Crock Pot "Apple Pie" Steel Cut Oats

I love making food for other people. The process of cooking and baking, and sharing the results of my cooking and baking endeavors with others, is one of my favorite things. Also however, spending time with those very same people with whom I love sharing food is one of other my favorite things. But the combination of making delicious food for others AND spending time with those same people? Even better.

This past weekend, my family was visiting me in Boston. I purposefully planned our meals so that they would be easy to make (i.e., less time for me, the "chef," in the kitchen) but delicious and healthy too. 

That way I could do two of my favorite things - cook food to share with my family but spend quality time with them as well. :) This crock pot steel cut oats recipe is a great example of a recipe that allowed me to do two of my favorite things.

 I put the ingredients for this recipe in the crock pot on Saturday night before we went to bed, and when everyone woke up on Sunday morning, we woke up to the heavenly smells of apple and cinnamon...it was almost as if I had baked an apple pie overnight. ;)

This recipe is from the Hungry Hungry Hippie. I "one and a halved" (roughly speaking) the original recipe, and the proportions I used are below.

Ingredients:

-1 and 1/2 cups steel cut oats

-6 cups liquid (I used 2 cups 1% milk, 4 cups water)

-3 tsp. cinnamon

-2 apples, peeled and chopped (I used granny smith)

-1/2 cup raisins

-maple syrup or sweetener of your choice

Instructions:

Add the apples, cinnamon, and raisins to the crock pot. Then add the oats, followed by the 6 cups of liquid. Stir everything together, and set the crock pot on low for 7 hours.

SO EASY!!

Wake up the next morning to the wonderful aromas of apple pie... And enjoy your hearty breakfast! And enjoy quality time with the people with whom you might be eating your breakfast. ;)

(The pictures of the ingredients in the crock pot the night before are not very good - just wanted to warn you! I was working with 11 PM lighting...)

And voila! The next morning. It's really not the prettiest of dishes...but the taste more than makes up for that. I promise.

We all enjoyed our oats with a drizzle of maple syrup mixed in for just a touch of sweetness. It was perfect! The raisins plumped up overnight and added some great flavor to the dish.

The proportions I used made approximately 8 servings or so. 

An awesome breakfast for a "crowd"!

Do you have any easy crock pot breakfast recipes?! I'd love to hear them, if you do. I think this might be the first breakfast dish I've ever made in the crock pot. Thankfully, it was a success. :)

My Third Half Marathon and an Enjoy Life Product Review!

Happy Wednesday to you all!

Before I give you a recap of the half marathon I ran this past weekend, I wanted to share a product review with you! The awesome folks at Enjoy Life Foods recently sent me another fun package. This time, I received their Not Nuts!, a seed and fruit mix. 

Enjoy Life makes two different flavors of this product - Mountain Mambo and Beach Bash. Both are excellent! I don't know about you, but I love trail mix. I am a HUGE fan of snacks in general, and trail mix is no exception! It's a great on-the-go snack, it can be made to be healthier (as these Enjoy Life mixes are!), and it's fun to eat. Personally, I love to bring trail mix when I go hiking, and it's a great snack to enjoy before or after exercising too. I also almost always have some sort of trail mix in my "snack stash" at work. Currently, that's where the rest of these Enjoy Life mixes are - in my snack stash at work. Uh oh, I hope my coworkers aren't reading this! ;)

As with the other Enjoy Life products I've reviewed (their delicious Crunchy Cookies and yummy Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mega Chunks), these Not Nuts! mixes are free of the 8 most common allergens (wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish, and shellfish). And they don't contain any trans fats or artificial ingredients. It's always great to have healthy and delicious allergen friendly products available! Leave it to Enjoy Life to do it again. :)

(Nutrition facts for Mountain Mambo are on the top; Beach Bash facts are on the bottom)

I loved the ingredients in the Mountain Mambo (pictured below)! I have to say that I was an especially big fan of the addition of the mini chocolate chips. You cannot go wrong with a trail mix that has that hint of sweetness from chocolate... You're with me on that point, right? ;)

And the pictures below are of the Beach Bash mix. The pineapple and apricots were my favorite additions in this mix! Yummmm.

