Overnight Oats with Chia

 Another recipe!

I have seen a bunch of overnight oat recipes floating around the web, and decided to try to make a batch of my own!  I hit a little snag, but I think next time I make them it will be perfect!  This was also my first time using chia seeds- I love them!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup oats (I used old-fashioned)
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, but any milk would work
fruit (use fresh!!  I used frozen strawberries, and I regret it! see below....)
1/2 tbs chia seeds
large dash of cinnamon
if you like sweet oatmeal (I don't), you might want to add some sugar or agave

Directions:
1. Place everything into a container- a jar or plastic container would be perfect, and stir.
2. Leave in the fridge overnight.

Wow! A recipe with only 2 steps...love that!  The oats got soft and the chia seeds plumped up- they kinda reminded me of tapioca or those balls that come in asian bubble tea. Such a fun texture for my breakfast!

Now the snag....
I used frozen strawberries, forgetting to take into consideration that they would add water to the oatmeal as they thawed.  When I took it out of the fridge this morning, I was left with this horrific sight:

EEk! It was a watery mess.  I tilted the container to drain off most of the water, and all was well again:

 

Yum!  I can't wait to try other flavor combos! 

(note: other recipes I found online also said to add greek yogurt. not sure how I feel about that...)

Calories: 146
Fat: 6g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 91mg
Carbs: 23g
Fiber: 8g
Protien: 5g
Sugars: 4g

Banana Smoothies

As Matt and Melissa know (from their recent trip to MA), Dave and I have been making a lot of smoothies as evening snacks.  To keep them as healthy as possible, we start with a frozen banana. I'm not a big fan of banana, but once you start adding the extracts and spices, I don't even notice that banana-y taste!  I'm going to keep this post as a running list of our favorite flavor combos.

As a general note, when we buy a bunch of bananas, we keep them on the counter until VERY ripe.  Then we peel and quarter each one and place it in a sealed container in the freezer.  That way, whenever we want a smoothie, it is easy to take 2 or 4 banana pieces (depending on if the recipe calls for a half or whole banana), and load it up in the Magic Bullet with the other ingredients.

One more note- where the recipe asks for "milk," we found that almond milk tastes good too! :)

Pumpkin Spice
1/2 cup pumpkin (canned or freshly cooked) I used a heaping 1/2 cup
1/2 frozen banana
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (I used allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and a bit extra cinnamon)
pinch of ground ginger
Dave added a teaspoon of brown sugar to his

 pumpkin spice

Mint Chocolate Chip
1 frozen banana
cacao nibs (or chocolate chips) we used grain-sweetened chocolate chips
2 drops pure peppermint extract
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup frozen spinach
Dave likes his with cocoa powder too

Vanilla Chai
1 frozen banana
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
tiny dash each: pepper, cardamom, ground cloves, and nutmeg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Other flavor combos I'd like to try....

Coconut
Some kind of combination of banana, coconut milk, coconut extract, and flaked coconut 

Chocolate Cake Batter
Recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie

Chocolate Covered Strawberry
Banana, strawberries, cocoa powder?, dark chocolate chips

Do you have any other ideas for flavors?

Photos of smoothies coming soon (Whenever I make one, I am too excited to drink it, and never end up taking a picture!!)

Baked Apples

Haha....they look kinda yellow. I should fix that. (and thanks, Matt, for taking the pic!)

Anyway, last weekend Mom, Dad, Jon, Matt, and Melissa were all with us on Long Island. Dave and I had some leftover apples from when we went apple picking, so we made this easy, yet (somewhat) time-consuming dessert.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
6-8 apples
3 tbs butter, softened
3 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp cinnamon
pre-made pastry sheets (we used 1 1/2 packages)
raisins, walnuts optional
1 egg yolk
Raw sugar (or regular sugar)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Peel and core apples, and set aside.
3. Mix softened butter, sugar, and cinnamon in bowl. I added extra cinnamon ;-)
4. Add in raisins and/or walnuts, if using.
5. Fill apple cavities with cinnamon sugar butter mixture ("apple cavities?" Not sure why I called them that)
6. Roll out pastry sheets, and cut into 8" squares.
7. Place an apple on pastry square, and fold up corners to meet at the top. Crimp edges, and add decorative pieces of pastry, if desired.
8. Repeat with remaining apples.
9. Brush with egg yolk, and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
10. Bake for 30 minutes, or until apples have softened and pastry is golden brown.

