👠- Delicious Raw Overnight Oatmeal

My kids LOVE oatmeal.  They eat it cooked and uncooked.  Just like that. Nothing added!  When I grew up, oatmeal and ‘PAP’ (something like corn grits/polenta). Every morning we would get a nice, steaming bowl of porridge.  Of course, we would put sugar, cow’s milk and sometimes butter on it.  It tasted like heaven!  Now, as an enlightened adult, I don’t have sugar, cow’s milk or butter in the house.  How am I going to eat my oatmeal if I can’t put those things on it?? Well, SO many things I have come to learn, make a delicious bowl of Oatmeal. I don’t have time to mention more than just this one……

To save time in the mornings and to cut down on the amount of time my stove is on and because it’s so crazy hot in CA, I decided to soak the oats (I used Coach’s Oats) in Almond Milk overnight. I also soaked some dried figs in water for blending to go with the oats.

Come this morning, first thing the girls say to me, like every morning is “I’m hungry. What are we gonna eat?” I was ready for that question. Today we try Raw Oatmeal! Let’s give it a go and see what they think!

Please do keep in mind that even though I really try to remember to sort of measure things out, I honestly just eyeball everything.  Please adjust to your taste and family size….

 

👠- Delicious Raw Overnight Oatmeal

 

1 Cup oatmeal*

2 Cups Water/Almond Milk or other Milk

Frozen/Fresh Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries or any other fruit at hand

Nuts – I like roasted, unsalted Pecans

Shredded Coconut

Figs soaked overnight and pureed

For a visually stimulating breakfast, layer the ingredients into a clear glass or bowl starting with the  Oatmeal and finish off with a dollop of fig puree and some Coconut Shreds. if you’re in a hurry, mix all the ingredients together into a beautiful mess and enjoy!

* For Gluten-Free Oatmeal, make sure the package says it’s GF!

Kids loved it and so did I!

 

Nori Summer Salad

👠 – How crazy is it that my last post was in JULY?? Downright shameful I say! It would seem that I have some catching up to do! Cleaning too mind you, as I type I see the dust rubbing off the letters on my keyboard…. good ol’ technology, if these were the days of pen and paper one thing is for sure, my ink would be a dried up mess!  Anyhow, while I was slightly absent on this side of Cyberspace I was rather active in my house and in the kitchen. I tell you, there certainly is no shortcut for eating healthy. It takes a whole lot of time and energy to throw together interesting, tasty and supremely healthy meals that every member of the family can enjoy…. and it is no joke my friends with a 1 and a 2 year old running around. Sometimes I get REALLY overwhelmed by the need to constantly having to re-invent the home menu. I was brought up to cook with what we had at hand.  We had a little vegetable garden with not too much to choose from so come mealtime, you take a handful of this, a pinch of that, a scoop of this and so forth…. this is what I call Freestyle Cooking. This is also in my case a recipe for monotonous cooking. Anybody else identify with this? I feel like everything I make always ends up tasting more or less the same?? Not cool!  So lately I’ve been more adventurous and this recipe is what happened! My awesome friend and co-blogger Abby made me the Nori Wrap recipe from Alicia Silverstone’s book The Kind Diet. I fell head over heels in love with NORI!! I found myself buying 50 sheets of it at Wholefoods and using it in every way possible.

This little salad here was created after I had a semi-meltdown. Same stupid flavors frequenting my tastebuds day in and day out makes Naómi a dangerous girl. Time to pull out the Nori and spruce up the old salad!

Nori Summer Salad

•  ¼ Red Onion, finely chopped
•  1 ½ Pint Cherry Tomatoes, halved or 4/5 Tomatoes diced
•  1 Ripe Avacado, chopped
•  1 Can of Garbanzo Beans, rinsed and drained (Rinsing reduces the sodium content) alternatively soak and boil ’em yourself!
•  1 head of Romaine Lettuce cut into strips
•  2 tbsp Ume Plum Vinegar (Not a train smash if you don’t have this, but it does give it a nice oomph!)
•  5-10 Sheets of Nori, cut into small strips (I cut along the perforated lines using my kitchen scissors, stack ’em on top of each other to cut slivers)
•  Salt to taste (Ume Vinegar is already salty!)
•  Freshly ground Black Pepper to taste

Toss it all together. THAT IS IT! Enjoy!

Kale Brown Rice Casserole

This is a very simple yet delicious and nutritious casserole!

2 c. cooked brown rice
2 tsp. oil
I onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 c. cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces
3 c. chopped cabbage
3 c. chopped kale
15 oz. diced tomatoes
3/4 c. Daiya cheese, shredded (any flavor)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute onion and garlic in oil over medium heat in a large skillet until onion caramelizes a bit, about 10 minutes. Add cauliflower, cabbage, and kale to the onion mixture and saute also for about 10 minutes, until cauliflower is soft. Season with salt and pepper.  Layer rice on the bottom of a prepared casserole dish. Then layer the tomatoes. Then layer the veg mixture and top with the shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for 12 minutes or until cheese melts.

Toddler Muffins

Here’s a recipe for mini muffins that I make for my toddler.  I use those fruit & veg puree pouches (I use Happy Tot) to get even more fruit and veg into my boy and it’s easier than pureeing a bunch of vegetables!  Enjoy!

 

 

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 T. ground flax seeds

1 t. baking soda

1/4 c. melted Earth Balance

1/2 c. applesauce or mashed bananas

1/4 c. agave (or other natural sweetener)

2 c. pureed vegetables (I use several of the Happy Tot pouches)

1 t. vanilla

1 t. cinnamon

1 t. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a mini muffin tin.

Mix together flour, flax seeds, and baking soda in medium bowl.  Set aside.  In a large bowl mix together the melted Earth Balance, applesauce or mashed bananas, agave, pureed veg, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Pour dry mixture into wet ingredients and mix well.  Fill muffin tins with batter and bake for 18 minutes.  Makes approximately 30 mini muffins.

👠 -Healthy Chocolate Milk

Healthy Chocolate Milk

Ingredients

• 4 Cups of Almond Milk or any other Nut/Rice Milk
• 2-3 Tablespoons Cacao Powder
• 2-6 Pitted Dates depending on how sweet you like it!
• ± 1½ Teaspoons of Xanthan Gum (Thickener)
• Garnish of your choice

Preparation

Add all ingredients to Blender. High-Powered Blenders like Vitamix

blends  super fast and smooth in no time! Blend until smooth. I added

some thinly sliced Banana and Sprinkled Cinnamon for presentation.

Let loose your creativity!

Refrigerate and serve.

👠

👠 -Almond Milk

Ingredients

• 1 cup Raw Almonds
• Water for soaking Almonds
• 3-5 cups Water depending on how white you like your milk!
• 2 Dates (optional)
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla (optional)

Preparation

Soak the Almonds in water overnight or for at least 6 hours. Drain the water from the almonds and discard. Blend the 3 cups of Water, Almonds and Dates until well blended and almost smooth. Strain the blended Almond mixture using a Nut Milk Bag. Homemade Almond Milk will keep well in the refrigerator for three or four days.

Enjoy!

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