(Why does my hand look so huge in this pic?!)

Both mixes have a great mix of textures too - some crunchy and some chewy ingredients. To me, a good trail mix has to have some of both textures! I am a huge fan of both of these mixes and will absolutely be purchasing them in the future. Thanks again to Enjoy Life Foods for sharing their great products with me!

Now, onto the half marathon recap (before which I ate some Not Nuts! mix, just sayin'...).

This past weekend I ran and finished my third half marathon. Woohoo! Some of you may recall that I ran my first full marathon this past fall, and although I am glad I ran the full one (it ultimately was a great experience!), I must say that I much prefer the half distance. The half is still a challenge but the training is a bit easier (i.e., it fits into super busy schedules!) and your body doesn't take as much of a beating as it does with the full distance. Aaaanyway, so this third half marathon I ran was the Covered Bridges Half Marathon in Vermont. It was an awesome race! My sister Melissa, cousin Karen, and friend Marcia also ran it. Here we all are at the finish - smiling, still all in one piece, and enjoying a well-deserved beer!

(From L to R: Karen, Marcia, Melissa, and me)

Congrats to all the lovely ladies on a great race! But why didn't any of them let me know the uniform was black shorts and blue shirts? I got mine reversed...haha.

Yay! I did it!!

Personally, this race represented a "milestone" of sorts with me. That may sound a bit silly, but let me explain... I've always been a very competitive person, and I tend to set high expectations for myself. When I PR'd in 2011 in my second half marathon (total time of 1:36:24; average of a 7:22 minute mile), I immediately began thinking about trying to beat that time, of course! Several months ago when I first signed up for this Covered Bridges race, the idea of earning a PR was absolutely on my mind. But then I got injured... Since the end of January, I've been struggling with a couple foot/ankle injuries that caused me to take a long break from running, beginning in early February. I finally got back into running in mid-April and attempted to train for this June race over the course of the next month and a half. However, the training didn't go as smoothly as I would have liked - again, due to the injuries. So, I had to change my own expectations of myself. It would have been completely unrealistic of me if I had thought I could run faster than a 7:22 pace! Before the race this past weekend, I counted that I had only run about 12 times in April and May leading up to the half. Yikes. That's not a lot of running! And my longest run was only 7 miles. So, needless to say, I was a bit worried about how I would do in the race. Would I even be able to finish? Would my injuries get in the way during the race? Would my lungs and legs be able to manage, given my lack of running? These were all the questions running (no pun intended ;)) through my mind.

I knew this race would be a good test for me. I don't want to say that I lowered my expectations, but rather, I changed them. My new goal was simply to finish the race and ENJOY the fact that I was running again. And thankfully, I was able to do that! I have to say that this past weekend's half was the most enjoyable one I've done so far actually. It may be because I didn't put much pressure on myself; I'm not sure. My sister and I ran together, and that helped a ton too. It was great to have company along the way! I tend to be someone who runs alone in races, so again, running with someone was another change, and a slight challenge, for me. But, in the end, it was awesome. My sister and I crossed the finish line at exactly the same time - 1:48:33 (an 8:17 pace). We were both quite pleased! Melissa has struggled with injuries over the past almost year, so she also didn't train as much as she would have liked either. It was a huge achievement for her to cross that finish line after several months of not being able to run. Congrats, sista!

I love this pic. It was around mile 4 or 5, and it was the first time we saw our fans (my fiance Mike and our friend Marcia's husband, Corey). We were psyched to see them and gave a big wave to the camera!

Although crossing the finish line was a huge accomplishment, personally, the biggest accomplishment for me was simply enjoying the fact that I was able to run again and not putting much pressure on myself. And now I'm already thinking about when I can sign up for my next race. :) Whether or not I'll train hard again as I have previously and try to PR is yet to be seen, but you can bet that I'll have the attitude of just being thankful each day that I'm able to run and stay healthy (fingers crossed)!

I can't thank Mike enough for all his awesome support during my races!

And it was such a privilege to run with Melissa this time around!

