Instant Oatmeal in a Malt-O-Meal Town

There may come a day when, after nearly 4 years, I restart this humble cooking blog, and it is this day!

Behold I bring you a budget-saving breakfast hack for the instant oatmeal purists among you! 

I grew up eating homemade oatmeal, made in such a manner that, although I have tried time after time, I cannot replicate that perfect texture with minimal gloopy-ness (yes, that's a word).  I have since come to believe the missing ingredient/technique is the childhood nostalgia of having breakfast made for you by someone else.  Because few can deny that food made by someone else usually tastes better! 

Instant oatmeal is wondrously convenient and was my mainstay in the college years. You could find me wandering the halls of Bethel University with my Goodbye Blue Monday travel mug full of Maple Brown Sugar oatmeal at any hour of the day.  My husband, on the other hand, is loyal to Cinnamon & Spice by Quaker Oatmeal, to which no generic brand can compare. And my children, loathing all foods with texture, prefer instant oatmeal to homemade any day.

With these cool Autumn mornings, hot breakfast is so warm and cozy and oatmeal is kind to the wallet.  I set out to create my own mix with variations and found inspiration from this foundation recipe. Today we are making Maple Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal Mix, and at the bottom I will share a variation for Cinnamon & Spice that passes the husband test.

Your ingredients are: rolled oats (instant, quick or old-fashioned), brown sugar, cinnamon, maple extract and vanilla extract.

 To turn this oatmeal up to "11", you can add things like chia seeds, flax meal or protein powder (I use pumpkin seed protein powder) without changing the texture or flavor.  I use 1/2 cup of each.

Begin by mixing 1 Tbsp of maple extract and 1 tsp vanilla extract with 2/3 cup to 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon, depending on your preference of sweetness. I began with 1 cup and have slowly worked down to 2/3 cup.  By mixing the sugar with the liquid, it will absorb some of the wetness and help with the flavors blending well in the final product.

I have tried making this with just maple extract, but the flavor is quickly lost.  That little bit of vanilla really makes the maple shine!

Quick note on extracts: Not all are created equal!  After lots of trial and error, I have found Beanilla Natural Maple Flavor to be the best for maple extract.  And for vanilla, La Vencedora Mexican Vanilla is the ABSOLUTE best! You won't regret it.

 Next mix in 4 cups of oatmeal, making sure to break up the clumps of sugar evenly.
*If you are using thick-rolled oats or another coarser blend, you can pulse 2 cups of the oats in a food processor to fine powder to mimic the texture of instant oats.

 Lastly stir in any mix-in's. I add 1/2 cup each of chia seeds, flax meal and pumpkin protein powder. Other great ideas include raisins, craisins and other dried fruits, nuts and seeds.

There you have it!  To enjoy, scoop 1/4 - 1/3 cup oatmeal mix with 1/2-2/3 cup hot water or milk.  Let sit a few minutes for the chia seeds to soak, and you may need to add additional liquid to thin to desired consistency.

Maple Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal Mix
2/3 - 1 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp maple extract
1 tsp vanilla
4 cup oats or 2 cups oats and 2 cups blended oats
1/2 c chia seeds
1/2 c protein powder (I use pumpkin)
1/2 c flax meal

Cinnamon & Spice Instant Oatmeal Mix
2/3 - 1 c brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 to 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
4 cups oats or 2 cups oats and 2 cups blended oats
1/2 c chia seeds
1/2 c protein powder (I use pumpkin)
1/2 c flax meal

Baked Curried Chicken

Baked Curried Chicken.

One of my favorite ways to eat chicken, and this recipe is so straightforward.  You make the sauce on the stove, which is fast.  Then pour over chicken breasts and bake.  This is also a great dish for satisfying my regular curry-craving, saving us from spending $30 at Chapati, the our favorite local Indian restaurant.  

I haven't tried making it ahead and freezing it because there are conflicting opinions about freezing coconut milk, as it can separate.  However, I believe you could make it through the final steps without adding the coconut milk and just stir it in on the day of cooking.

This recipe calls for 6 chicken breasts, but that's more than enough chicken for our household and we don't enjoy reheated chicken, so I used one pack of chicken breasts, which is 3 breasts.

Chop onion and garlic.

Melt butter and olive oil together in medium saucepan.

Sautee onions until softened, about 8 min.  

Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Measure out 2 Tbsp curry powder.

I used equal parts Garam Masala (an ingredient in curry powder) and Curry powder to make it sweeter and less spicy for the kids.

Add to onions and cook for 1 min.

  Stir frequently after adding the spices, they will become fragrant over the next few minutes.

Combine flour, salt and pepper.

Stir into onion mixture.

This will get dry and sticky fast, and that's ok.

Cook, stirring frequently for 2 minutes.

Yes, you're right, its the base of a roux!

