I Must Confess

I must confess...

that I partaked in the worst bowl of oatmeal I've ever had.

Don't be fooled by it's appearance. This was horrendous. After going with plan old fashioned oats or steel cut oats, the pre-packaged Quaker already sweetened stuff smells delicious but tastes horrid. Even the peanut butter couldn't save it. And no the peanut butter never did melt. At all.

I must confess...

That I have filled numerous camera cards with pictures of these girls. Lily is love. I also must confess that 2 dogs is a massive difference from 1 dog. A difference I do not wish to partake in for lengthy periods of time despite the cuteness.

I must confess..

That I purchased and attempted to eat beautiful looking but horribly expensive and horrible tasting grocery store salads.
All of my favorite dressing in the world couldn't save this beast.

I must confess...

That numerous spoons of glorious peanut butter were had. While away I didn't have access to my stash but for some reason really enjoyed the Kraft Creamy Peanut Butter of my childhood.

I must confess...

That I made homemade granola for the bf and while I really should read directions completely instead of just reading the ingredient list and jumping in ( read : add raisins AFTER baking ) he loved this and said it reminded him of oatmeal raisin cookie granola style.





I must confess...

It's been far too long since my last post. But puppy trumps blog :)

I am getting the hang out of managing my time and a puppy so I am hopeful I will not have to confess to crappy blogging again :)

Do you have any confessions?

-A

Whats In Your Bowl

Yesterday ended with another one of these guys.

They're not my favorite cracker. I'd rather have a Breton but at least these are some what healthy.They do taste kinda.... dusty though.

And today started with another mess of a bowl.

I'm out of oats so I figured I'd use Bob's Muesli as the main component rather than a topper like I had been using it.

How was it?

It was full of almond slices and fruit like thingsbut it had a pretty different taste than oats. I don't think I'd like a bowl of it again.

What's in your bowl? Oat bran? Old fashioned?Steel cut?

Banana Issues and Ugly Food

I have a banana issue.

No matter how much I try , I always buy the biggest bunch of bananas. There are only two of us and they never get eaten . I already have an arsenol of frozen bananas for baking ( and oatmeal :) so that's not an option .

I saw a lot of homemade granola bar recipes hanging around so I thought I'd try to make one similar to the beloved 4 dollar Pro Bar.

The recipe I used was from Smitten Kitchen I believe but I altered it so much it's unrecognizable.

1 cup of Bobs Organic Oats
1/2 cup of Bobs Museli
1/2 cup of the PC Blue Menu Granola w/ fruit and nuts
2 bananas smashed
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1/4 cup of PC Celeb calorie reduced
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tbsp of vanilla
1/4 cup of maple syrup ( thank god for my step-mother's mom . I use this stuff alot instead of sugar)
1/4 cup of organic brown sugar

Mixed it all together and baked for about 30 minutes or until the edges were brown .

And here they are .

They are good and filling which is what I wanted. I wanted my version of a homemade Clif Bar or Pro Bar. They were not as banana-y as the pro bar and nowhere near as sweet as any bar I've ever bought but they were yummy .

I will defintely tweak this recipe and make again !

All wrapped up . I am so good at cutting evenly.

*

After a less than stellar morning at school I came home and pretty much devoured this bowl.

The usual Bobs with some organic peanut butter, half of a ripe banana and the rest of my Kashi sample

As for tonight, well I know neither of these look very appetizing right now but I promise it is going to make the yummiest chicken pot pie ever!!!

What's your ugliest fav food ?

-A

Potato Pancakes and Moon Boots

The bf purchased what I have now dubbed as camo moon boots and I had to do a size comparison . Come on ! those things are huge.

I purchased less large things but still exciting. Oatmeal toppers. A bowl of mush just doesn't cut it for me so I need some crunch on top.

Today's oats, unadultered for those who have asked me if I even cook them , since I don't like creamy or liquid-y oats at all.

Cooked !

