Baked Oatmeal

I wanted to try to make a sweet mid-morning snack, so I pulled out a great Baked Oatmeal recipe. It turned out great, made my own revisions to it. It turned out amazing !


This is a great dish for breakfast, brunches, for snack or even dessert.


* There would be a photo here, but it was eaten before a picture could be taken *


Baked Oatmeal:


• 2 cups frozen blueberries
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
• 1 (18-oz.) container regular oats
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup applesauce,or your favourite jams, marmalades etc.
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup milk of choice
• 1/4 cup melted butter

• Handful of dried fruit ( your favourites )

• 1/2 cup shredded coconut 

• 1/3 cup favourite nuts

Preparation:

•Toss 2 cups blueberries in 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, and spread evenly on bottom of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

• Combine oats, next 9 ingredients, and remaining 1 Tbsp. lemon juice in a large bowl, stirring until well blended. Pour oat mixture evenly over blueberries.

3. Bake, covered, at 350° for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 20 more minutes or until golden brown and set.

AND ALSO TRY THIS FLAVOUR

Apple-Pecan Baked Oatmeal: 

Place 1/2 cup chopped pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until toasted, stirring once. Omit blueberries and lemon juice. Peel and chop 5 Granny Smith apples. Spread on bottom of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle toasted pecans over apples. Prepare oat mixture as directed, and pour evenly over apples and pecans. Bake as directed. 

Homemade Pizzas

Ok, so since I've been cooking for my family for about 2 months now, I decided to slack a little tonight.
This is really simple, Homemade Pizzas on Naan Bread.
These are perfect sized individual pizzas, so instead of trying to agree on what kind to get... Make your own with your favourite toppings.

For this Pizza that I made for my brother... I used Carmelized Onion Naan Bread, and made an updated version of a "Deluxe Pizza"since that was my brother's choice. Remember you can add whatever you want to these. Different sauces, veggies, meats, cheeses...Be creative!


For this updated version of a deluxe I used:
• Pizza sauce
• Cheddar and mozzarella cheese
• Chopped red onion
• Green peppers
• Crushed red peppers
• Fire Roasted sweet peppers
• Mushrooms
• Olives
• Red pepper flakes and fresh cracked pepper


Bake at 375 deg until cheese is melted and sides are golden brown and crispy... about 15 minutes.


ENJOY!

Really simple, but I decided to post it

The Perfect Fruit Smoothie
It really is the perfect one.













Here's the recipe:
• Frozen Strawberries
• Frozen Blueberries
• Mango
• Cranberries
• Half of a banana
• Your choice of milk
• A splash of orange juice


Directions:
• Take a small handful of each fruit, and the half banana and put into a blender. Add in you choice of milk, and a splash of orange juice. Blend together. Keep adding milk and juice until reached desired consistency.


Serves: 2 or 3 people


ENJOY!

YES

BAKED EXPLORATIONS !!!
The book my brother's gave me for Christmas

YEAH... Get excited!

Vegetable Pomodoro Pasta

Okay... I was scared of using egglants... but this turned out to be SO fresh and SO good... AND It's very healthy!








Pomodoro Pasta


Here's the recipe:
•2 Tbsp Olive Oil
•1 Eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 zucchini
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced ( or finely chopped )
• 4 Tomatoes chopped into chunks
• Handful of green olives, chopped( optional )
• 2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 3/4 Tsp Salt
• 1/2 Tsp Pepper
• 1/2 Tsp Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/2 can of crushed roasted red peppers
• Pasta of your choice ( For pasta in the photo, I used gluten-free brown rice pasta to be extra healthy)
• Basil


Preparation:
• Boil water, add salt, add pasta of choice
• While Pasta is cooking... Heat olive oil in a med- large skillet. Add eggplant and zucchini, cook until softened (about 5 mins). Add garlic, cook 1 min. Add tomatoes, olives, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, crushed red peppers, cook for 10 minutes. Add red pepper flakes. Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Serve this sauce over the pasta and most importantly... ENJOY!


The salad pictured was a mixed greens, spinach salad with red onion, cherry tomatoes and celery with an avocado, lime, cilantro balsamic dressing ( will post dressing later on ).

FIRST POST!

Alright. So I'm kind of nervous but quite excited to start this !

I figured for my first post I would start with something to either have a slice to go along with afternoon tea, wrap in parchment paper tied with string to give to a friend, or just eat the whole thing on your own in one sitting...

(which is probably what I would have done if I wasn't trying to be good).

"Berry Coffee Cake with Lemon Streusel Topping and White Chocolate garnish"

Simple to make, and it looks fancy.

Here's the recipe:

adapted/inspired by King Arthur

Lemon Streusel Topping:

• 1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar

• 1 Cup All-Purpose Flour

• Pinch of Salt

• 1/2 Cup Lemon zest

• 6 Tbsp Butter, Softened

• 1/8 Tsp Lemon Juice, Lemon oil, or  Lemon Extract

Cake:

• 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

• 1 Tsp Baking Powder

• 1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

• 1/2 Tsp Salt

• 8 Tbsp Butter, Softened

• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar

• 2 Large Eggs

• 1 Cup Sour Cream, Room Temperature

• 1 Tsp Vanilla

• 2 Cups Fresh or Frozen(and thawed) Mixed Berries

Directions:

•Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Line a 9" x 13"  baking pan, or two 8" x 2" round pans with parchment paper and lightly spray.

• For the Streusel : In a medium bowl whisk together sugar, flour, and salt. Toss in the Lemon zest. Work the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles granola ( some larger chunks and some smaller). Sprinkle in the lemon juice, lemon oil or lemon extract. Toss to combine. Set aside.

• For the Cake: Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy with an electric mixer. Add in the eggs one at a time. ( Be sure the scrape down the sides of the bowl ). Beat in the sour cream and vanilla.

• In a separate bowl, mix together flour,  baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the wet ingredients from other bowl into the flour mixture. Mix with electric mixer only until combined. 

DO NOT OVER-MIX. 

• Gently fold in the berries until distributed throughout the batter. Pour into the prepared pan, spread evenly. Sprinkle the batter with the entire streusel mixture until covered completely.

• Bake up to 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!