Fruit and Veggielishious Breakfast

The only thing I like more than a delicious homemade breakfast is a delicious homemade breakfast with friends. My dear friends Kate and Mark have been so kind as to let me stay over at their house in South Park a few nights a week the day before my shifts at Specialty Produce. Not only has this cut back on my work commute but it has made it so I have much more play time with my dear friend Kate. The morning of my last visit we awoke bright and semi early to make a nutritious breakfast to start off our days with.

Spiced Breakfast Potatoes

Ingredients

2 russet potatoes

2 sweet potatoes

2 bell peppers (whatever color you like, we used red and green)

salt and pepper

dried oregano

cinnamon

cooking spray or olive oil

Preparation

First off heat your oven to 350 and coat two baking sheets with olive oil or cooking spray. If you want to save on clean up you can line your baking sheets with aluminum foil or a silpat first. Wash the peppers and cut into 1 inch squares. Then wash the potatoes and slice them up nice and thin, this will help them cook faster.

Kate recently got a brand new set of super sharp knives and did an expert job slicing the spuds. Arrange the russet potato slices on one pan and the sweet potato slices on another. The potato pieces can overlap some if you run out of room. Drizzle the potatoes with the olive oil or a spritz of cooking spray. Season the sweet potatoes with a sprinkle of cinnamon and salt. Top the russets with the pepper pieces and season with a sprinkle of oregano, salt and pepper.

Pop both trays in the oven and cook for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are browned.

While the potatoes were in the oven we brewed some coffee and prepared another delicious breakfast treat.

Broiled Grapefruit

Ingredients

2 grapefruits

Sprinkle of sugar or a drizzle of honey

Preparation

Slice the grapefruits in half and then loosen the grapefruit pieces with a thin knife as you normally would before eating one. Sprinkle the grapefruit with sugar or top with a drizzle of honey. Heat the broiler in your oven or toaster oven and once hot pop the fruit in the oven and broil for a couple minutes or until the edges of the grapefruit start to brown and the sugar bubbles up a bit.

The potatoes were just the right crispness and perfectly seasoned and the broiled grapefruit was super juicy and sweet as candy!

Nothing like a delicious breakfast to start off the day, hope you are having a delicious day too!

29 Candles

I love birthdays! Some people look at them with doom and gloom but I for one think they are fabulous! A day when you can look back and celebrate all of the fun you have had in life thus far and at the same time look forward to all the adventures and new experiences that still lie ahead. With each passing year comes an increase in knowledge about so many things, practical stuff like how to change a tire or bake a decadently delicious 4 layer cake but also about soulful things like how to better love others or what you are most passionate about in life.

Not only are birthdays a day of recollection and reflection but also a day of fun filed jubilee! In my opinion whatever it may be that you love and enjoy most in life is what you should be doing. So, in celebration of the start of my 29^th year on the planet I decided to plan a festive day full of all of my most favorite things!

 

A leisurely breakfast involving banana

Now it’s no secret that banana oatmeal is my most favorite breakfast food but since it was a special day I thought I should try making something new and since I have been on a vegan baked goods kick I decided to incorporate that too.

 

Banana Birthday Pancakes

Vegan and Gluten Free!

Makes 10-12 small pancakes

 

Ingredients

¾ cup brown rice flour

¼ cup tapioca flour

¼ cup potato starch

1 teaspoon xanath gum

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups light coconut milk (or soy milk if you don’t have coconut, but you should because its delicious!)

1 large really ripe banana, mashed up

 

Optional Topping Ingredients

Toasted walnuts or pecans

Maple syrup

Earth Balance spread or butter

Honey

 

Preparation

In a large mixing bowl sift all of the flours together using a sifter, fine mesh sieve, or whisk. Add to this the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until all the flours and spices are well combined. 

In a separate bowl combine the vanilla, coconut milk, and banana and using a hand stick blender blend until smooth. If you don’t have a stick blender you can also use a regular standing blender, if you have absolutely no blending device you are going to get a work out when you use the whisk to power mix until the liquid ingredients are as smooth as you can get them.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined. 

Spray a large skillet lightly with cooking spray or coat with a smear of oil and heat to medium high heat then lower to medium.  Pour the batter into the pan and let cook until little bubbles start to form atop the pancake, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip the pancake (I find its easiest to run the spatula around the perimeter of the cake then after loosened a bit in one quick push of the spatula under the cake lift and flip). Let the cake cook on the other side for another minute or two and its done. If your skillet is large enough you can cook multiple pancakes at once. I like to keep the completed pancakes warm on a plate in the oven set to the lowest heat.

