glorious oats

I love oatmeal for breakfast in the morning!  Not only is it a nutritional powerhouse, it is super filling and usually keeps me content till lunch time even when I eat breakfast at 6:30am.  Love that!

I have to say I prefer the quick-cooking oats better than the regular for some reason.  Is that blasphemy?  I like my oats really thick and dense and they seem to give it my kind of consistency.  The regular oats get too goopy for me for some reason.  I also really enjoy steel-cut oats for their dense and chewy texture.  The only thing with these is that they take so darn long to cook! 

I found the perfect thing at Trader Joe’s the other day. . . Quick cooking steel cut oats!  It says they take 8 minutes, but I cooked them about 15 minutes, just until slightly chewy. 

So I decided to make my oatmeal triangles with these and a little 7-grain cereal from Bob’s Red Mill.  They turned out really good and cooked in 1/2 the time.  Sweet! 

Oatmeal Triangles (take 2)  

Yield:  8-10 servings (2 triangles)

• 1 cup quick cooking steel cut oats (TJ’s brand)
• 1/2 cup 7-grain cereal mix (Bob’s Red Mill brand)
• 2 cups non-fat milk and 1 cup water
• 1/3 heaping cup chunky cinnamon applesauce (I used my crock-pot apples)
• 1/4 cup raisins, or your fav dried fruit
• 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• dash of clove (careful cloves can be really powerful!)
• You could also add some pumpkin, mushed banana, dash of vanilla extract . . .

Directions

Place milk, water, applesauce, raisins and spices in a large pot; bring to a gentle boil.  Add the oats and 7-grain cereal; stir.  Reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick, about 15-20 minutes.  Adjust for seasonings if needed.  I always seem to add more cinnamon!

Place mixture in a 9 x 13 pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Place in the fridge overnight uncovered.  In the morning, preheat oven to 425.  Cut the oatmeal into squares and then triangles (or any shape you like!) and place on a greased pan or silpat.  Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until slightly golden. 

Serve with your favorites!  I like cottage cheese, yogurt, fresh fruit, slather of peanut butter, drizzle of honey, sprinkle of nuts, and cinnamon . . . the possibilities are endless! 

I even make an egg sammy with the triangles.  They’re also great for a hearty breakfast on the go when you don’t have time to cook oats in a pot every morning.  Yum!  There’s some cottage cheese under there somewhere.

 

I found this interesting article about when I discussed having nutrition facts labels available at restaurants.  This study found that having them actually does influence people to make better choices, who would have thought?

What do you think about labels in restaurants?  Do you have any unconventional oat usage?

 

roll it up

Lasagna is a great way to stretch food dollars because it makes a butt-load of food!  I change it up a bit by rolling them up with the filling inside instead of layering the noodles.  It’s really fun and the kiddies will enjoy it too!

I’m really enjoying the spring break time off classes!  I had today off work too and was able to prep some food and snacks for the week, get caught up on cleaning and work on some school projects.  I also made it to a kick-my-butt box class which was really great.  Sometimes it’s just nice to have a day off, but it goes so darn fast!

Lasagna Roll-Ups 

 

Yield: 8-10 servings (2 roll-ups)

• 15 oz part-skim ricotta cheese
• 3 cups skim mozzarella (1 cup for filling and 2 cups for topping)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp dried Italian herbs, crushed
• pinch of salt and pepper to taste
• 1 chicken sausage link, casing removed and sautéed in pan
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 cups packed and chopped spinach
• 16 lasagna noodles
• 4 cups of your favorite pasta sauce (or see below)

For the crock-pot pasta sauce:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 carrot, chopped fine
• 8 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 (28oz) cans roma tomatoes with basil, no salt added (I like the TJ’s brand)
• 2 tbsp dried Italian herbs, crushed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil to add freshness at the end (optional)

Directions

For the roll-ups: 

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place about 1 cup of pasta sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.  Mix the first 9 ingredients (1 cup mozzarella cheese through spinach) in a large bowl.

Boil the pasta noodles just until they are bendable and easy to work with.  Place them on a cookie sheet so they don’t stick.  Place about 1/3 cup of the cheese mixture down on each lasagna noodle and roll-up. 

Place in a 9 x 13 baking pan.  You should be able to make about 15-16 roll-ups.  Cover with the rest of the pasta sauce and some foil.  Bake at 350 covered with foil for 20 minutes; remove the foil and increase oven temp to 400.  Sprinkle with about 2 cups of mozzarella cheese.  Bake an additional 20 minutes or until golden and crispy on top.  So good!

For the crock-pot sauce:

Sauté the onion, carrot and garlic in olive oil until slightly golden.  Clear a space in the center and plop the tomato paste in the middle.  Cook this for at least 8-10 minutes.  It really deepens the tomato flavor.  Add the balsamic vinegar and stir to reduce down a bit.  Add this to the crock-pot along with the tomatoes and spices.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Taste for seasonings and add the fresh basil at the very end.

