Baked apple oatmel

The hubs is working early mornings again.  He's usually gone before the kids get up, which means most mornings, I'm relishing in some extra sleep too.  Yeah it's pretty sweet.  We're talking 8am some mornings, folks!  ::happy dance::  Mr. Buss is hungry in the mornings and still requires breakfast even though the Mrs. is snoozing in the back bedroom.  Our normal breakfast fare consists of eggs of some sort, maybe a smoothie, or sourdough pancakes or waffles, but you know how it is when it's early and you are rushing out the door trying to get to work on time.  Who has time to make a big breakfast?  Plus if he ran the blender and woke up my grumpy toddler, Mama might have words.  Enter....the baked oatmeal.  It's easy, fast, can be eaten cold or warm, nutritous, and makes enough to last for a few days so that Mr. Buss has something he can eat on the go.  Did I mention my kids love it too?  They both gobble it down.  Bailey calls it apple cobbler.  Sure why not.  Yes dear, you can have cobbler for breakfast.  :)

What makes it healthy?

Glad you asked.  Here are some of the highlights.  Most people think oats are healthy.  I tend to agree to an extent.  They are healthy when they are properly prepared.  Oats and grains in general are loaded with phytic acid which can block absorbtion of zinc, calcium, and iron.  They should be soaked, sprouted or soured to reduce phytic acid to help you receive all the nutrition found in grains.  This recipe calls for oats soaked in an acidic medium for 24 hours.  This helps get rid of all the nasties and helps unlock the goodness of the oats.  It is also made with a natural sweetener of choice.  I like to use real maple syrup because I like the maple flavor but raw honey would work great as well.  Both are great alternatives to highly processed white or brown sugar.  This also has a fair amount of coconut oil in it which I love.  Truly a wonder food, coconut oil does a lot for your health including lowering blood pressure, improve thyroid function, aid in weightloss, boost metabolism, fight infection, and helps absorb other minerals.  Yeah I like it a lot.  I won't go into the fruit or nut add ins, because we all know those are healthy.  Load up people! 


Now on to the recipe...

Baked apple oatmeal
Adapted from Kelly the Kitchen Kop

2.5 c oats ( I used regular rolled oats)
1 T whole wheat flour (gives phytase to help break down the phytic acid in oats)
1 3/4 c yogurt, buttermilk, kefir, or water with 2 T of liquid whey or lemon juice
1/2 c coconut oil
4 eggs
1/2 c real maple syrup or raw honey
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. sea salt (I like Redmond's Real Salt brand)
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 t. vanilla
2 c. chopped apples

Options:  any other fruit, raisins, nuts

Soak oats, flour and yogurt covered on kitchen counter for 24 hours. So you want to do this the morning before the morning you want to eat this.  The next morning, mix up remainder of ingredients and add to the oats. You may need to add some milk at this point it seems a bit dry.  It will depend a bit on the acidic medium you used in the soaking process.   Pour into 9×13 baking dish and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, depending on your desired consistency. 

This can be frozen after mixing all ingredients together.  Thaw the night before you want to serve and bake the next morning.

Sources:
Phytic Acid  
Benefits of coconut oil 

What we ate: August

You know the drill.  Good eats from August.  No special diet, just real food, simple, and really good.  This month in the garden we had zucchini, tomatoes, a few cucumbers, peppers, a little broccoli, onions, and figs.  Hope this gives you some ideas.  Anything yummy cooking in your kitchen lately?  Share in the comments below.

 Ham leftover from church, scalloped potatoes, and roasted asparagus

 This was the end of the week when food was really low.  It was kind of made up.  Some leftover rice, grass-fed beef, peppers and tomatoes from the garden, eggplant and garlic.  

 Grilled chicken, figs from the yard wrapped in bacon and zucchini from the garden.  

 Chicken piccata, sauteed zucchini (garden), and tomato and cucumber salad (garden)

 Baked fish with lemons, carrots and green beans, and fruit smoothies with chia seeds

 BLT on sourdough bread, roasted okra (farmer's market), and watermelon (farmer's market)

 Filets, mashed potatoes, and broccoli (garden) with cheese sauce

 Beef and broccoli (leftover from the steak night) over rice with fruit salad

 Again this was a made up night with leftovers when food was getting low.  Chicken flatbread melts topped with tomatoes (garden), homemade slaw, and peaches (farmer's market).

 Skillet lasagna, peas and salad

Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, pan gravy, and sauteed green beans

What we ate: July

I love the summer and all of the yummy goodies that come with it.  Most summers I'm drowning in zucchini and cucumbers, but the drought has made these two crops actually a little more manageable.  We haven't had to eat zucchini every single meal.  ;)  On a positive note, Bailey is actually eating zucchini now.  She's decided she likes that and squash now.  She's coming around folks.

So obviously this isn't everything that I've cooked for the entire month, but here are a few different meals that we've had around here.  They were all very good and things I would make again.  Enjoy!

 Pizza and breaded eggplant with homemade marinara for dipping.  The pizza crust was made with yogurt and grass-fed butter so it had lots of probiotics and vitamins K2, E, D, and A.  So yummy and both kids scarfed the eggplant.  These were just breaded with breadcrumbs but they would have been even more nutritious with blanched almond flour.  Maybe next time. 

 Ham and cheese panini, kale chips, cottage cheese and figs (from our yard).  This is what I eat when I'm by myself.  Ken and Bailey had a "date" night at dinner and a movie at our church.  Eli can not sit through a movie, which usually ends in me chasing him all night.  Needless to say, I stay at home now.  There was very little effort involved in this meal and my little guy loved it as well.

