Almond love

Posted: July 25, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: breakfast, Hong Kong, oats, Travels | Tags: , , , , , | 12 Comments

After a day of fun in the sun yesterday, it was time back to the normal grind…which today, was my dreaded operations management assignment.

Of course I didn’t start until I got my brain warmed up a bit with a nice hearty breakfast.

On the menu this morning: Oats

A nice big bowl topped with cooked apples and some homemade cashew butter.

I haven’t had oats in a very long time and this particular bowl was extra delicious.

I worked through the morning with a couple visits to the freezer where all the leftover 5 ingredient crispies I had made for yesterdays boat trip were hanging out.

Since I had made two batches and there was way too much food on that boat, there were quite a few leftover crispies. No worries though…just means more for me 🙂

Batch 1, I had made with cashew butter and batch 2 was made with crunchy barney butter. I love cashew, but the crunch of the almonds from the barney butter definitely gave those crispies a little extra somethin’ somthin’ which made them my instant favorite.

You know what else almonds gives a little extra somethin’ somthin’ to?

Black bean almond milk (and now that I think about it, just about everything else…)

Remember that batch of black bean milk I made about a week ago? I also blended up a black bean almond version recently, which I enjoyed even more.

I pretty much followed the same process as last time, except this time my 1/2 cup of soaked beans had been cooked for 20 mins in 2 cups of water.

After cooking them I had stored them in the refrigerator, along with the liquid, for a couple days until I decided to use them.

Black beans

Plus 1/2 cup roasted almonds & 4-6 cups of water

were placed in a blender with the strainer attachment.

(4-6 cups of water because it depends on whether you like it thick and creamy or more smooth and diluted)

2-5 mins in the blender and the black bean almond milk was ready!

Roasted almonds are key here! austiNuts has some of the best roasted almonds I’ve had and I think it’s really what gave the black bean milk its extra special taste.

I’ve got a couple other delicious almond treats up my sleeve, but that’s for another day 🙂

Any almond fans out there?

Oats…

Posted: May 15, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: breakfast, oats | Tags: | 6 Comments

I have missed you!  

It’s been so long since I’ve had hot oatmeal that I almost, (but not quite 🙂 ) forgot how good it is.  Sometimes it’s just too hot to eat a bowl of steaming oats, especially here in TX when its 90 degrees in April.  But lucky me woke up to 50 degree weather this morning and was really craving for a hot bowl of oatmeal.  And that is exactly what I had.

Bound to Hold You Over Oats

  • 1/3 cup oats
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 organic egg white
  • 2-3 spoonfuls of organic low-fat cottage cheese
Cook 1st three ingredients until two-thirds of the way done.  Than lower heat to medium-low and add in egg white and stir for about a minute and a half or until incorporated.  Lastly, lower heat to low and stir in cottage cheese until the curds appear to have melted into the oatmeal.  Top as desired.

I topped mine with blueberries, mango, raspberries, a small dollop of cashew butter, and a sprinkle of chia.  This bowl of oats was probably one of the best I’ve ever had.  I enjoyed the sweetness from my fruit and the light, but noticeable, salty-ness from the cottage cheese.

Hopefully this cooler weather sticks around so I can eat this again, but I doubt it will.  I’ll either have to eat it and sweat…or I can somehow come up with a cold version of this, which I’m already sort of doing in my mind right now.  My brains churning and I think I’ve already come up with the ‘bound to hold you over oats’ refrigerator version.

What’s your favorite way to eat oats?