Oatmeal #70: Cinnamony Coconut Pancakes July 20, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Recipes.Tags: banana, cinnamon, cottage cheese, flax, pancake, sunflower seeds
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Had pancakes again yesterday!
I bought a small-ish bag of unsweetened shredded coconut and decided to try it out…unfortunately, I couldn’t really taste it at all! Couldn’t even smell it! 
Maybe I added too little? I only put a tbsp in…the cinnamon was too overpowering. However, I definitely felt it when I was chewing, so yay? 
It’s been a really long time since I had the stuff…but I wasn’t expecting it to be so…flavorless?
I had it with a cup of mocha. I’ve finally decided to give chocolate coffee a try! All I did was add a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa to my instant coffee mix and added half a cup of soy milk–tasted really great! It was like caffeinated chocolate milk 
Lunch was the same dealio as yesterday, so no pictures
I made some awesome dessert/snack stuff on Friday morning:
Sweet bean soup! [it's a pretty popular Chinese dessert ] Made it with red beans, black-eyed peas, and pearl barley–just like my mom did! I added raw sugar…but I think she used something else. It was really good I had about half a cup of this for snack yesterday.
Happiest dinner ever!
Raw orange pepper stuffed with green lentils, chickpeas, onions, and parmesan cheese. Microwaved frozen veggies on the side! I also had a bowl of soup, which contained the excess of what was supposed to go in the pepper I guess I overestimated how much half a pepper could hold! But I’m glad I had the soup! It smelled really good, could have used some salt [or more broth] though.
Chickpea Lentil Soup
Serves 1
- 1/4 cup chickpeas
- 1/4 of a medium white onion
- 2 tbsp green lentils, pre-soaked [keep the liquid]
- 2 tbsp broth
- 1.25 cup water
- salt, to taste [or more broth] – optional
Boil the onions and water over medium high heat, then add the lentils [and the liquid it was soaked in]. Cook til mixture bubbles again. Add chickpeas, broth, and salt. When the soup starts boiling, turn heat off.
Oatmeal #68: Cottage cheese July 16, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dinner.Tags: cottage cheese, peaches, sunflower seeds
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Yummeh! The cottage cheese melted right into the oatmeal–probably equivalent to adding salt to oatmeal, except creamier! I bet it’d be just perfect with 0.25 cup soy milk or milk! And peach was the best way to complement the saltiness! I think any sweet fruits would taste pretty good with this combo!
Along with half a cup of soy milk. Decided to skip the caffeine today
Mid-morning snack:
A slice of spiced flax bread that I cut in half and then spread blueberry-cherry jam! Also had another 0.25 cup cottage cheese Officially love cottage cheese!
For dinner, I tried to make shepherd’s pie, but this is what happened:
For the sauce, I just used ketchup And for the other stuff, I had a small potato mashed with 1 tsp olive oil, green lentils, soft tofu, frozen mixed veggies, chickpeas, and mushrooms. It was quite filling Unfortunately I’m out of potatoes! Noooo…I guess I’ll just use more beans to compensate!
Pancakes
Some of you requested the recipe for my yogurt pancakes–I’ve edited the post with the new addition! Let me know how it works out if you decide to try it!
Oatmeal #66: Texture – Part II July 14, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner.Tags: banana, flax, peanut butter, peas, sunflower seeds
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More excitement! Yesterday:
1 cup water
Today:
1 cup soy milk
When cooking this morning–my pot was exploding with foams and stuff! No idea why the soy milk caused that!
Oh, and another thing that was different with the soy milk–seems like it took a lot longer to cook than with water! Maybe it was ’cause I was hungry…since I decided to have breakfast after my run today…forgot to time the cooking again! I did time my cooking on the first day–10 minutes. Argh–but that’s kinda useless without anything to compare it to.
Anyway! Taste-wise there wasn’t too much difference–although today’s breakfast smelled a lot better, and maybe was a little sweeter? I think I need to make two bowls of oatmeal and eat them on the same day so I can get the subtle differences!
In a tentative conclusion: milk & water mixture = best. All-milk and all-water doesn’t seem to produce the same creaminess. My all-milk mixture also turned out way too dry! But I think I’ll give it another go before I make any definite statements.
Moving on! Check out my exciting dinner!
No soup today!
Bottom left: 0.5 mashed potato with 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil –oil makes all the difference in the world! Tasted almost buttery!
