrew pasta or even a medium shell pasta. When using shells, they fill up with cheese and it's just so ooey gooey and yummy. Plus, because this is mac and cheese, your kids are sure to eat it up! I make it a complete meal by throwing in some chicken breast and broccoli too. I also use a blend of three cheeses. The Gruyère and Cheddar provide the flavor, while the fontina adds creaminess.

What You Need:

1lb pound of pasta (macaroni, shell, etc)
1/2 lb (8oz) Gruyère cheese (shredded)
1/2 lb (8oz)  extra-sharp cheddar  (shredded)
1/4 lb (4oz) fontina cheese  (shredded)
4 tbs butter
4 tbs flour
4 cups milk
1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1 lb broccoli, fresh or frozen cut into bite size pieces
1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg
salt and pepper

What To Do:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once it boils, salt it heavily and cook your pasta a minute or two shy of doneness because it will continue to cook in the cheese sauce. During the last few minutes, add in your broccoli, obviously if you're using fresh, it will take a bit longer to cook then frozen which really just needs to be heated through.
Meanwhile, in a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour and let cook for a minute or two to remove the flour taste. Very slowly, whisk in the milk to prevent lumps. Turn the heat to medium high and bring to a bubble so that it thickens about 10 minutes. Once the milk has thickened a bit, slowly stir in the cheeses, little by little, waiting until the additional has melted before adding in more. Stir in the nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Add in the bite sized chicken and let cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. This will start the chicken cooking.
Once the pasta is cooked, stir it and the broccoli into the cheese sauce. Place into a large casserole dish that has been lightly sprayed with oil or cooking spray and bake in a preheated 350 oven for about 30 minutes or until it's bubble and a bit browned on top. You can always give it a sprinkle with bread crumbs before baking too which would give it a bit of crunch on top, or even some crushed up cheese doodles.

How To Make: Tater Tots

Every once in a while, we get on a fried food kick. Normally when I want to make something that needs to be fried, instead of just dumping the oil, I'll use it a few times that week for different things. This week I wanted to make homemade tater tots. I can't tell you how easy it was! Just a handful of ingredients, a little shredding of potatoes and a quick fry and you have some great tasting, homemade tater tots!


What You Need:

4 large baking potatoes
1 small onion
1/2 c flour
1/4 c granted Parmesan cheese
2 egg yolks
salt and pepper
oil for frying

What To Do:

Peel the potatoes and using the fine side of a box grater, grate them into a bowl lined with a clean dish towel. Once they're grated, squeeze as much water out of the potatoes as possible, by gathering them in the dish towel and giving it a good squeeze over the sink. Place the potatoes in a bowl and grate the small onion into the potato mixture. Combine the flour, egg yolk, Parmesan cheese and some salt and pepper into the potatoes, using your hands to do the mixing so that everything is well incorporated. Drop by tablespoon fulls into hot oil and fry until golden brown and crispy. Remove to a paper towel lined tray and sprinkle with salt. Serve hot!

Pumpkin/Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

Fall is in full bloom (or lack thereof) here in Pennsylvania. The markets are being flooded with all the fall harvest has to offer. Apples, Pears, and all sorts of winter squash are every where you turn. Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the all the colors of the leaves and especially all the food. It's the time of year for comfort foods. Hearty soups, stews and pot pies are what this season is all about, they warm you from the inside out. This dish is no different. Tasty, sweet pumpkin and butternut squash turn savory with very little effort. Even better is that I can get my daughter to eat her veggies with this without even realizing it!

What You Need:

Approx 1 1/2lb butternut squash or pumpkin (or both)

2 carrots

Veg oil or melted butter

Salt and pepper

1 tsp dried sage

1 onion sautéed in a little butter or oil

1 c cream or milk

½ c parmesan cheese

1 tbs lemon juice

Fresh minced parsley for garnish (optional)

What To Do:


Preheat oven to 400. Quarter and seed squash. Brush cut sides with oil or melted butter and season with salt and pepper, placing them onto a sheet pan. Use two sheet pans if needed so that the squash have plenty of space for heat to get to all sides. Peel the carrots, brush with oil or melted butter, season with salt and pepper and place on the baking sheet with the squash. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the squash and carrots and soft. Let cool for a bit, the scoop flesh into a blender along with the carrots and sage and blend the milk or cream. Add the mixture to the sautéed onions and stir in the parm cheese and lemon juice. Serve over pasta. It goes really really well with cheese filled pastas.




Here's what Loni (working mom and wife) had to say:

We are not pumpkin people.  When Erica sent us a recipe for a pumpkin pasta sauce I was worried.  But then when I saw I could make the same recipe out of butternut squash I knew I could do this.  To be honest I had never cooked a butternet squash before.  Parker had had plenty of it for baby food but I bought Gerber.  At least I knew he liked the flavor so I thought I'd be safe giving it to him.  I wasn't sure if I liked butternet squash or not.  Now I know, I do, at least as a pasta sauce!  And it really feels like fall when you're eating it!

I loved that the recipe had carrots in it.  First of all I have had a love affair with them lately and I don't know why, but also they added color to the recipe.  I think with the orangey-ness of the sauce Parker thought it was macaroni and cheese, and he ate it as if it was too, good sign!! He loved it, ate two servings of it over plain pasta.  Erica said it would be good with a filled pasta which I would have loved to have tried, but we didn't have any.  I served the sauce over plain penne and sprinkled some more parmesan cheese on top.  It was delightful, perfect for a quick meal yet hearty enough to be full!  I like that the hint of lemon juice gave it such a nice fresh flavor.  And even better is that I have extra sauce, (it makes plenty!) so hopefully I can get to the store and buy some filled pastas. 