In the bowl:

Bobs oats

organic natural pb

1/4 cup of the blue menu granola.

Delicious.

Other yumminess was also had. It started with this potato.

Doesn't he look exciting??

He doesn't look too much better here either.


But he's starting to look pretty good to me here.

And even better here.

Potato Pancakes

To make 6 medium sized pancakes

1 very large potato, peeled

3 tbsp flour

1 egg

sprinkle of garlic powder

minced onion if you want ( i did not )

salt and pepper

olive oil or oil product you like , a drizzle to coat the pan

Shred the potato on the largest size on your box grater. Then take a tea towel that you don't care about. Actually I would be considered if you care deeply about any of your tea towels, but anyways, put all the grated potato in the center of the towel and fold corners in . Squeeze the water out. Throw tea towel out unless you have a use for a tea towel , with a large pink ish colored circle on it now.

Put potato in bowl , crack egg, add spices and flour. Combine.

In a hot pan , drop by spoonful and flatten with a spatula. Cook 6-8 minutes a side and place on paper towels to drain .

To store , place between paper towels in a ziplock bag and warm up in toaster oven :)

ENJOY!

-A

Random Eats

Woo. It's friday already . So here's some pics of random eats from this week.


Oats !! With glob of peanut butter and half of a delicious dark chocolate coconut kashi bar

I bought these eggs thinking they were new. Nope . Sneaky Nestle just stuck the foil wrapped eggs in a new package to trick people like me. I had the turtle one.

More Oats!! This time with 1/4 of a crumbled peanut butter crunch Clif bar and some peanut butter.



English muffins!! With some PC celeb , toasted :) Not as great as a crumpet but will do.

Popcorn !! Sprayed with some becel and salt . :D

That's all I've got . Have a great V-Day Weekend .

-A

Phoning It In

Wow , it feels like I haven't blogged in forever. I am insanely busy with boring school stuff so I'm phoning this one in .

I got a sample sized box , which I found super cute, in my mail box today. Its one of the new cereals by Kashi .
I am a big fan of Kashi's Go Lean Crunch so I was excited!



I incorporated a couple of tablespoons into my breakfast lunch , bowl of oatmeal.



In the bowl :

The usual oats
Kashi's Honey Almond Flax cereal
tbsp of organic pb

So good. The cereal is really crunchy but granoly. :)

I ate this sometime last week but I could do with a bowl of PC Organic White Cheddar Mac and Cheese. Yum. No milk in mine either. I hate soupy mac and cheese.



That's all I've got . Back to the books for me.

-A

Best I Ever Had

This week is going by pretty fast for me. Although during the day when I'm trying to get stuff done , I feel like the minutes are hours.

My lecture ended early today so I got home early enough for breakfast.

I took these two ,

And turned it into this :

In the bowl :

Bob's Oats of course

Tbsp of Organic Peanut Butter

1/2 of a crumbled Peanut Crunch Clif Bar ( i had the other half with my coffee mid-lecture)

splash of water

Coupled with a glorious mug of green tea.

Ok so it's not so much glorious as it is a tea bag with some hot water. But it's warm!

I finally tried this bar on the weekend. I have to say it is my favorite bar EVER!!!!

Unfortunately it is 4 dollars a bar!! I said to bf when I bought it , watch this will be my fav because it's 4 dollars and look what happens. He really liked it too .

So banana-y and loads of whole nuts. So fresh and yummy. It really tasted like something a family member or bakery made.

LOVED IT!

I might even say it was the best I ever had. Also I might even say that I'd like to look at mr Drake all day long

BUt keeping on topic , I'd buy it again but not for a daily bar because of the price.

Bf's birthday is on Friday. Big 2-8 ! He's not thrilled about it but I doubt I would be either. Birthday plans ( as per the birthday boy's request) are dinner with his parents tomorrow , a day off for him on Friday and hightailing it to the cottage Friday afternoon after my class.

What's your most memorable birthday celebration ?

Best gift ever ?


-A