Bottom right: 0.25 cup white&brown rice mixture, rice vinegar, corn, mixed frozen veggies
Top right: 0.5 salmon fillet, lemon juice, 2 tsp parmesan, spinach –SO AWESOME.
Top left: raw red peppers! Fast becoming a staple food
All of this along with a huge cup of water!
I was full from dinner…but decided to have dessert anyway:
Plain yogurt, unsweetened cocoa, blueberry-cherry jam, wheat germ, all-bran, and raspberries.
Too much cocoa–not enough jam! And the raspberries made everything wayy too sour D: I really need to buy some maple syrup or honey! But I want to finish my tub of sugar first 
Pancakes for breakfast tomorrow! [I would normally say "SO EXCITING" here...but I feel like I use that word a lot...along with the words "amazing" and "awesome" Need more synonyms!]
Oatmeal #65: Texture – Part I July 12, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast.Tags: banana, barley, corn, flax, peanut butter, sunflower seeds
5 comments
I wanted to see what the difference was between 25% milk and 50% milk, so I made two bowls of oatmeal over two days.
Yesterday:
>
0.25 cup milk, 0.75 cup water
Today:
0.5 cup milk, 0.5 cup water
Before the comparisons begin, there were two things that could have affected the end result:
- Cooking time may not have been consistent: I didn’t get the idea to do this until after I made breakfast yesterday…so didn’t keep track of cooking time! [And I forgot to do it today...-sigh]
- The milk wasn’t added at the same time: Didn’t keep track of the exact time either…yesterday I added the milk as the oat-water mixture started bubbling…and today was the same, but the milk was definitely added earlier today, since there were only 0.5 cup of water with the oats. ARGH.
I’m such a bad scientist…
Anyway! Appearance wise, the one with more milk obviously looks a lot whiter, and during cooking, I noticed that there was a lot more cream in my pot today. Taste wise though, I didn’t really feel there was any difference. The barley was kinda overpowering the oats though, so tomorrow I’m going to cut the barley, keep track of cooking time, and hopefully I’ll get a more controlled experiment
Oh, and with the exception of milk and water amounts, both bowls contained the same amount of: barley, flax, banana, peanut butter, corn, and sunflower seeds [might have had a little less of it today? But that doesn't really affect the texture so I'm not concerned ] There isn’t really a reason for this particular mixture except for the fact that I wanted a fairly plain bowl of oatmeal so I could actually taste the differences–if there were any!
And ROAR I accidentally deleted my lunch and dinner pictures from yesterday! Okay, then quick overview:
- Lunch: open faced tuna-cucumber sandwich, chocolate banana milk
- Dinner: potato, olive oil, chicken broth, peas, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, mixed frozen veggies, raw red pepper, blueberries, peach
Officially addicted to raw peppers–yum!
Oatmeal #64: Barley July 10, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dinner.Tags: barley, flax, goji berries, longans, nectarine, peanut butter, sunflower seeds, wheat germ
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I’ve got a bag of pearl barley courtesy of mom’s visit–so I decided to use it
Yesterday’s breakfast:
I used 0.25 cup cooked barley [= 2 tbsp uncooked barley], 0.25 cup oatmeal–wayy too chewy. Can’t believe I’m actually saying this…but the barley took a ridiculous amount of time to chew…and there were little bits that I couldn’t really get at–which was a little annoying
Other stuff in the oatmeal included: goji berries, longans, wheat germ, PB, and milk. Along with a cup of green tea.
Zoomin’ along to today’s breakfast:
Today I used 2 tbsp cooked barley [= 1 tbsp uncooked], 0.44 cup oatmeal–a lot better! Makes everything a lot chewier, but not so chewy that I spend about an hour on each spoonful
Other stuff: nectarine, milk, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, PB, and flax! My coffee grinder works! Whoo hooo! It was a lot louder than I thought…nearly jumped out of my socks when I first started on it But it’s all worth it ’cause now I’ve got ground flax to use! Today’s lunch was a potluck for all the neuroscience labs in the building, hence no pictures But I made butter cookies–the process was kind of a disaster and they were a little too crunchy…but at least people ate it! Dinner:
Chunky potato soup with a chicken broth base–yummeh Along with a banana and 0.25 cup blueberries. It feels so weird eating bananas so late in the day ’cause usually I would have devoured one already!