Once the cakes are all done you can top with any number of scrumptious additions. I choose to use toasted walnuts for a bit of protein, earth balance, and some of the delicious maple syrup my dad brought me back from his trip to Montreal.

 

Delicious! They tasted like a cross between banana bread and a pancake. I can’t imagine a tastier way to kick off my 29^th year of life.

 

Pampering and playing with Kate

Birthdays are the perfect time to pamper your body and thank it for getting you through another year. My feet walked heavens knows how many miles this year so my oldest and dearest friend Kate and I decided to treat our toes to a pedicure at the lovely Bergamot spa in Encinitas.  We both got the Island Style treatment which included a relaxing soak in coconut scented water complete with beautiful floating plumaria flowers (my favorite!)

After the soak we were treated to a sugar cane scrub, coconut butter massage, and a bit of pretty polish. We left feeling rejuvenated and ready for the rest of our day, which included more of my favorite things like…

Shopping at Anthropologie and drinking my favorite holiday beverage, winter dream tea lattes from the Coffee Bean and then gluten free panini’s from my favorite lunch spot Water’s Catering in Solana Beach.

 

Bubbly beverages with the woman that gave me life

My mom and I have so much in common which is one of the reasons why I consider her not only my mom but one of my best friends too.  First and foremost though she is my mother and so my birthday is not only a special day for me but for her as well. That’s why I am always sure to wish her a happy birth-giving day and take time to celebrate the day together. This year we shared a few glasses of one of our favorite celebratory beverages, champagne with maraschino cherries.

 

Deliciousness and dancing with loved ones

A few days prior to my birthday this year Josephine and my Dad were sweet enough to come down to Encinitas and treat me to dinner at a restaurant I have been longing to try, Q’ero. As always spending time with my dad was wonderful and the dinner was one of the most spectacular I have had all year. Warm spinach salad with roasted beets and goat cheese, arepas stuffed with cheese, blackened snapper with grilled yucca, chocolate truffles, and the most scrumptious sangria I have ever tasted. Sharing delicious food with my loved ones is possibly one of my most favorite things in life, which is why I decided to do it again on my birthday with 18 of my nearest and dearest friends.

The delicious evening started off at a super cute Mexican restaurant in South Park called El Camino. The owner of the restaurant is also a designer and his creativeness is most definitely reflected in the décor of the eatery. From entrance to exit the restaurant is decked out in colorful kitschy décor. Everything from extravagant murals painted on the walls and religious figurines to collages made of chiclets and old wrestling movies playing at the bar.

             

In addition to being beautifully decorated the food at El Camino is incredibly scrumptious. We ordered a few pitchers of the house sangria for the table and they brought us some chips, jicama, and cucumber sticks along with a wooden block fitted with four bowls of delicious salsas for dipping.

For dinner I ordered my favorite, the sweet potato soft tacos, which came with darling little pots of black beans and rice.  I also ordered a side of esquite or corn with cheese, mayo and hot sauce (yummers!).

At the end of the meal they brought me a piece of cake, which I could not eat but none the less thoroughly enjoyed the happy birthday serenade, blowing out the candle on my gluteny cake, and then eating the cherry off the top of it before passing it around to my friends.

After our dinner we headed across town to one of my favorite bootie shaking establishments, Air Conditioned Lounge.  We twirled, giggled, and danced the night and first few hours of the morning away to the musical styling’s of Dj Schoeny

It was the perfect way to end an absolutely perfect birthday. After so much fun, love, and deliciousness my heart was full and I was exhausted and so I headed home and said goodnight to my first day as a 29 year old Rachel Marie.

Berry Good Breakfast

One of my favorite fruits to incorporate into breakfast meals, aside from bananas of course are berries. Colorful and nutritious little baubles of deliciousness that brighten up any dish and help you start your day with a smile on your face (and sometimes berry bits in your teeth). During the warm summer months fresh berries are plentiful and easy to find in grocery stores, farmers markets and roadside stands. Even in the off season though you can still enjoy berries that have been frozen, dried, or mashed up and made into jellies, jams and preserves. In the warmer months berries are great when tossed into smoothies or sprinkled atop ice cream or yogurt. When the weather starts to cool down a bit in the fall and winter berries make the perfect addition to a hot bowl of oatmeal and are particularly scrumptious when cooked into a thick sauce and smothered onto homemade waffles, pancakes or toast. As much as I love leisurely mornings that involve sipping tea and making breakfast from scratch during the busy work and school week most of our morning schedules do not allot for that kind of breakfast. No need to fret though or worse skip breakfast there are plenty of quick, delicious and nutritious gluten free berry breakfast options out there. Here are two of my personal quickie berry breakfast favorites.

