Yammy & Fruity August 19, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Snack.Tags: blueberries, cherries, plum, sweet potato
7 comments
Saturday
Oatmeal #93: Yammy
If I didn’t incorporate the yam dessert from the previous night into my breakfast, I would have ended up chugging down a ton of it anyway, so I decided to have that stuff with my oats 
Disappointingly, the yams didn’t really bulk up the oats too much–but it could have been due to the fact that I had 0.25 cup oats and 0.25 cup mixed grains&other stuff [wheat berries, spelt berries [?], oats, wild&white&brown rice, millet, pearl barley, red&green beans..possibly some other stuff as well] instead of the usual 0.5 cup oats..
But it tasted so good! I mashed some yams into the oatmeal, and left some chunks on top for all-around yamminess
Sunday
Fruity
Had some random leftover fruits lying around in the fridge, so I took it upon myself to finish them!
A huge plum [mashed], cherries, and blueberries. Topped with sliced almonds and walnuts. Nice and normal I also mixed in two tablespoons of the cooked grains in with 0.5 cup oats that time–much better!
Post…something snack
Can’t remember if I ran or yoga-ed that day…or I might not have done anything…
Blueberries and a surprise raisin bun! [It's a surprise 'cause the raisins were hidden inside the bun! So I didn't even know til I bit into it!]
Am off to read about the whole tie breaker dealio with the women’s gymnastics last night! [I'm still happy for China though!]
Oatmeal #92: Smoothie August 17, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dessert, Lunch.Tags: blueberries, corn, raisins, smoothies, walnuts
6 comments
Friday’s breakfast:
Smoothie with toast [margarine with cinnamon sprinkled on top]!
I know lots of people have done oatmeal smoothies before–but I haven’t! Therefore it’s obligatory that I give it a try–as we have a blender and everything! Damn, how did I live without this miraculous apparatus before?!
- 0.5 cup oats
- 0.5 cup soy milk
- 0.25 cup milk
- 0.25 cup water [i think??]
- 0.25 cup blueberries
- 0.25 cup corn [yeah...]
- 0.25 cup walnuts
- 1 tbsp raisins
Um yeah it’s a very random list of ingredients–but that’s ’cause we didn’t exactly have a ton of fruits and stuff around the house at the moment, I suppose I could have added more blueberries–but I didn’t want to use up the whole thing by myself 
And I was originally planning to make a green walnut smoothie…but I was too lazy to wash the veggies, so I used corn and blueberries!
It was pretty good though! I ate the smoothie with a spoon since it seemed easier than sipping. Unfortunately, this breakfast wasn’t very filling 
I miss the flax!
For some reason I was feeling tired that day [jet lag?], so I ended up going back to bed…to wake up at 3: 30…so I had to make my own lunch:
I hate washing vegetables So there were only two types of veggies and three pieces of dumplings [<3] with shrimp egg noodles [basically just shrimp and wheat--not sure why they called it egg noodles...]
Dessert–MY VERY FAVORITE THING IN THE WORLD [aside from oatmeal, of course]–yamssssss!
My favorite is the purple ones–so chewy and soft! Yams are amazing
The soup the yams are cooked in is basically just water, rock sugar, and ginger. SO. GOOD. I can chug this stuff down like oatmeal!
We’re having steak for dinner tonight–so excited! Haven’t had this stuff in so long! [Oh man, I never want this vacation to end!]
Oatmeal #90 : Nutty August 15, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dessert, Lunch.Tags: almonds, blueberries, cashews, granola, walnuts
5 comments
Vacation going awesome! Lots of great food and goggling over crazy gymnasts flipping around on the TV [!] screen.
Anyway, Wednesday’s breakfast:
I found this granola bar while exploring the pantry [SO MUCH FOOD IN THERE] one day and have been excited to add this to my oats ever since! However, I was expecting it to be crunchy [well..the label saids "crunchy and chewy"!] but it wasn’t I guess I mistaken it for the other kind we used to buy from Costco! But the bar was great–a little too sweet though.