Unfortunately I didn’t go running today due to a combo of waking up about 12 minutes later than usual, and breakfast took a little longer to make than usual ['cause I was washing the coffee grinder ]. The baking wouldn’t have been an issue at all since I could have finished it after breakfast and by the time it was time to go running. Oh well! Can always do that tomorrow–given the weather network doesn’t try to be all ironic and sarcastic on me again
Oatmeal #63: Chocolate Cinnamon-Raisin – Cooked & Baked July 8, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Recipes, Snack.Tags: banana, chocolate, cinnamon, raisins, sunflower seeds, wheat germ
3 comments
Cooked:
So so so excited for this! And now that I’ve tried it I must say that I’ve really been missing out all those years! Oh I’m so glad I started this blog
I added 3 cups of water to my oats today just to see if it increases their volume or whatever…and it doesn’t really seem to? Hmmm…will do more experimenting on that tomorrow!
Along with a cup of earl grey tea–I’ve never noticed the citrus-y taste before I read about it on some web article! I think I’ve finally found a type of tea that I prefer over all others!
Anywhoo this breakfast has: 18g fat, 7.5g fiber, 19g protein
Baked:
more of my neon baking mat for the health of your eyes
If I wasn’t about to leave for my run in like…10 minutes, I would have gobbled one down straight away!
Chocolate Cinnamon-Raisin Oatmeal Chunks
Recipe:
- 1 cup quick oats [I used 0.5 cup ground, 0.5 cup flakes]
- 0.25 Kellogg’s All-bran cereal [because I put this stuff in everything You can also just use more oats instead]
- 0.5 cup raisins [I actually used 0.25 cup + 2 tbsp]
- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
- 1 tsp cinnamon [for mixing in or for sprinkling]
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 75% of half a small banana, mashed
- 0.25 cup milk or soy milk
- 3 tbsp applesauce
Mix all ingredients together. Scoop parts of the dough with a spoon and drop them onto parchment paper or baking mat. Bake at 350 F for 10 to 12 minutes.
Makes 7 servings.
Nutrition info: 99 kcal, 1g fat, 22g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 3g protein
It was the perfect post-run snack!
For some reason I couldn’t finish my breakfast this morning! What the hell? Total blasphemy. So I had that [hence the ugly bowl], one oat chunk, and then plain yogurt with a plum and the leftover banana from baking. Yes, I have ginormous snacks, I know.
Lunch and dinner were the same as the day before, except after dinner I had another nectarine and 0.5 cup of blueberries for dessert I like dessert
Anyway, gotta finish reading my lab article for the lab meeting tomorrow so that I can go buy my coffee grinder in the morning!
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 # 61: Chocolatey Simpleness July 6, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Lunch, Snack.Tags: banana, chocolate, peanut butter, sunflower seeds, wheat germ
4 comments
Since I bought a new jar of peanut butter yesterday, I’ve decided to take a break from my more crazy comboes and settle for the more simple and classic combinations. So this morning I cooked up some chocolate-peanut butter oatmeal:
I also used 0.5 cup of milk this morning, just to see if it makes any difference…and found that it doesn’t really seem to? Anyway, I think the combo was too simple, ’cause I didn’t really feel full But! Taste-wise I have nothing to complain about! Oh, how I’ve missed thee, PB.
For fruits, I only threw in half a medium banana…way less than the amount I usually throw in–I like to have at least two difference kinds of fruits in the morning..so that could have been another reason why I wasn’t full! And might I add that it took all the willpower in the world not to go back and devour the entire jar of peanut butter!
20.5g fat, 6g fiber, 19g protein
Post-ghettobug-slaying snack:
A plum and granola bar! Needed some dosages of major comfort food after running around my room with a can of bug spray trying to kill anthropods that move with lightning speed and turn up when you least expect them to!
6g fat, 4g, fiber, 5g protein
Lunch:
Kale & cheese sandwich with a nectarine and half a banana [leftover from this morning]
The sandwich was surprisingly filling! So the fruits became my post-walk snack.
Altogether: 6g fat, 9.5g fiber, 15g protein
And dinner was pretty much the same thing–mashed potato & mixed bean soup with tofu, mixed veggies, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, and garlic–my new standard dinner til I run out of potatoes!
Oatmeal #60: Rubies July 5, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch.Tags: banana, cereal, plum, sunflower seeds, wheat germ
5 comments
Took a break from muesli to make some stovetop oats this morning!