Combine coconut milk and broth.  Pour into onion mixture, stirring quickly to prevent lumps.

Simmer to thicken, 3-4 min.

Measure 1/2 cup golden raisins.  Regular raisins would tasty, too.

I am not a raisin person.  Always wanted to be as a kid, always wanted those teeny, tiny raisin boxes, but there was still that strong raisin flavor.  Golden raisins, however, have a sweeter, milder flavor and I just love them.  I still don't eat them straight out of the box, but on salad or in dishes, very yummy!

Add raisins to sauce.

  Add chicken to 9x13 pan.

Pour sauce over chicken.

Move chicken breasts around to coat both sides.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 min.

Baked Curried Chicken Breasts
by Linda Larsen

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large saucepan, combine butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until tender, about 6-7 minutes.

Add curry powder; cook and stir for 1 minute. Then add flour, salt, and pepper; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add coconut milk and broth; bring to a simmer. Stir until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in raisins.

Place chicken in 13" x 9" pan. Pour sauce over chicken; move chicken around in the sauce so the bottom is coated.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until chicken is thoroughly cooked, 160 degrees F. on an instant read thermometer. Serve over hot cooked rice or pasta. Serves 6

Freezer Cooking Part 2: Orange Beef Stew

Now this is a funny dish, I always feel the need to put a disclaimer: this does not taste orange-ish at all.  It's delicious and has a complex seasoning, one of my favorite freezer meals from Mama and Baby Love's freezer-to-crockpot cookbook.  Our family loves this meal, and it's a great way to eat spinach.  However, it is not anything like any orange beef I've had before.

So the next step in the freezer-cooking lifestyle is to find 3 or 4 recipes like this with similar veggies and prep them all in one sitting.  Time is saved when you're in chopping mode and you'll be more efficient dicing up a whole pile of veggies in one sitting than if you prepped the meals individually.  I used to do this and then I would have days at a time where all I do is dump food in the crockpot. Skipping the late-afternoon dinner scramble for a week or so was just heavenly. 

Now my time to cook is the afternoon when the kids are napping or having down time, the length of which is unpredictable, and at this stage in life I find I can only do 1 freezer recipe to make 2 meals usually, but I still come out ahead.  

Label 2 gallon-freezer bags or comparable containers, like Glad-ware type stuff.

If you have the time to break it down, I recommend buying one chunk of meat rather than pre-cut stew meat.  Stew meat tends to be random odds and ends from other cuts of meat and often turns out dry.


The recipe calls for flank steak, but chuck roast was on sale this week at our grocery store and is generally cheaper.  It's a versatile cut of meat, and we're not steak-savvy enough these days to notice the differences in cuts for a meal like this, especially when you slow-cook it.  The grill would be a different story.

If you have a good carving knife, breaking down your own meat isn't too time-consuming.

This meat was pretty fatty, so I trimmed a lot as I went.

Divide meat evenly between bags.

Chop green onions.

When prepping for multiple meals, use your largest cutting board or have dishes available and divide into piles as you go to save time in assembly later on.

Chop onions and garlic.

Nice and organized, helps you keep track of what step you're on when making a lot of meals in one sitting.

Divide between bags.

In 2 small bowls, measure out Arrowroot flour (thickener agent), ground Coriander, Thyme, ground Cloves and sugar.

Add to bags.

Divide bay leaves and add to bags. 

Save liquids for last to prevent spills.  

Measure out soy sauce and orange juice an add to bags.

Squeeze out air pockets and seal, taking care not to crumble the bay leaves.

Lay flat in freezer for maximum stack-ability.

Then celebrate your accomplishment with some Cheerios.  You've just made 2 meals for the month in a matter of minutes.  All the work on "day of" will be dumping the bag contents into the crockpot, adding  frozen spinach and optional water chestnuts, and turning it on--not too shabby!

And serve over rice--basmati or jasmine pair well, any rice would do.

This recipe goes a long ways--we always have at least a meal's worth of leftovers, so if your household is small, you could easily divide between 3 or 4 quart bags instead of gallon bags.  That way you won't be stuck eating the leftovers for a week and never want to cook it again!

Orange Beef Stew
by Stephanie Cornais

4-5 lbs of flank steak (I use chuck roast)
8 green onions, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, mince
2 Tbsp Arrowroot flour
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp ground cloves
1 Tbsp sugar
4 bay leaves
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 cups orange juice

Add day of cooking:
2 pkgs frozen spinach
2 (8 oz) cans water chestnuts

Combine all ingredients (except spinach and water chestnuts) into 2 separate gallon-sized freezer bags or containers.  Lay flat, label and place in your freezer.

Day of cooking, place contents of 1 bag into your slow cooker and add 1 pkg spinach and 1 can water chestnuts.  Cook on low for 8 hrs or on high for 4 hrs.