Yogurt with Fresh Berries

This is one of my summertime breakfast on the go staples. Light and cool yet packed full of healthy goodness. Greek yogurt is higher in protein and lower in sugar than most commercially available yogurts and even the nonfat kind still manages to be super rich and creamy. There are many different companies that make greek yogurt, Fage, Oikos, Chobani and they are all delicious. Both Fresh and Easy and Trader Joes make their own brand of greek yogurt that are both equally delish and very reasonably priced as well. Plain greek yogurt is pretty bland on its own so I like to sweeten mine up with a smidge of stevia. Stevia powder is great as an alternative sweetener in things like tea as it has zero calories and does not affect blood sugar levels. It has 300 times the sweetness of sugar so when you use it do so sparingly.

Ingredients

1 cup fat free plain greek yogurt
A handful of fresh raspberries (or whatever berry you like best)
4 or 5 walnuts, chopped
A tiny sprinkle of stevia powder (or preferred sweetener)

Put the yogurt and stevia in a small bowl and stir to combine. Add to this your berries and nuts and either enjoy as is



Or mash up the berries to make a rosy bowl of deliciousness.



In the cooler months more often than not my tummy wants something warm in the mornings to help get my day off to a cozy start. When there’s no time for oatmeal this is a favorite quick and warm berry breakfast treat.

Toaster Waffle with Almond Butter and Berries



Happily there are a plethora of gluten free toaster waffles on the market and they can be found at many grocery stores. A few personal favorites of mine are Vans with Flax Seeds, Trader Joes Banana Waffles, Natures Path Buckwheat Wildberry or Mesa Sunrise, and Henrys Homestyle Blueberry. You can toast the waffles and eat as is or smother them with any number of tasty toppings. Personally, I love the taste of raw almond butter which is high in protein and rich in nutrients and healthy fats.

Ingredients

1 toaster waffle
2 Tablespoons raw almond butter (or nut butter of choice)
1 Tablespoon dried berries or frozen berries (I like to use blueberries)
1 teaspoon honey

Pop your waffle in the toaster and while it is toasting you can prepare the topping. If using frozen berries you will want to defrost them first. Combine the almond butter, berries and honey in a microwave safe dish and warm for about 30 seconds or until the almond butter softens to a spreadable consistency. Once the waffle is adequately toasted top with the almond butter-berry-honey concoction.

Savor the way the warm topping settles into all the delicious nooks and crannies of the crisp waffle, so scrumptious!

A delicious weekend with Dad

There are few things lovelier than leisurely weekend meals with family and friends. When I was younger Sunday mornings were more often than not a time reserved for family breakfasts, sticky sweet cinnamon rolls, fluffy pancakes drizzled with honey and my personal favorite thick belgium waffles. Mom would gather the ingredients and mix up the batter, dad would heat the skillet or waffle iron and cook up the globs of batter till they were fluffy and golden and my brother and I had the very important job of picking out and taste testing the toppings.

Many years and weekends of breakfast later I am still quite found of Sunday morning meals. While it’s more common to find me cooking up a batch of oatmeal these days a couple times a month when I have the time and company I love to make a starchy Sunday morning meal that harkens back to Sunday breakfasts past. This past Sunday was the perfect occasion for just such a meal as it was a Sunday to be spent visiting one of my original Sunday morning breakfast companions and the man who taught me how to properly flip pancakes, my dad.



Saturday afternoon Stephen and I packed up the car and headed to Irvine with a waffle iron and bag of premixed gluten free flours in tote. We arrived at Dad’s house in the afternoon and after settling in a bit set out for a night on the town. We had a delicious dinner at a place called Bob’s Kebab House. Dad picked out a bottle of Pinot and I ordered hummus for the three of us to share. When I told the server I had a food allergy that prevented me from eating the bread and asked if he could bring us some vegetables to dip in the hummus he replied with, “We will bring you as much bread as you want” and after I repeated my inquire he asked “you want a salad?” I politely declined the additional bread and salad and said just the plain hummus would be fine. As I suspected it was delicious, even eaten sans veggies with a spoon! For our main entrée I had the chicken kebab with saffron rice, the best part about this dish were the three dipping sauces that it came with. A red one that was spicy, a green one that tasted similar to the green chutney that they always have on the table at Indian restaurants, and a white and green speckled one that tasted like a cucumber yogurt sauce. The meal was delicious and did not make me feel sick one bit (always a concern when eating out at an unfamiliar place, especially one that offers you more bread after you mention to them you are allergic to it).