List of stuff:
- 0.5 cup Quaker oats
- 0.75 cup water
- 0.25 cup soy milk
- 1 tsp almond powder [it's used to make this almond drink]
- bit of almond extract
- two handfuls blueberries
- 1 tbsp cashews
- 1 tbsp walnuts
]
Couldn’t really taste the almond–but I could definitely smell it!
Lunch:
Congee! I guess it’s kinda like risotto, except without butter and parmesan…and probably without broth as well? But it was great–haven’t had mom’s congee in ages! Too bad I fell asleep after my run and when I woke up there was like…this tiny bit at the bottom of the pot! 
Dessert–expensive stuff! [Love it when parents spoil me ]
The coconut milk was too coconutty though–so I diluted it with water. Mom made this again [we had a huge bag of this stuff] yesterday with almond paste–AWESOME. If it wasn’t near bed time I would have eaten the whole pot
Can’t wait to watch more gymnastics tonight!
Oatmeal #81: Berry Crumble August 2, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dinner, Recipes, Snack.Tags: blackberries, blueberries, cereal, goji berries, jam, raspberries, walnuts, yogurt
9 comments
The most exciting part about this breakfast is: no baking required!
Great texture! The perfect blend of chewiness and crunchiness. After the first bite I was so tempted to salute the microwave for a job well done! Oh. My. God.
Here’s the recipe–because goodness like this needs to be shared!
Makes 1 serving
0.25 cup oats [I used quick oats]
1 tbsp of the omnipresent Kellogg’s All-Bran cereal
1 tbsp chopped walnuts
0.25 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp jam/honey/maple syrup
1 tsp whole wheat flour
0.25 cup blueberries
0.25 cup raspberries
0.25 cup blackberries
1 tbsp + 2 tsp goji berries, soaked in water for about 10 minutes
1. Mix the first 5 ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute.
2. In the mean time, mix the remaining ingredients together in another microwave-safe bowl [or right on the plate you're going to eat from, like I did ], and stick that in the microwave for 40-60 seconds.
3. Combine the ingredients on a plate and eat! Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt if you like.
You will definitely see more of this dish in the future! I want to have it for dinner now…
Anywhoo, here’s yesterday’s pre-yoga snack:
Plum, yogurt, chocolate corn cookie/thing. Pretty straightforward.
Yesterday’s dinner:
Now that I look at it, that was the smallest dinner ever!
Anyway, up there I’ve got a broken up piece of lemon tilapia sitting on a bed of pasta, half a slice of cheddar cheese, green lentils, celery, and frozen mixed veggies.
Off for yoga-ing!
Oatmeal #80: Blueberry Tea August 1, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dinner.Tags: blueberries, coconut, tea
3 comments
Opening August with combo # 80–how appropriate!
Today’s oats include:
- 0.5 cup oats
- 1 tbsp flax, 1 tbsp walnuts
- 1 tsp coconut
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 0.33 cup blueberries
- 1 blueberry white tea bag
- 1.25 cup water
- splash milk
The kitchen was filled with the aroma of blueberries and a tiny hint of vanilla while this baby was cooking!
Although the smell was prominent, the taste wasn’t! Maybe tea’s flavor just isn’t strong enough in general? I’ll probably give it other types of tea [like oolong--now that would be interesting!] a try before I make any conclusions though!
Here’s another picture ’cause coconut dresses up the oats so nicely! [and note that it complements the blue&white theme! 
I'm so *artistic*]
Snowflakes!
I had breakfast part II today ’cause I wasn’t full:
Jam & cucumber
Tortilla piece #2 because I dropped the first piece! My clumsiness is such a curse–I hate wasting food!
Yesterday’s dinner:
Vermicelli, 1 whole yellow pepper [<3!], frozen carrots&broccoli&cauliflower, onions, and chickpea patties [chickpeas, flour, lemon juice! Kinda like hummus patties ]
LOVE these noodles! I still have one bunch left–must use it wisely!
