The Breakfast Files | Healthy Apple Pie Oatmeal

The night the hospital nurse told me I could finally eat solid food again in the morning, I literally dreamed about oatmeal. I'm a silly girl, but to me, a heathfully loaded bowl of oats is the perfect, if not craveable, way to start the day. Of course, the oatmeal they brought me in the morning was worthy of only nightmares, but as soon as I came home, my mother made me some oatmeal just the way I like it. Even my no-hot-cereal-eating husband loves this healthy version of oatmeal! "It tasts like apple pie!" His words, not mine. Though I whole-heartedly agree.

The trick to this recipe is cooking the oats with apple in milk instead of water.

I N G R E D I E N T S   F O R   O N E   S E R V I N G :

• 1 Cup of Old Fashioned Oats
• 1 small apple, chopped (I used Gala)
• Cinnamon to taste (I just used probably 1/16 of a teaspoon)
• 3/4 Cup of milk (I used skim, not non dairy milk should work too!)
• Honey to taste

• optional: apple slice for garnish (and eating, of course!)

M E T H O D :

Combine all ingredients except for the honey in a small sauce pan, cooking on low temperature for 5-10 minutes, or until oats get a little mushy. Be sure to stir frequently so the milk doesn't burn and the oats don't stick to the pan. When finished cooking, I usually leave the lid on the pan for a few minutes so everything softens up a tiny bit more.

Pour into your bowl of choice, top with the apple-slice garnish, and drizzle with honey. You'll love the dimension that the cooked apples and cinnamon give to the oats, and I promise, when adding honey to the cooked apples, you won't even miss the sugar!

The Lunch Files | Curried Veggie Burger Pita

I'm headed into my second trimester of pregnancy this week (woo hoo!), and I've been ecstatic to find my normal appetite returning. Two weeks ago I made a mild curry dish, hoping the carrots, rice and potatoes would be subtle enough for me to actually stomach- but no dice. So now that I can stand to smell yummy food again, I thought I'd give curry another go! This time in the form of a veggie patty.

I have tried this veggie patty recipe before, but attempted to blend the ingredients in a blender. Big mistake. The second time around worked much better, but I think I might've blended it too well, because the batter sort of turned into paste. Still, I cooked up some patties and found that they kept their shape better when reheated the next day. Such a yummy, satisfying lunch. And not too shabby in the health department, either!

M Y   C U R R I E D   V E G G I E   B U R G E R   P I T A   I N C L U D E S :

• Arnold's 8 grain Pocket Thin
• hummus (spread on inside top and bottom of pita)
• green lettuce
• spinach
• thinly sliced tomato (two slices)
• thinly sliced onion (I used all the parts of one slice)
• veggie patty (recipe via Veggie Num Num)
• 2 dill pickle spears on the side

Pantry Purging Meals: Beef & Pepper Stir Fry

They say the more time between grocery shopping trips, the less money spent on groceries. Sounds good to me! It's about that time again, so I thought it might be fun to start sharing with you the meals I create with leftover ingredients. To start, I peeked into my fridge and pantry and here's what I found:

• 4 peppers I had meant to eat earlier in the week for a snack. Better use 'em up before they turn to mush!
• a variety of possible sauce ingredients
• brown rice
• beef broth

Looks like stir fry is on the menu! I grabbed a couple of beef steaks to add to the mix, and got cracking. Here's how I threw together this easy meal.

I N G R E D I E N T S:

1 lb of beef (you could substitute broccoli and/or tofu)
2 red peppers
2 yellow or green pepeprs
2 C rice
4 C water 

Sauce:
1/2 C beef broth (or any broth)
2/3 C soy sauce
1/4 C water
2 T sesame oil
2 T red wine vinegar
3 T sugar
1 t crushed red pepper
4 cloves (minced) garlic
2 T flour

D I R E C T I O N S :

Prep: Begin cooking your rice (using 2 C rice and 4 C water). Combine all sauce ingredients (except for garlic and flour) into a bowl and set aside. Chop meat and vegetables into small pieces and mince garlic. Make a roux (or thickening agent) by combining 2 T flour and about 3 T water.

Create: Saute meat in an oiled wok (or large frying pan) on high heat. After meat has browned, reduce heat to low and add minced garlic, stirring for about 30 seconds. Now add the sauce and bring to a simmer while in another frying pan, fry the vegetables in oil on medium/high heat for about five minutes or until tender crisp. Now add the roux to the meat and sauce, stirring until thickened. Add the sauted peppers to the mix, and serve over a generous portion of rice.

Voila! A very yummy, unplanned meal to round out the week before another trip to the store. I'm a happy girl, and my belly is full.

PINTEREST FAVORITES | Savory Side Dishes

I was just having a conversation with friends today about Pinterest pounds. It's this new thing going around, much like the freshman fifteen, only the number is up to the discretino of each Pinterest user. For me? It all depends upon my refrigerator's stock of Fontina cheese. That gnocchi and cheese is killer. Seriously killer. Check out these other side dish ideas (found via Pinterest) that I can no longer live without.

• Moroccan Roasted Cauliflower from Snail's View
• Baked Parmesan Tomatoes from Eating Well
• Absurdly Addictive Asparagus from Food 52
• Savory Gnocchi and Cheese from The Cutting Edge of Ordinary