Here is the average nutrition facts for 2 roll-ups.  I had to use a generic sauce which probably had a considerable amount of sodium in it.  I don’t really add that much salt to the tomato sauce because I love the fresh taste of tomato and fresh basil.  Plus when it cooks in the crock-pot all day it gives a wonderful depth of tomato flavor so you don’t need to use that much salt!  You could also reduce some of the mozzarella cheese on top because it was pretty cheesy! 

Cheesy goodness!  My favorite part is all the crusty crispies on the side.  You could also cut this recipe into two 8 x 8 square pans and freeze one (without the cheese on top and tightly wrapped/covered) to have another week.

 We are going to be eating leftovers for days.  And I’m sure the flavor will be even better tomorrow, yay!  And I can’t forget the birthday shout out to VeggieGirl, woo-hoo! 

And don’t forget to enter the survey at demo.eatingrd.com to give us your feedback on the new site.  Mention this on your blog and you’ll get two entries to win your choice of the 1 GB flash drive OR 5 itunes downloads.  We’d love to hear your feedback and get some significance with the results. 

Are you a big leftovers person?  If so, what is your favorite dish to have lots of?

new demo site

Happy Weekend!  The new demo site for eatingRD is up and running!  It will just give a little preview of what I’m piloting for a new business endeavor.  It’s still being tweaked and adjusted and there are still many things we need to add, so that is why I am asking for all your comments and feedback.  You all have such great ideas and insight and I would love to hear from you, good or bad, about what you think. 

Here is the link!  There is a short survey you can take that will give us some insight as to what you think of the new site, your impressions and expectations of RDs and a business like this, and ways you think it can be improved. 

Five entries will be chosen at random to win a 1GB flash drive from newegg.com.  Here’s an example one at the left.

Now on to dinner! . . .

This is definitely my favorite go-to dish because it’s pretty easy to make and it was the first recipe I ever got comfortable with.  It’s such a great feeling when you are in the kitchen and can just grab ingredients ‘a little bit here, a dash of that’ and it turns out well!  That’s what makes cooking so much fun, even if it doesn’t always turn out.  It’s a big experiment!  Go ahead and try it with different types of sausage (lower fat of course) and pasta to make it your own. I have made it for several family and friends, who always request me to make it, and it’s great for a casual yet elegant dinner party.  It always seems to disappear too fast!  This dish is great for leftovers, and I am all about the leftovers! They can be a great way to stretch food dollars.

Broccoli Sausage Pasta

 

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• Freshly ground pepper or Mrs. Dash seasoning
• 2-3 heads broccoli, trimmed and washed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
• 5 links turkey or chicken sausage (lower fat), casing removed
• 1 1/2 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth whisked with 1 1/2 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 12 oz of your favorite pasta, such as campanelle or farfalle
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan/Romano cheese, plus more for sprinkling 

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and shallots; cook until just golden. Add sausage; sauté, breaking up with the back of a spoon, until cooked through and forms crumbly bits on the bottom of the pan. Add broth mixture and scrape bits off bottom of pan. Cook until heated through, thickened and reduced down a bit, about 10-12 minutes.
2. While that is reducing, add pasta to large pot of boiling water; cook according to package directions until al dente. Add broccoli florets, in the last 3-4 minutes of cooking.  Drain together. 
3. Add pasta and broccoli to skillet or large pot; toss everything to combine. Season with black pepper and/or Mrs. Dash, and crushed red pepper. Sprinkle with cheese; toss to combine and serve! 

You can increase the amount of veggies by sautéing mushrooms and zucchini with the sausage too. I also recommend serving it with a nice piece of crusty bread and a fruity balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Yum!

Along with the pasta we tried a new Chardonnay that turned out to be great!  This is the perfect malolactic – type chard if you have never experienced it before.  I would highly recommend it.  It was so full and buttery, and yet still crisp and refreshing.  The sausage I used in the pasta was slightly spicy, and this chard stood up to it well and enveloped the spice in its buttery goodness.  There were notes of melon and nectarine with a slight citrus-y brightness.  It was pretty reasonable too at $12, you should try it!

 

After dinner, we cuddled up (well, my guy fell asleep!) and watched Twilight. 

I’m still trying to find the time to get through the book portion!

This weekend I am planning on making a batch of granola bars (I tried them with 2 egg whites and less oil and they turned out good!) and Oatmeal Triangles with a new product from TJ’s to last for the week, along with a little bit of prepping of recipes to come . . . I see a twist on lasagna maybe?  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

How do you find time to make your meals?  Do you prep before hand or put it all together the same day?  Or rely on other quick methods?