Parmesan Zucchini Straws

One of my favorite summer time veggies is zucchini. You can find it every where and chances are, if your neighbor has a garden, they'll be more then happy to share the abundance of zucchini the crop normally produces. Like most squash, zucchini is very versatile. It can be grilled, sautéed, put into baked goods or even fried. In fact, growing up my father loved fried zucchini and honestly so did I. This recipe is reminiscent of the fried version but is baked and has much more flavor. What's even better is that my daughter loved it too!!

What You Need:

1 lrg zucchini
2 eggs
2 tbs milk
1 c flour
3/4 c panko bread crumbs
3/4 c Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 tbs garlic powder
Cooking Spray

What To Do:

Preheat your oven to 450 degree

Slice the zucchini into sticks that are 4 or 5 inches in long. I cut the zucchini in half and then into sticks.
Set up 3 dishes. In the first dish, place the flour and season it with some salt and pepper. In the second dish, whisk together the eggs and milk and in the last dish combined the panko with the Parmesan cheese and garlic powder.
All you do is coat the sticks with flour, tapping of the excess before dipping them into the egg and finally into the bread crumbs.Place them in a single layer on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Give the tops a spray with the cooking spray as well and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Cow Pies

About two weeks ago my husband started bugging me for S'mores. Not that I can blame him. What's better then graham crackers, melted chocolate and toasted marshmallows all smushed together. They're messy, gooey and oh so yummy. So I made a few in the microwave for him. Then he started going on about these little cupcake like things that were nothing more then the layers of S'mores packed into cupcake form. Knowing that trying to take these S'mores out of my pans would be a terrible ordeal, I started playing around with a couple ideas. I made these little S'more bites in just a few minutes and that's what I was originally going to call them. That was until they were completely made and looked more like little cow pies instead! Just a couple of ingredients and just as few minutes, you can make these little bites anytime. However I should warn you. They are extremely addicting!

What You Need:

1 sleeve graham crackers

1/2 bag of marshmallows

2 Hershey's chocolate bars

1 tbs butter

What To Do:

In a bowl, crush up the graham crackers with your hands. You're not making crumbs out of them, just breaking them up in small pieces. Set aside.

In a large pot, melt the butter and then add in the marshmallows. Stir constantly until the marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat. 

The chocolate bars I used are the ones that they market specifically for S'mores. I'm sure they're just a plain Hershey's bar but this time of year you always find them together with marshmallows and graham crackers. I put them in a bowl and melt them in the microwave. It only takes 30 to 60 seconds.

Dump the graham crackers into the melted marshmallows and stir well. Drizzle the chocolate over the top and again stir well so that everything is combined. 

Using two tablespoons, scoop a bit of the sticky mixture up with one spoon and use the other to smush it together and then place onto a parchment lined sheet. Let sit and cool till they firm up. I would store them in the fridge, however they never lasted long enough to make it there!

Sloppy Joe's

This is no manwich so if that's what your expected you're going to be slightly disappointed and pleasely surprised. I hate processed foods. I try to avoid them at all cost, in other words, meals that come out of a can or out of a box almost never grace my table. That means I need to find new ways to make all the tasty foods that everyday Americans eat. Sloppy Joe's are something from everyone child's hood. I'm sure you fondly think of the mess they used to create when eating them. My mom always ate them opened faced with a fork and knife and now that I'm a 'grown up' I tend to eat them same way. It sucks all the fun out them, I know, but at least my shirts stay clean now!!

What You Need:

1lb ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes
3 tbs brown sugar
3 tbs Worcestershire sauce
3 tbs red wine vinegar
2 tbs yellow mustard
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

What To Do:

In a large, deep skillet, sauté the ground beef till cooked. Drain whatever fat may have cooked out. Add in the onions, peppers, and garlic and cook for a couple minutes. Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir until well combined. Reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for at least 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook longer depending on how thick you like your sloppy joe's. Serve over hamburger rolls.

S'more Granola Bars

Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, these wonderfully delicious cookie bars really are just like eating a s'more. There is no graham crackers to be found in the recipe, instead of mixture of oats and Rice Krispies cereal are combined together with a mixture of hot sugar and butter. They're sturdy enough to survive the day in the bottom of a backpack, which makes them perfect for kids. The recipe makes about four dozen bars and is so quick and easy that it's perfect for a bake sale too. My husband devoured them within the week!!

What You Need:

4 cups rolled oats
4 cups Rice Krispies cereal
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tsp salt
4 cups mini marshmallows
1cup chocolate chips

What To Do:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. On a half sheet pan, (or two 13x9 pans) spread the oats out and toast them in the preheated oven for about 6 minutes. They should smell toasty but not brown. You might need to stir them to keep the outer edges from burning. Remove from oven and place into a large bowl. Stir in the rice cereal.

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, water, corn syrup and salt over high heat. Bring to a rolling boil and let boil for 5 minutes or until a candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees. If you don't have a candy thermometer, don't worry. The 5 minute boil time is pretty accurate and won't effect your bars if you only reach 240.

Remove the syrup from the heat and pour it over the oats and cereal, stirring to combined. Add in 2 cups of marshmallows and stir well until they're incorporated into the mix. Press into the bottom of a lightly greased half sheet pan (or two 13x9 pans), patting it flat. Using another pan to press the mixture works really well.

Sprinkle the top with the remaining 2 cups of marshmallows and the chocolate chips. Bake in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the marshmallows are puffy and slightly browned. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and cut into squares while still warm. I found the easiest way was to take my pastry scraper and cut them into long strips, then cut each strip into squares.