Am off to get ready for grocery shopping!
Switching Things Up July 28, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Snack.Tags: blueberries, coconut, jam, pancake, peanut butter, pears, walnuts, yogurt
7 comments
For those of you who like banana oatmeal, this is a really nice alternative for when you want to change it up a bit!
Pear oatmeal! The mushy kind–I used Bartlett pears ’cause it was on sale [what goes into my mouth every week pretty much reflects what's on sale at the grocery store!] Soft enough to easily mash into your oatmeal, and like bananas, it’s sweet enough to sweeten up your oats without any sugar! Also tastes fantastic with peanut butter!
Add a little unsweetened coconut on top for happy fun chew time
Had my oats with a nice big cup of mocha that takes me a billion hours to finish.
For today’s breakfast, I changed up my pancake batter and topping! How wild am I?!
Huge blueberries! I love blueberries…
Anyway, in my batter, instead of yogurt, I subbed in 2 tsp wildberry jam and 2 tbsp milk for a sweeter pancake. I also added 1 tbsp unsweetened coconut ’cause I like the extra texture! Plus it smells really good.
And I think it’s pretty obvious what my topping of the day is–1 tbsp plain yogurt, walnuts, and blueberries! I was going to use bananas, but I didn’t want my breakfast to be too sweet, and I added the blueberries for the nutrients and extra zing.
Looks so pretty and colorful! I think this will be my topping of choice for a while
I didn’t really switch up much in yesterday’s post-run snack other than having pear yogurt for the first time ever:
But for lunch and dinner, I did a little switch-around–rice for lunch, tortilla for dinner! I also tried a new way of flavoring my rice, inspired by a recipe I found:
I only realized just now that the recipe for a soup, but when I was making lunch yesterday, half my brain cells decided to go on strike and I somehow turned the whole thing into a risotto…and not even a proper risotto at that!
Anyway, couldn’t really taste or smell the green tea in the rice! Maybe that’s why the recipe was a soup instead of rice…but anyhow it still tasted great and really filled me up [although I still went home to have a snack 1.5 hours later..]
Tortilla, bean balls, red peppers, cucumber, and half a slice of cheddar cheese! With a slice of microwaved kale + parmesan. I thought I was going to bake the kale and peppers, but apparently I was kidding myself. Nevertheless, everything tasted great It’s rather strange but awesome having lunch food for dinner!
Today’s post-run snack was again, not really that much different:
Leftover mocha from breakfast, chocolate corn scone/cookie, sliced nectarine, and water.
Lunch was tortilla with cuc-yogurt sauce, bean balls, and kale. I already photographed it once, so I didn’t bother taking another picture
The excitement returned at dinner time–black bean soup!
Unfortunately, I don’t have a food processor or a blender [just a coffee grinder, but the instructions said not to puree food in it? Anyone know why?] so I minced the onions and peppers with the veg knife, and mashed beans with a fork. I also added a dollop of plain yogurt into the soup! I’ve never done that before–but it wasn’t bad at all! Made the soup creamier and tastier
On the breakfast menu tomorrow–exciting new pancake recipe as formulated by my insatiable sweet tooth
Breakfast Parade + some other stuff July 24, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dinner, Snack.Tags: blueberries, chocolate, coconut, corn, cottage cheese, flax, longans, pancake, raspberries, walnuts
8 comments
Catch-up post!
Haven’t been feeling very adventurous lately…and my fridge was rather empty, so it’s just been nice, classic comboes for the past few days
Monday:
Chocolate-Raspberry Oatmeal
Made with cottage cheese, served with cinnamon gree tea [added the cinnamon in--but didn't really change the flavor much!]
Tuesday:
Cinnamon Coconut Oatmeal Pancake
I tried a new pancake topping instead of the usual banana! The last few scoops of blueberry-cherry jam and walnuts–super yum!