Thanks for "listening" to my long recap. :)

P.S. If you're on facebook, have you liked my blog's page yet? If not, come on over! I'd love to have some more fans on my facebook page. I'm going to try to start using it more often, not only for sharing recipes I've made but also for just general baking and cooking tips, recipes, etc.! 

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Squares

Everyone knows that breakfast is a very important meal and that we should all have at least a little something in the morning to start our days. However, there are still people out there who go without breakfast. And you know what? It makes me sad. I LOVE breakfast! You'll never find me skipping a meal in the morning (maybe partially because I know that skipping a meal would make me cranky and I don't wish that upon anyone who's around me? ;)). But honestly, we have all heard about the benefits of eating breakfast, and everyone should be doing it. No excuses!! And when breakfast can be easy and healthy, how can you not want to eat it?!

A great example of a simple, yet healthy, homemade breakfast is these peanut butter banana oatmeal squares. I saw these bars on Pinterest, so I saved the recipe with the hopes of making them in the future. And I did! It's rare that a recipe I've pinned actually comes to fruition, so it's exciting when one does. This recipe is from an excellent blog that you should definitely check out - Gingerbread Bagels.

And the recipe for these delicious homemade peanut butter banana oatmeal squares is below!

Ingredients:

-1 and 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

-1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

-1 tsp. baking powder

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1 tsp. cinnamon

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1/2 cup milk

-1 large egg, lightly beaten

-1 large mashed banana

-1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Instructions:

Mix together the quick oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add in the vanilla extract, milk, and egg. Mix the ingredients together.

Add in the mashed banana and peanut butter, and combine all of the ingredients. Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 x 8 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool and cut into squares.

A couple quick points... I think just about any milk would work okay here. I happened to use vanilla soy milk when I made them, simply because that's what I had on hand. Also, I added roughly 1/4 cup more quick oats (so 1 and 3/4 cups total) than the recipe called for.

I love that all the ingredients can easily be mixed in just one bowl in about three minutes flat. That's my kind of recipe!!

The hardest part was waiting the 20 minutes for them to bake. ;)

I really loved these bars! I could easily see these becoming a staple breakfast or snack bar to make fairly often and have on hand, either for breakfast or an easy, mid-day on-the-go snack. It's always a good idea to have healthy and easy options on hand!!

If you're a huge peanut butter and banana fan like I am, you'll definitely want to give this recipe a shot.

And you could also eat them as a dessert. They're pretty much a "no guilt" dessert option!

Treat Thursday!

It's Treat Thursday! 

Do any of you know the Hallmark characters, Hoops and Yoyo? I looove them. They are the cutest little things! And they're hilarious too. I'm a huge fan of sending e-cards, and Hallmark's Hoops and Yoyo cards are some of my favorites. There's one e-card in particular where Hoops and Yoyo celebrate "Tuesday Treat Day." It's super cute (you should check it out :)). I didn't want to completely steal the idea, so I'm changing it oh-so-slightly and bringing you Treat Thursday... So clever, right? Haha.

(image source)

Things have been a little slow lately for me in the kitchen, so in lieu of a more traditional blog post that involves a recipe, I wanted to share with you three treats that I've been lovin' lately. I tend to go in phases with treats or snacks that I enjoy; they last a few weeks, and then I change it up and go for something new. Here's what I'm currently enjoying...

1) Cereal and Milk!

You might be thinking, cereal and milk? What kind of treat is that? Well, it's nothing super special, I realize, but it's what I've been eating lately most days after work as a snack! Two of my current favorites are pictured below. YUM! A bowl of cereal and milk (I usually do 1% organic milk or light vanilla soy milk) is the perfect snack to tide me over until dinner, and it's a great way to get in a serving of dairy for the day. Oh, and it makes me feel like a kid again which is always fun. :)

Oh, and eating cereal from a mug totally makes it taste better.

2) Trader Joe's Chocolatey Cat Cookies!

Love these little cookies! Lately I've been eating a few (maybe 8 or 10) after lunch at work for dessert. They're the perfect chocolate treat to end a meal (but you don't feel too guilty about eating them!). I love how the package specifies that they're for people too. :) They also come in cinnamon flavor. One serving of about 15 cookies is just 110 calories. Not too bad at all!