Contains:
- 0.5 cup water
- 0.25 cup milk
- 0.5 cup oats
- 0.25 cup all-bran cereal
- 1 black plum
- 0.5 medium-ish banana
- 1 tbsp wheat germ
- 1 tbsp chopped sunflower seeds
Adding 0.25 cup of the all-bran makes all the difference! My breakfast is so much more filling and the eating experience is more fun ’cause there’s more to chew on
And since plums were on sale at the grocery store, I went nuts and bought 6 small ones–would have gotten more, but I also bought 8 nectarines, so I had to exercise some restraint! Anywhoo–the plums were a great shade of red and added a slight tinge of sweet and sour to the overall mixture–fun!
Had it along with a cup of coffee.
This breakfast contains: 12g fat, 12g fiber, 15g protein
Had a boring snack today–some pumpkin and a nectarine–didn’t bother taking pictures
On a really exciting note–I tried kale for the first time yesterday! Didn’t know what to do with them, so I attempted to make kale chips–but I didn’t drain them properly so they turned out soggy Still great though!
Had this along with mashed potatoes & bean soup:
7g fat, 12g fiber, 18g protein–UGH. Again with the protein overload!
I have lots of kale leftover ’cause I didn’t cook all of them at once–so I added two raw leaves to my tuna sandwich today for lunch:
Along with some jammin’ banana milk–basically: jam, half a banana, milk, and plain yogurt The yogurt made the milk much thicker–not unlike milk shake!
6g fat, 8g fiber, 20g protein–protein thanks to the tuna…
Basically had the same thing for dinner today as yesterday…except I ended up snacking on the soggy kale ‘chips’ as I cooked I also added some broccoli, cauliflower, and leftover rice from my rice milk adventures:
Very super filling! I added more onions and another clove of garlic, and more water–that probably contributed to the satiety!
6g fat, 11g fiber, 21g protein
And on a side note, I had a tablespoon of peanut butter for dessert–bought a jar this morning ’cause it was on sale! I’m going to try and make this thing last as long as possible
Oatmeal #59: Pink & Green Oats July 4, 2008
Posted by oatmeal in Breakfast, Dinner, Snack.Tags: cereal, longans, muesli, peas, raspberries, sunflower seeds, wheat germ
3 comments
Not that you can see the pink at all here…’cause I’m such an awesome photog:
Today’s breakfast
To tell the truth, I only threw this together ’cause I used up all my other fruits and don’t feel like using blueberries or repeating old comboes Therefore you get a random combo of raspberries, peas, and longans. It’s times like these when I’m thankful for my strange taste in food!
As disgusting as this combo is sounding…it was super good, I could smell and taste the raspberries with every bite, and the peas were sweet, so the tastes fit! And longans are always fun to eat
I increased the amount of all-bran I put in my breakfast, so I was super full! Add the giant cup of coffee, and you’ve got a powerhouse breakfast! Talk about ingestible fuel!
And true enough, check out the awesomeness this contains: 13g fat, 12g fiber, 16g protein –the most fiber I’ve ever gotten out of my breakfast so far! Although I still overshot on the protein…-sigh-
I had a whole day off work today, so my friend and I made plans to walk to lunch–which I knew would take about an hour at the least, so I ate a small snack before leaving:
yogurt, raisins, blueberries
Contains: 0g fat, 1g fiber, 2g protein
An hour’s walk later–we were starving and ready to tackle the All-You-Can-Eat Japanese lunch! For $14, I think we got more than what we paid for! Have never ate so much sushi in my life! It was awesome [no pictures 'cause I care way too much what people think of me]
On a random note–check out yesterday’s dinner!
Right: Raw yellow pepper stuffed with sushi rice and mixed veggies–I think I added too much rice vinegar–oops! I ate this pizza-style, aka with my hands, ’cause I’m so cool.
Left: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, “seasoned” with some instant soup thing
Top: half a salmon fillet topped with spinach and half a slice of melted cheddar…-drool-
Most fancy dinner I’ve ever made! And I’m proud to say this was a boil-free dinner. Yay for using something other than water to cook dinner! [Well...I did add a little bit of water 'cause I felt lost without it 
]
5g fat, 7g fiber, 22g protein
Unfortunately, not a very filling dinner ’cause not enough veggies, I guess? Need to stock up my fridge with more veggies!
So dessert followed:
Half a packet of instant cereal, 2 tbsp pumpkin, and 2 tbsp of all-bran cereal, thus upping my fiber count! 1g fat, 4.5g fiber, 2.5g protein