Yesterday:
Blueberry, Corn, Longans Oatmeal
Again made with cottage cheese That stuff is just magical when cooked with oats! Had a cup of coffee on the side.
Today:
Beans for Breakfast
Sweet bean soup again! Added some rice this time ’cause I was low on pearl barley and black-eyed peas! I added more water this time, and so ended up with a lot more of the soup Happiness!
I had a cup of coffee with this breakfast–it’s quickly becoming a habit! Not sure if this is good or bad…
Yesterday was snack day for me!
Post-run snack:
One black corn oat chunk, one sliced up Golden Delicious apple, and one heaping spoonful of peanut butter! PB + fruits = amazing.
Was going out for dinner with my housemate at 6: 15, which mean I was having dinner at least 1.5 hours later than usual, so I cut up some raw yellow peppers for a snack after lab:
Dinner was yet another contribution to pizza week! We went to Wooden Heads–a gourmet pizza place–unfortunately I only sat down for about 15 minutes because I had to be back at the lab! The next half hour was possibly the hungriest half hour ever Luckily my lab-mate was nice and I got to leave 10 minutes early
My pizza was called Arrogosta–curried lobster veloute [a French sauce], grilled red onions [I'm really developing a taste for onions these days--weird!], mushrooms, and smoked salmon! It was SO. SO. GOOD. Smoked salmon is amazing! The sauce was amazing! And it was about $14 plus tax and whatnot–not bad at all!
Oh, and thank you Jenn for nominating me! I always knew I was awesome, but it’s nice to hear it from someone else
And I’d like to nominate: Lindsay [Happy Herbivore], Kristie [Lighter Portions], Jenna [Eat, Live, Run], Leng [A Fat Cat Who Created a Vegetarian], and Chandra [Chandra's Shenanigans]
I’m supposed to nominate two more, but there are too many blogs! Can’t choose! Plus I’m also lazy, so I’m stopping at 5
Be back tomorrow for my oatme al challenge entry!
Oatmeal #62: PB&J – Part II July 7, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Snack.Tags: banana, blueberries, cereal, jam, peanut butter, sunflower seeds, wheat germ
5 comments
Today’s breakfast:
I first tried PB&J oats a few months ago, and today I decided to upgrade that a little by adding more crap! My bowl contains:
- 0.5 cup water
- 0.33 cup milk
- 0.5 cup organic oats
- 2 tbsp blueberries
- 0.5 medium banana
- 2 tbsp Kellogg’s all-bran cereal
- 1 tbsp Skippy’s all-natural peanut butter
- 1 tsp Ed Smith’s blueberry-cherry jam
- wheat germ, sunflower seeds
Now I know why people like peanut butter oatmeal so much! Can’t imagine any other way to eat it now I think the problem before was that I stirred the PB in–which completely turned my oatmeal into some savory porridge thing and the PB flavor got completely lost!
18.5g fat, 11g fiber, 17g protein
I’m thinking of buying a coffee grinder so that I can grind flax seeds for my oatmeal…do you guys think it’s worth it to buy one just for that purpose? Or would a hand blender be equally effective?
Post-run snack:
Plain yogurt, a plum, and a broken up blueberry-raisin granola bar. This was the last of my oat bars! Gotta bake more!
6g fat, 4g fiber, 9g protein L
unch:
A nectarine and a tuna-pumpkin sandwich, ’cause I wanted to save the kale and mixed veggies for dinner! And also ’cause I was curious as to what it would taste like
5g fat, 10g fiber, 14g protein
Dinner:
“Tomato” soup with microwaved kale on the side! The soup contains 1 small mashed potato, 2 different types of frozen veggie mix, about 0.25 of a medium onion, 1 clove minced garlic, 0.25 cup canned mixed beans, and 2 tbsp chicken broth mixed with 3 tbsp Classico Tomato & Basil sauce and the leftover boiling water from the pot! I guess I’ve found another use for my huge jar of pasta sauce now
6g fat, 15g fiber, 13g protein –right on!