After dinner we went to see “Into the Woods” a delightful play about fairy tales put on by the talented kids at Mission Viejo High School. The play was a mishmash of familiar storybook tales slightly tweaked, twisted, and put to song. I was in heaven and very much in awe of the talented young performers. As my dad put it, their ability to put on that caliber of performance and also attend school full time was indeed incredibly impressive. It made me think back to how I spent my senior year of high school, taking mostly photography and cooking classes, working at Glamour Shots doing makeup and getting off campus as much as possible on important “yearbook photo editor tasks”. Could I have squeezed taking part in a major stage production into that schedule, maybe, but it would have dramatically cut into my thrift store shopping and Saved by the Bell watching time. After the play we headed home for some more wine, fresh cut pears, and nightcap chit chat. Then it was off to bed to rest up for our Sunday breakfast.

Sunday morning bright and relatively early we rose. I awoke to a familiar smell and sound of my childhood, that of coffee brewing and my Dad playing guitar. I made a cup of tea and went to sit in the living room and listen to my Dads latest guitar melodies. After a few songs I headed to the kitchen to start on breakfast. Today’s menu was to be chicken apple sausage and waffles with blackberry sauce.

I washed the blackberries and added them to a small pot with a splash of water and about 1 tablespoon of sugar. I let the blackberries cook on medium heat until they started to break down a bit and then turned the heat to low and let it lightly simmer for about 10 minutes. About half way though cooking the blackberries I also added about 2 tablespoons of raspberry dessert wine.



For the sausage we sliced it into bite sized pieces and pan fried it until browned on both sides.



I mixed up the flours and liquids for the batter, heated the iron, and prepared the waffles. They turned out fluffy and delicious as can be! I remember I used earth balance, buttermilk powder, honey, eggs, vanilla, and 4 or 5 different flours but unfortunately, the specifics of the recipe were misplaced somewhere in transit from one house to another. But never fear I am certain I can recreate these and as soon as I do I will be sure to share the recipe. But until then here is another scrumptious breafkast picture for you to drool over.

There is always time for breakfast

Even if you have to eat it while doing you make up, driving to work, or answering emails at the office. After a long nights sleep your body needs the proper nourishment to give it some fuel to start the day. I don’t know all the nitty gritty details but I do know that when you go a long time with out eating (like during the 6 to 8 hours you are sleeping) your body starts to slip into starvation mode which means your energy will dwindle, your brain will not be as sharp, and your metabolism goes haywire. When you finally realize at 11am that you are starving and grab the first thing you can get your hands on and gobble it down (which will probably be junky food) your body latches onto it and immediately stores it as fat because it’s worried that you will soon starve it again and therefore must retain whatever you feed it in order to survive. Breakfast is not only an important for your health, wellness and waistline but it can also be one of the most scrumptious meals of the day and by skipping it you are depriving yourself of a truly delicious morning treat.

Throughout the years my breakfast favorites have varied. When I was younger I loved hot cream of wheat with honey and golden raisins. Sometimes mom would get up early and make blueberry muffins served with honey butter and turkey sausages as an extra special treat. When I was in high school and wanting to spend my mornings sleeping as late as I possibly could I opted more for things that were quicker to prepare like Grapenuts cereal with fresh berries or toaster waffles with peanut butter and honey. In college when I was not eating much meat my favorite thing ever was morning star farms fake bacon, crumpets with butter or jam, and Kashi go lean crunch cereal. When I first stopped eating gluten I was temporarily crushed, most of my beloved breakfast foods seamed to be on the nono list. Happily though I quickly realized that there were a plethora of delicious gluten free breakfast options out there for me and I soon developed a new list of gluten free breakfast favorites.