3) Peanut Butter, Banana, and Pumpkin Butter Sandwiches!

These are my new love. I have always loved the peanut butter and banana combo (I may have mentioned that a few times here on the blog!), but recently I decided to kick it up a notch by adding some pumpkin butter! My current pumpkin butter favorite is this pecan pumpkin butter by Muirhead Foods. Delicious! I keep the amount of pumpkin butter light though, don't worry. The process of making one of these sandwiches is quite simple - some peanut butter on one slice of bread topped with some banana slices (usually half a banana), and a small amount of pumpkin butter on the other slice of bread. I bet this would be really yummy grilled too...

These little sandwiches have been my go-to breakfast this week. A great way to start my day!

What are some of your favorite treats or snacks? Oh, and don't worry; many of my typical snacks also involve lots of fruits and veggies. I don't only eat cereal, peanut butter, and chocolate cats all the time. :)

Happy Thursday, friends!

M & M Cookie Sticks

M & M Cookie Sticks. I saw this recipe for Cookie Sticks a couple months ago on an awesome blog, Cookies and Cups, and since then, I haven't been able to stop thinking about them... No really, it's true. I've been dreaming about cookie sticks. So naturally, for the next occasion for which these were appropriate, I made them!

This past long weekend, I brought these cookie sticks to a barbecue. They were a cinch to make (seriously - a cinch) and they were a big hit! It was kinda fun to eat a cookie in stick form for a change too. You gotta try it. :)

The exact ingredients I used are below, and they vary just slightly from the original recipe.

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup canola oil

-1/2 cup granulated sugar

-1/2 cup brown sugar

-1 egg

-2 tsp. Grade B maple syrup*

-1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

-1/2 tsp. baking soda

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1 cup M & M's (I used my favorite, dark chocolate)

*I substituted maple syrup for vanilla extract in this recipe. You can read more about this substitution later on!

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the oil, both sugars, egg, and maple syrup. Add in the flour, baking soda, and salt, and stir until just combined.

Divide the dough in half (it's very easy dough to work with). On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, press each half of the dough into an oblong shape, roughly 15 x 3 inches. Place each rectangle about 3 inches apart on the cookie sheet. Press the M & M's into the dough.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden browned. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before cutting into strips. Cool the strips completely before actually removing them from the cookie sheet.

Enjoy!

My two rectangles weren't exactly evenly shaped. Oh well! 

I actually used closer to 3/4 of a cup of M & M's - not the entire 1 cup that's called for in the recipe.

Now, do you remember earlier when I mentioned that I substituted maple syrup for vanilla extract? I am ashamed to admit that this avid baker RAN OUT OF vanilla extract. Whaaat?! Yes, I did. Sad. I'm not sure how it happened; in fact, I didn't even realize it until I was in the middle of making this cookie dough. My heart sank (well, maybe not really, that's a bit of an exaggeration). But I was mad at myself. How could I have not realized that I was out of vanilla extract?

The bright side of this slight catastrophe is that I learned of a great substitute for vanilla - maple syrup!! I quickly did a google search once I realized my error, and multiple sites said I could use maple syrup. Neato! I did, and it seemed to work great! I was also contemplating using some vanilla vodka I had in the cupboard... I bet that would have worked okay as well, no?

Straight out of the oven. They look like giant, rectangular cookie pies at this point.

Cut into strips!

I was a really big fan of this recipe. The taste was great, but honestly, I think I liked this recipe so much because it was so easy and fun! The sticks were a great change from the typical round cookie, and mixing up this cookie dough was pretty much the easiest thing ever. One bowl and no electric mixer needed. And it also didn't require multiple batches of cookies being baked on cookie sheets. It was just one simple batch, baked for 8 to 10 minutes in total!

If you're at all intimidated by baking, this would be an awesome recipe to "get your feet wet" with baking. It would also be a great recipe for the kids! You can use any kind of M & M's that you'd like, and you could also use chocolate chips or other flavored baking chips.

Mmmm, cookie sticks. :)