Oatmeal #54: Tofu – Part I, II, III June 28, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dinner.Tags: blueberries, jam, kiwi, Lunch, muesli, peas, sunflower seeds, tofu, wheat germ, yogurt
3 comments
I’m just going to combine all my experiments with tofu into one giant post–since I want to get caught up to the more recent experiments!
Not enough flavor! That was my one complaint–could have done with the addition of something sweet. Kiwis just aren’t enough to make up for tofu’s lack of flavor! Nevertheless, it wasn’t a complete disaster–tasted like bland pudding, with a hint of soy
Thursday: Blueberries + Tofu
Much better! I also didn’t add as much tofu this time–although with this I wasn’t full enough! Argh–seems like I just can’t win!
Oh, and I also added half a teaspoon of cocoa into the muesli ’cause I can But I could barely taste it, so next time I’ll add one teaspoon!
Yesterday: Blueberries + Peas + Tofu
I also stirred in a very very tiny amount of blueberry-cherry jam just to sweeten up the oats even more, but I could barely taste it–grr!
Anywhoo, it was good–the peas provided a nice chewy texture–I love peas!
On a side note–tried a new flavor of milk yesterday: strawberry-kiwi-banana:
As exciting as that sounds, it was gross! Wayyyy bitter! I was not expecting that. I nearly died, but I made myself drink it all anyway ’cause I hate wasting stuff–I just looked at it as getting another few servings of fruits in and just went with it–but I was so disappointed
But the other part of my lunch was delicious
Tuna pizza toast! Can’t go wrong with that!
Dinner was rice salad–with extra virgin olive oil & parmesan cheese for flavors:
Didn’t cook the black eyed peas long enough–oops! Hope it’s not bad or anything oO I’ve heard that you shouldn’t eat raw beans…?
Oatmeal #48: Goji Berries – Part I June 21, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dinner, Recipes.Tags: blueberries, goji berries, muesli, Snack, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, yogurt
5 comments
Thursday’s breakfast:
Top left: miso soup
Top right: vegan cornbread, banana
Bottom: scrambled eggs, potatoes, frozen mixed veggies, parmesan cheese
I finished off the last of my miso soup packets–turns out there were only 3 packets in one bag! Psh what a rip off…don’t know how much mom got these for, but we’re probably better off making it from scratch! Oh well–at least I made sure this stuff didn’t go to waste
Post-run snack:
strawberries & instant cereal
Note to self: strawberries and hot cereal does not go well together! The strawberries got all mushy and sour in the hot water and lost all its sweetness It wasn’t gross or anything, I just didn’t like the taste.
I couldn’t wait for lunch ’cause I was having muesli again! It’s really addictive, I tell you! And if you’re going to make this–don’t use quick oats! It doesn’t come out bad or anything, but it’s less chewy–although they seem to absorb the moisture better~
Ingredients:
- 0.5 cup oats
- 0.5 cup water
- 0.25 cup goji berries
- 0.25 cup blueberries
- 0.25 cup soy milk
- 1 tbsp plain yogurt
- 1 tbsp wheat germ
- 2 tsp sunflower seeds
Mix together and store in fridge overnight or for about 5 hours.
Goji berries are naturally sweet, so sugar’s not necessary! These berries have the same general texture of blueberries once they’ve sucked up some moisture so it’s quite awesome eating them together ’cause the flavors just blend so well! Although the goji berries are a lot sweeter than blueberries, so I could just barely detect the latter~
I was really excited for dinner ’cause I was having pasta with curry! I packed a dinner ’cause I had to go back to the lab at 7 p.m. …I thought I was going to stay at the lab til 7 p.m….but by 5: 15 I couldn’t take it any more [I had been at the lab for 7 hours at that point! 
] so I went home Yeah yeah, I lack perseverance…it’s quite a problem…
Yummeh!
Broccoli, brussel sprouts, corn, mushrooms, carrots, and soy nuts. It was sooo good…but I totally didn’t have enough That’s probably the other reason I went home
