Overnight Apple Pie Oatmeal

We’ve all heard that revenge is a dish best served cold.

Who knew oatmeal is also quite tasty served cold?

I found this recipe in Oxygen magazine last year, and I’m sort of addicted to it. Trust me. Try it. I was skeptical too.

PS. I’ve seen cute recipes online of making overnight oats in a jar. I just make mine in a Ziploc bowl. If I’m running behind, I just grab it, toss on the walnuts, and go.

PPS. This recipe is insanely good for you. It is not, however, a low-fat dish. One bowl has 459 calories, 24g fat, and 22g protein. Before you scream that you could eat from a drive-thru for less, take into consideration that the majority of the fat and calories come from the walnuts. If you omit them, you’re looking at 259 calories, 4g of fat and 18g protein. The thing about walnuts is that it’s healthy fat. They are full of omega-3s which are so heart healthy. Before omitting the walnuts altogether, consider only using half the recipe’s recommendation. They really do make the dish more filling and the crunch gives it a little extra pop.

Overnight Apple Pie Oats

Makes one serving

1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped apple

1/3 cup milk (skim, almond, soy)

1/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt

1/8 tsp each salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice (Note: I just use salt and cinnamon)

1 tbsp ground flax (optional but it’s so good for you!)

1/2 packet Stevia (or your choice of sweetner)

1 oz crushed walnuts

In a small bowl, mix all ingredients together except walnuts until well blended.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, give it a stir and top with the crushed walnuts. Dig in!

My Banana Variation

This is also yummy, possibly even more yummy than the apple.

Substitute half of a banana sliced for the apple. Keep all other ingredients the same. Sort of gives you a banana bread flavor combination.

Light Fried Rice

This recipe came my way at a Weight Watchers meeting a couple of years ago. I’ve made it several times since I acquired it so it’s a favorite. The original recipe calls for eggs. I don’t like eggs in my fried rice. So, I leave them out. If you want eggs, then by all means scramble up a couple and set them aside to add in at the last step.

This recipe is not going to be the star of the meal. It’s definitely a sidekick. However, you can add in some chicken, pork, shrimp, tofu, etc. and make a meal out of it. I like it for dishes that you serve over rice like a stir fry, or a saucy dish like Bourbon Chicken. I like to make this on the weekends and eat it as a quick side through the week.

Light Fried Rice

Cooking spray

1 cup carrots, shredded or finely chopped

1 cup scallions or onions, chopped and divided

3 cups cooked white rice

1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed

1/4 cup low sodium soy salt

Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and set over medium-high heat. Add carrots and all but two tablespoons of the scallions, saute until carrots are crisp tender, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir in cooked rice, peas and soy sauce; cook until heated through, stirring once or twice, about 1 minute. Add in remaining scallions (and if you want to add in scrambled eggs add those now, I repeat they must be scrambled not raw at this point); heat through.

Makes about 6 servings, 3/4 cup each. My recipe calculator shows 167 calories per serving.

Found on Pinterest: Bourbon Chicken in the Slow Cooker

I’ve always found those Cajun-Chinese places that you often see in mall food courts rather curious. I also find them very tasty. My favorite dish at these joints is Bourbon Chicken. I was very proud this summer when my 8-year-old niece announced that this was also her dish of choice when we visited the mall. “Bourbon chicken with fried rice and extra sauce, and can you please put the extra sauce right on my rice?” was her order to be exact.

I pinned a couple of Bourbon Chicken recipes and chose this one because it was important to me that the chicken be falling apart tender, and the slow cooker is the best way to get that kind of results, in my opinion.

This was honestly one of the best recipes I’ve made in a long time. Sweet and spicy, and the sauce was the perfect consistency. It wasn’t an exact match to the mall but it was pretty darn close. I cut the red pepper flakes down to 1/2 teaspoon and still felt it was a touch hot. And I like heat. Next time, (oh yes, there will be a next time) I will probably cut it down to a 1/4 teaspoon. I also only used about a pound of chicken but kept the sauce recipe the same. As The Niece would say, extra sauce is always good.