• Arrowhead farms hot rice cereal made with vanilla rice milk and honey
• Raw buckwheat grouts, dried blueberries and cinnamon sprinkled on vanilla yogurt
• Chicken apple sausage or turkey bacon
• Gluten free granola, bananas, and blackberries over acia berry sorbet
• Homemade gluten free muffins, scones, breads, waffles and pancakes
• Cold gluten free cereals with fresh fruit
• Gluten free toaster waffles smeared with raw almond butter, honey, and dried blueberries

I quickly realized that just because I gave up the gluten did not mean that my delicious breakfast eating days were through, in fact the intolerance introduced me to a whole new array of delicious breakfast options. Without the forced change in diet I would have never thought to try something like buckwheat grouts, acia berries, or the vast assortment of gluten free flours I have found that are perfect for making baked goods with.

Throughout the years of taste, schedule, and diet changes there is one breakfast favorite of mine that has remained a constant. One delicious and nutritious breakfast dish that never grows old and that I enjoy today even more so than I did 25 some odd years ago when I first tried it and that most scrumptious breakfast treat is….

Oatmeal!

Quaker, steal cut or instant, drizzled with honey or loaded with fruit and nuts. Any way you serve it I have always loved me some oats. When I was in grade school I would make the instant ones as a snack, super sweet and warm they were the perfect treat after school on cool winter days. In college when I was working nights at the theater I would go to Keith’s Diner at 1:00am after my shift and order the oatmeal with brown sugar, nuts and milk. When I first gave up the gluten I noticed oats were on the list of foods to avoid but with an asterisk noting that technically oats were a gluten free food but could be hard to digest for the gluten intolerant and are also almost always cross contaminated due to processing. So for a year or so I was oat free (sigh) and then one day when I started working my new job in Solana Beach I found myself on a lunch break at Naked Café. I noticed they had a particularly delicious sounding oatmeal on the menu that included berries, milk and toasted almonds and decided to throw caution to the wind and try it out. It was just as delicious as I had anticipated and did not bother my tummy one bit. I soon became a regular visitor at the Naked Café and more often than not would order the oatmeal (so much so that the wonderful wait staff would put in my order for oats as soon as I came in even without me ordering it first!). For the most part I always felt fine after eating the oats, but every so often my tummy would object and remind me that this was something that I might want to not eat so often. One day while shopping at Henrys and making a once through the gluten free isle to see if they had anything new I noticed a big bag of oats labeled, “certified gluten free”. I squealed with delight at the sight of these non tummy offending oats and snatched up a bag to take home. I’ll be honest the first thing I made with the precious gluten free oats was a batch of oatmeal cookies (my favorite that I had not had in nearly 2 years!) but the second thing I made was oatmeal. Everything was yummers and did not bother my tummy in the slightest.

It’s been a year now since I found the gluten free oats and I still adore them just as much as the day I discovered them. Gluten free oats are a bit more expensive but for an oat lover like myself its well worth the extra few bucks. More often then not for breakfast these days I can be found enjoying one type of oatmeal or another. I think because there are so many different ways to prepare them my tastbuds never seem to tire of it. Here are a few of my favorite oatmeal recipes.

Chocolate strawberry oatmeal
Serves 2

When strawberries are in season these oats are a sweet and colorful treat. The cocoa powder and soymilk simmering together give these oats a hint of hot chocolaty flavor. I have always swooned for chocolate + strawberry combinations so these oats are a spring and summer time favorite of mine. I highly recommend sprinkling your chocolate chips on the oats while they are still pretty hot so the chips get super melty.

Ingredients

1 cup oats
2 cups vanilla soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 cup strawberries, cut into bite sized pieces
2 packets of splenda or 1 tablespoon agave nectar
15 or 20 chocolate chips

Making the oats

Bring the soy milk and oats to a boil then reduce heat to a low simmer and add your vanilla flavoring and cocoa powder. While the oats are cooking cut up your strawberries, place in a bowl, sprinkle with splenda or agave nectar and set aside. After 8 to 10 minutes of cooking or when most of the liquid has absorbed from the oatmeal, reduce heat to low and add the strawberries. Stir gently to combine, let sit for a minute just to heat the strawberries through a smidge and then portion oats into two bowls and top with chocolate chips.

Banana nut oats
Serves 2



This is my all time favorite way to prepare oats. Most mornings I start my day with a run and some yoga and the high protein content in this recipe helps me refuel for the day ahead. Plus they are uber delicious! All the different flavors and textures mishmash together to form the most scrumptious bowl of oats you will ever taste!