Serve with rice, cous-cous, a salad or make sandwiches.

Freezer Cooking: Cranberry Chicken

Freezer cooking.

At long last we will talk about freezer cooking.  This idea transformed my approach to cooking and got me in gear on the way to homemaker-dom last year.  

Last Spring I was very pregnant, not working due to back issues and, of course, nesting in full glory. With all 3 pregnancies I've been known to mass-produce muffins, and I rarely bake them otherwise.  Being home so much last year, I finally got a household routine going with laundry, cleaning (hah) and cooking.  And now I plan my meals/grocery lists at least 2 weeks ahead.  If you had told me I would be that mentally-organized 2 years prior, I would have laughed.  As preposterous as the idea of me starting a cooking blog someday!

So there are different approaches to freezer-cooking.  Many regular hotdishes and casseroles can just be doubled, so you can make one/freeze one.  There is a movement around the idea of cooking once a month, usually cooking 2 batches of each recipe and having a 2 week menu you repeat. Once A Month Mom has menus and recipes for many different diets and menu needs, and it is completely overwhelming to me to think of planning for a month.  [Maybe in 2 more years...]  Their website is amazing, an icredible resource.  However, they recently began paid memberships to access their database.  These menus usually involve cooking the food completely in 1 big cooking day, then freezing and reheating later.  You will find freezer-cooking recipes all over the Interwebs, though, so I wouldn't recommend joining their site until you've tried freezer-cooking and want to make it a lifestyle.  

At the other end of the spectrum is a site I love and use frequently: Mama and Baby Love.  The "Mama" is Stephanie Cornais who adapted several of her favorite recipes into meals that can be prepped and frozen while still raw, then dumped into a slow-cooker day of.  Now that is convenient.  She also writes the recipes to make 2 meals' worth, so the method is chopping up everything and dividing between 2 gallon freezer bags or comparable containers.  I have her ecookbook and there are several good recipes in it, however some of them call for expensive ingredients like lamb and duck, so they are not always cheaper even when you're cooking in bulk.  

The downside to slow-cooking is mushy vegetables and thin sauces, so I don't cook that way 100% of the time.  But there is an amazing feeling to dump a bag in a slow-cooker at 10am and then when late afternoon comes, there is no dinner scramble.  Except to sometimes make rice or noodles.  So this method is great for quick weeknight meals when you want more variety in your rotation.

Some other great sites are Six Sisters Stuff, 30 Meals in One Day, and Tammy's Recipes, the last one being especially simple and budget-friendly.  And if this is something you begin to get excited about, Google and Pinterest will guide way.

When I know I'm going to be using the slow-cooker, I use bone-in chicken instead of boneless breasts.

White meat tends to dry out in my crockpot, but the dark meat does well.

Label and date 2 gallon-sized freezer bags or equivalent containers.

Order of ingredients is not strict in freezer cooking, 

except that I recommend adding liquids last, because it's less messy.

We'll begin with slicing the apples.

Add to bag.

Chop onions.

We recently acquired an immersion blender for making soups,

and to my joy, it came with a small bowl/blade attachment to make a small food processor.

So there were no tears shed over these onions.

And they were done in 3 pulses--heck yeah!

Slice lemons.

Removing sticker is optional.

 

 Instant tapioca is a great thickener.

Crockpots lend to runny sauces because the steam never escapes and so there is no reduction. 

Adding a thickener definitely helps.

Add chicken.

Ahh, lovely cranberry sauce.

Such an appetizing shape.

And not pictured, add honey.

Squish ingredients together to get out as much air as possible.

Also, whatever liquid or sauce you add will fill in the gaps, so move it around as you can.

Lay flat in freezer and you will be able to stack them and save space.

Ahh, the crockpot.
Doesn't look like much, but its tasty!

It's in the nature of a slow-cooker to cook things "to death" if you're not mindful.
I have a regular slow-cooker cookbook and it has cooking times of 10-12 hours on many recipes.
Now that's just not necessary: on low, 5-7 hrs for chicken from frozen, 6-8 hrs for beef from frozen.

Serve over rice, I recommend Jasmine rice.

Once you go Jasmine, you'll never go short-grain again.

Not gonna lie, this is not the most amazing chicken dish I've ever made, but it is pretty dang good, especially for a weeknight.  And so easy, because so little prep and thought goes into it, and that time and mental energy is precious!

Cranberry Chicken

by Stephanie Cornais

3 med apples, cut into wedges

2 med onions, chopped

Juice of 2 lemons

2 Tbsp quick cooking tapioca

4 lb chicken breasts/thighs/legs, cut-up or whole

2 can cranberry sauce

2 Tbsp honey

Divide ingredients equally between 2 gallon freezer bags.  Label and lay flat in freezer.
Day of cooking, dump contents of bag into slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hrs and low for 6 hrs.
Serve over rice.