I served it over my Light Fried Rice that I’ll share later in the week.

Bourbon Chicken in the Slow Cooker

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces

2 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove crushed

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup apple juice

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons  ketchup or chili sauce (I used Thai chili sauce)

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

Whisk all ingredients into slow cooker and add chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.

Using a little under a pound of chicken, I got about three servings. The full recipe as shown would probably make about 6 servings.

Coffee Cake Muffins

I started cooking at a young age, and in the early years, I loved to bake. Over time, I lost interest in baking. I know some people who say they love to bake but do not like to cook. I sort of feel the opposite, I enjoy cooking much more than baking. (I enjoy either activity more than cleaning but that’s another story). Baking is very technical. You have to be exact or things won’t turn out right. Cooking is different. It requires less precision. You can save a dish that’s going wrong by adding more seasoning, adding more liquid, cooking it down, etc. With baking, once you put that cake in the oven you’re committed. There’s no turning back.

I’m trying to do better. I’ve pledged to baking one homemade item per month starting in March. Let’s see if it sticks.

This recipe however made it past my persnickety feelings on baking. It’s easy and so, so tasty. I love cinnamon and these muffins smell incredible while baking. The texture is like that of a cake doughnut. These are amazing with coffee.

I must shout out to my friend Jeremy (Hey Jeremy!)  who sent me this recipe and said something like “If you’re looking for recipes, I would be happy to help eat this one.” So when his birthday rolled around, I made some to share with him. The recipe was from Can You Stay for Dinner which is a super awesome food blog that you should totally check out. Her post on this recipe is here.

Coffee Cake Muffins

1-¾ cup flour
1-½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅓ cup oil
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
¾ cup milk

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping:
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350º. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

In a separate, large bowl, combine oil, sugar, egg and milk.

Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.

Coat your muffin pan well with nonstick cooking spray and divide the batter evenly among the cups.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Run a knife around the sides of the muffin and shake them out of the pan while still hot.

Melt the butter in a bowl.

Combine the white sugar with the cinnamon in another bowl.

Dip muffins in butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Let cool.

Makes 12 muffins

Kinda Dirty Rice

Traditional Cajun dirty rice is made with chicken livers.

Ewww.

Don’t get me wrong. Every now and then, as in every year or two, I get a craving for some fried chicken livers. But I don’t think I want any liver in my rice, thank you much.

This recipe was inspired by an episode of Down Home with the Neelys on Food Network. I use turkey kielbasa for the sausage and sometimes substitute instant brown rice in for the long grain white rice. This dish makes a good side dish (I served alongside crab cakes for Fat Tuesday) or main dish.

Kinda Dirty Rice

2 cups long grain white rice
5 cups chicken stock, divided
2 tablespoons canola oil
14 oz package turkey kielbasa (I like Butterball), cut into slices
1 clove garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
Salt and pepper to taste

Make the rice, in a medium saucepan combine the rice and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until all the stock is absorbed into the rice, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile heat oil in a heavy-bottomed saute pan over medium-high heat. Brown the kielbasa. Once browned, add the garlic, onion, celery, and green bell pepper. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add 1 cup chicken stock and cayenne. Cook until the stock has reduced a little. Add the cooked rice and stir thoroughly. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Found on Pinterest: Cheeseburger Soup

This recipe is another Pinterest find. The recipe that I originally pinned here is an adaption of a recipe from Taste of Home that can be found here.

I always enjoy reading comments of online recipes and sometimes the comments help me decide whether or not I want to try the recipe. Some of the comments for the entry on Taste of Home made me chuckle because some people were very critical of the name “Cheeseburger Soup”. One commenter wrote “This doesn’t taste like a cheeseburger at all!”

I agree that the ground beef really isn’t the star of this soup. In all honesty, it’s a creamy, cheesy potato soup with some hamburger in it. Beefy enough not just be potato soup but perhaps not beefy enough to give the cheeseburger headline credit.