Ingredients for the oats

1 cup oats
2 cups vanilla soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon flax seeds, ground
*I buy flax seeds in bulk, grind them in the blender and store in the fridge for easy access
1 tablespoon walnuts, chopped and toasted
1 large banana or 2 small, cut into ½” thick slices

Topping ingredients

1 or 2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons raw almond butter
A splash or two of vanilla soy milk (or vanilla hemp milk if you can find it)

Preparation

Bring the oats and soy milk to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. While this is cooking slice the banana(s) and toast the nuts (in the oven or in a microwave for 60 seconds). After 5 minutes or so of cooking and while there is still some liquid left in the pot add in your vanilla, cinnamon, flax and nuts. Stir to combine and then immediately add in your banana and stir gently. Let this cook for another two or three minutes or until the bananas start to get a bit melty and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Divide the oats between two bowls, sprinkle with brown sugar, add a smidge of your milky product of choice and serve with a dollop of raw almond butter on top.

Fruity oats with cinnamon ginger infused creamy syrup
Serves 2

This is one of the first types of oatmeal I made when I discovered gluten free oats. I use to make this for dinner and serve it with a side of turkey bacon to make a complete meal. You can alter the amount of sweeteners you add to your taste and dietary requirements.

Ingredients for oats

2 cups water
1 cup oats
¼ cup dried fruit, cranberries, chopped apricots, cherries, blueberries (any combination you like!)
1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional, if you want to make it a bit sweeter)

Ingredients for the cinnamon ginger infused creamy syrup

1 ½ cups vanilla soy milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave nectar
2 cinnamon sticks
4 quarter inch thick slices of fresh, peeled ginger

Ingredients for toppings

¼ cup frozen raspberries

Preparation

Combine all of the creamy toping ingredients, cover with a lid, and heat on medium low. You want this mixture to be barley simmering, just hot enough to infuse the milk with the flavors of all the yummy mixins. While the creamy syrup is cooking bring the oats and water to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. After oats have lightly boiled for about 5 minutes add your dried fruit and brown sugar (if you are adding it) and cook until most of the liquid has absorbed from the oats. While everything is finishing up cooking microwave your raspberries until they are hot and then remove the cinnamon sticks and ginger slices from the creamy syrup. Portion the oats into two bowls, top with a generous portion of the syrup, and serve with a dollop of hot raspberries.

Baked banana oatmeal
Serves 2 (or 4 if you double it!)



Another favorite! This tastes like a combination between oatmeal cookies and banana bread. The recipe can easily be doubled to make as a treat when you have company for breakfast. Sometimes when I know I will be running short on time in the morning I will pre measure ingredients and get all the utensils and tools ready for this the night before. Then in the morning after my run I mix it all together, pop it in the oven, set the timer and then take the timer with me so the oats can cook while I get ready for work. When the timer dings I take a break and eat breakfast (or if I am really running late I portion my oats into a bowl and take it with me to eat at the office).

Ingredients

1 cup oats
2 cups vanilla soymilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon walnuts, chopped and toasted
1 large banana or two small, cut into ½” thick slices
1 or 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preparation

Combine the oats, cinnamon, baking powder and walnuts. Add to this your soymilk and vanilla. Pour this mixture into a greased or parchment paper covered baking dish. Gently top with banana slices and add a small sprinkle of cinnamon atop the bananas. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven and top with brown sugar, pop this back in the oven and broil on low for 1 or 2 minutes, just until the sugar starts to bubble a bit. Serve in bowls topped with a splash of vanilla soy milk.

Pumpkin and peanut butter oatmeal
Serves 2

These oats are great in the fall when you start to crave baked goods like pumpkin pie and peanut butter cookies. Not only does this breakfast taste like a decadent dessert but it good for you too, full of vitamin C and beta carotene from the pumpkin and protein and healthy fat from the smidge of peanut butter.

Oatmeal ingredients

1 cup oats
2 cups vanilla soy milk
¼ cup pureed pumpkin (the kind you get in a can for pumpkin pie works perfect)
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave nectar
1 tablespoon peanut butter

Topping ingredients

¼ cup vanilla or plain yogurt
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 small sprinkle of cinnamon

Preparation

Bring the oats and soymilk to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and sweetener of choice (maple syrup or agave), stir to combine and let cook for about 10 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. While this is cooking prepare the topping by mixing the yogurt, maple syrup and sprinkle of cinnamon in a small bowl and then set aside. When oats are just about done mix in the peanut butter and stir until it has all melted into the oats. Turn off the heat, portion oats into two bowls and serve with a dollop of the maple flavored yogurt on top.