For Melissa, we omitted the pastry. Dave and I actually made these again when we got back to MA, and we didn't use the pastry either. Halfway through the baking time, I brushed the cinnamon sugar that had oozed out the bottom back onto the apples, and continued baking.

I preferred them without the pastry, and Dave liked them better with.

Oh yea- serve with ice cream or whipped cream. Yum!

Apple Chutney

Here's a recipe for a great appetizer that Melissa and I made for Jen and Dave when they were at our house for New Year's Eve last year. It was originally inspired by an appetizer we had at a restaurant called The Lost Dog Cafe in Binghamton, NY. We like to serve this apple chutney with baked brie and toasted French bread.

Ingredients:

• 3 tart apples - peeled, cored, and finely chopped

• 1/4 yellow onion, quartered

• 5/8 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, peeled

• 3 tablespoons and 1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon and 1-3/4 teaspoons white sugar

• 1 tablespoon and 1-3/4 teaspoons brown sugar

• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper

• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. In a saucepan, mix the apples, onion, ginger, vinegar, white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, white pepper, cardamom, and nutmeg.


2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover.


3. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until the apples are tender.


4. Mix in some water if necessary to keep the ingredients moist.


5. Remove the onion and ginger, and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Recipe from Allrecipes.com. The ingredient amounts shown here are drastically reduced to make a more manageable amount of chutney.

Applesauce

Dave and I got this recipe from his grandmom when we had a ridiculous amount of apples after we went apple picking last year. I'm looking forward to doing it again this Fall!

Ingredients:
12 tart cooking apples
5 tbs sugar
1/8 tsp salt.

Directions:
1. Peel, core, and quarter the apples
2. Place in a saucepan, and add enough water to cover the apples about halfway.
3. Over high heat, let the apples and water come to a boil, then reduce heat and cover
4. Cook until the apples are tender, then stir in sugar and salt.
5. Cook 5 minutes more- if there is still too much liquid, carefully drain.
6. Mash, and chill!

We like to keep ours a little chunky, and then add cinnamon. Its good warm or cold!

Banana Beignets

So...to continue the train of thought from our last post, Dave and I were intending to do somewhat of a Japanese weekend of food. We successfully prepared the sushi, then made bubble tea the following day. Our last recipe was for Asian fried bananas. Well, the bananas didn't make it, so we were left with overripe produce. Luckily, this month's Food Network magazine had just the thing to help us out. We made them tonight, and they were awesome!

Mini Banana Beignets

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for frying
1 1/2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk (we used 1%)
1/2 cup mashed banana, about 1 overripe banana
1/4 teaspoon banana extract (optional) ----we omitted this, and the flavor was still super banana-y

Directions:

1. Heat about 2 inches vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 375 degrees F.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl.

3. Whisk the egg, milk, mashed banana and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in another bowl. Add the banana extract, if desired. Combine the remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a shallow bowl and set aside.

4. Whisk the banana mixture into the dry ingredients until just moistened. Working in batches, drop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 15 seconds per side. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels, then roll in the cinnamon sugar while still warm.

Sorry no pic yet-- it's too dark out. We'll see if we can take one tomorrow!

Update: Just added the 2 pics I took this morning. They were tasty as breakfast too!

Apple Crunch

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick butter
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp lemon juice
6 to 7 apples (peeled and sliced)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix together a ingredients except for the apples. Place apples on bottom of 11 x 8 pan and sprinkle with mixture. Bake for 30 minutes or until done.

Recipe courtesy of Theresa Palmieri. Thanks Grandma!