There were also some complaints about the prep time. I normally never time my prep time but in this case I did and I agree with Taste of Home’s 45 minutes. The majority of the time is chopping time, and unfortunately that’s just a sacrifice you have to make for a vegetable soup like this. I used baby carrots which cut down on the peeling and chopping quite a bit.

All that aside, this is a delicious soup that I plan to make again and again. I served it with rolls but it would be perfect in a bread bowl. Some crumbled cooked bacon on top would really set this off as well.

If you look at my recipe versus the links you’ll notice some differences. I made it healthier by using lean ground beef, skim milk and mild shredded cheddar cheese instead of Velveeta as called for in the recipe. I also used less cheese than the recipe recommended and the soup was still cheesy and good.

Cheeseburger Soup

1/2 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup finely chopped carrots
3/4 cup diced celery
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
4 tablespoons butter, divided
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups diced peeled potatoes (1-3/4 pounds)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese plus more for topping
1-1/2 cups skim milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup sour cream

In a 3-qt. saucepan, brown beef; drain and set aside. In the same saucepan, saute the onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 tablespoon butter until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the broth, potatoes and beef; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt remaining butter. Add flour; cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly. This is what’s called preparing a “roux”. Add roux to soup; bring to a boil. The roux will immediately thicken your soup and give it a smooth texture. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the cheese, milk, salt and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from the heat; blend in sour cream. Yield: 8 servings (2-1/4 quarts).

My Not Really a Recipe for Loaded Baked Potato Salad

My husband is a picky eater. I will eat basically anything except cucumbers (although I love pickles). His list of inedible foods is quite long. It includes mayonnaise and eggs so that makes traditional potato salad a no-go for him.

A few years ago, this recipe for Loaded Baked Potato Salad showed up in my Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine. I told him about it, not really sure that he was even listening, and he said he would try it. I was overjoyed. And the best part…he loved it! I have made it time and time again, for cookouts, tailgating and sometimes just as a side dish for us.

The original recipe was from an article with a block party theme so it makes 20 servings. I have not yet had an occasion to make that much potato salad! People have asked for the recipe but I don’t have exact measurements to make it on a smaller scale. As Rachael herself would say, “You just have to eyeball it.”

Here’s what I do:

You need baking potatoes, bacon, butter, sour cream (I use reduced fat) and shredded cheddar cheese.

• Bake the potatoes. I figure on one large baking potato for every 2 people. If it’s a cookout or tailgate party with lots of options, people just aren’t going to load their plate down with one item. I bake the potatoes in the oven for about an hour at 400 degrees. I do not like microwaved potatoes but if you are ok with them, then feel free to zap away.
• When the potatoes are nearing the home stretch, fry some bacon. I would say for every potato you use, figure on one slice of bacon. Throw in an extra piece for good measure if you like. You want the bacon to be crispy. I prefer to bake mine and usually will bake it on a stone sheet pan while the potatoes are finishing their bake. Bacon prepared in the oven stays flat and tends to get crisper in my opinion.
• Let the bacon and potatoes cool enough so that you can work with them without getting burned.
• If you want to use the potato skin, you can just cut the potatoes in chunks as is and put the chunks in a bowl. If you do not want the skin, my method is to cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the potato into the bowl. Then I cut it into chunks by just slashing my knife through the potato.
• When the potatoes are chunked to your satisfaction, add salt and pepper.
• The butter and sour cream are your “dressing”. Think of how much butter you might put on a baked potato to get an idea of how much to use. About a tablespoon of butter per potato is probably reasonable. I go a little heavier on the sour cream. Stir those into your potatoes. The warm potatoes will melt up the butter.
• Break your bacon into pieces and add it to the mixture. Stir it all up.
• I add the cheese last and for this, you truly are using your own judgement and taste. Add in a handful, stir up your dish and see what you think. You want each bite to have cheese.
• The end result isn’t really a “salad”. It’s more of a warm potato dish. It can be served at room temperature so it travels well.