Maple grilled salmon, collard greens (from the garden), and yellow squash (farmer's market).  Our squash plants are hardly yielding anything this year.  The lack of rain hit them hard.  :(   This was our first time grilling salmon and it was great. Both kids gobbled it up.  Salmon is an excellent source of  omega 3 fatty acid, selenium, and vitamin D.  Eat your seafood!

 Sole with lemon cream sauce
new potatoes (from the garden), green beans, and buttered carrots.  Also rich in Omega-3s, selenium, and vitamin D, dover sole is a great starter fish if you don't like "fishy" tasting fish.  It's delicate and buttery and paired well with the lemon cream sauce.  Don't be afraid of cream sauce.  Cream from grass fed cows is such an excellent source of vitamins A, D, and K2, we felt good about literally licking our plates clean.  ;)

 Gyro salads.  My mom was in town this particular night and I had planned to make these ground beef gyros.  I only had 2 flatbreads left though, and I knew that wouldn't feed us, so I had to come up with some alternative.  I thought a deconstructed gyro would stretch further using the flatbreads as "croutons", and they did!  Mom and I loved this salad, and Ken thought it was good even though he's not a salad eater.  I thought they tasted just like a yummy gyro.  It was also a great way to use up lot of garden ingredients like tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions.  In addition to all the great veggies, the grass fed beef and probiotic rich yogurt sauce make it a very nutrient dense and filling meal.

Chicken fajitas. I had roasted a chicken a couple of days prior and had tons of chicken leftover.  The tomatoes, onions, and peppers from the garden were just begging me to make pico de gallo so I thought it would be a perfect time to have a mexican night.  Bailey helped me roll out homemade tortillas to hold our fajitas, and they were GREAT!  I just love Mexican and could eat it almost every night, especially with fresh salsa and garden fresh peppers and onions.  As Rachel Ray would say, YUMMO!

A Hello Kitty Party

I can hardly believe that my sweet little girl turned four this week.  When I think about how quickly these past four years have gone, it brings tears to my eyes.  Now I'll be the first to admit, I did not enjoy the first year and a half of her life.  My little baby girl could be described as clingy, grumpy, fearful and timid.  She was a horrible sleeper and didn't like to go to other people.  I was scared....scared that my kid would be one of those anti-social children that never wanted to be around other people.  I felt trapped as a parent because she was so shy and scared of other people that I had to be with her ALL THE TIME.  It was an exhausting time in my life.  Now those exhausting moments seem like a million miles away when I look at my now confident, sweet, social, and loving little girl.  She has the kindest heart, but is not afraid to stand up for herself when one of her big friends (aka teenagers in our youth group) picks on her.  She's hilarious, smart, and has an imagination out of this world.  I actually LIKE my kid and enjoy spending time with her.  The girl who would once cower when someone would talk to her, now jumps up on stage at our church and enthusiastically sings a VBS song with the other kids.  Bailey is a true joy and one of my greatest blessings from the Lord.  He has made her so special and I praise Him for his sweet design. 

This sweet little girl is a girly girl though, that knows what she wants.  She requested a Hello Kitty party this year.  We actually she originally requested a Chipmunks party and a laptop, but later decided she didn't really want that.  Oh dear.  I loved the Hello Kitty theme.  Adorable and simple.  We had a simple party with some family to celebrate our big four year old.  Here are some pictures from the party.

 Waiting for her guests to arrive.  Posing with Nana!

 "Take a picture with my doggy, Mom!"  Both smiling.  :)

 Hello Kitty favor bags:  Made my yours truly.  Inspired by these.

 Hello Kitty headbands.  Inspired by this sweet party.

 Pictures of Bailey throughout the year.  Wow she has grown so much!

 Cake table

 Watermelon on a stick.  Thanks Pinterest!

 The very delicious cake made by Cose Dolci Bakery

 The girls posing in their headbands.  Cutie pies.

 Four candles takes a lot of breath! 

 

Messy little brother

 

 Opening presents dressed in one of my old ballet recital dresses.  Ahhh memories.

 Cousins!

 Mom and me

Daddy and the birthday girl playing with toys after everyone had left.  Notice the fake smile. 

4th of July

I know this is almost a month late, but I've got a lot of blogging to catch up on, so I guess I'll start somewhere.  We were going to go to my grandparents and watch the fireworks from their living room for the 4th of July.  With the heat setting record breaking temps, I didn't really feel like dealing with the usual fare that goes along with the community fireworks.  You know:

• walking a long way to the local fireworks so we could sweat buckets of sweat 
• sitting there for hours while we waited for fireworks with cranky tired children
• my one year old freaking out because of the loud booming noise
• making the trek back to the car in the same blistering heat. 

Um...no thanks.  :)  The living room fireworks show sounded pretty sweet to me.  My grandma called me a couple of days before with bad news that their town had canceled due to the fire hazard because of the lack of rain.  BUMMER.  Now what to do?

We decided on a fun family day with just the four of us.  We ended up having the best day.

 First up:  Bailey and I made these adorable watermelon and blueberry sparkler wands .  We all loved them!

 

Bailey especially loved them.  Notice the watermelon drips on her chin.

 

No 4th of July celebration would be complete without some good eats.  My sweet hubby made some delicious baby back ribs on the grill while I made the mashed potatoes, fried zucchini (both from the garden), and deviled eggs.

 After lunch we went to our local 4th of July festival.  Like I said, it was HOT so we didn't stay long but we did stay long enough to enjoy the petting zoo, pig races, pony rides, balloon animals, and inflatables.  Bailey was so proud of herself for riding the pony.  It was her first time and she looked like a pro!

 My big girl.  The first one was much bigger, so I went with her.  We were getting trampled on by 8 year olds.  I was terrified.  For real.  lol

 

 We were HOT when we got home, so we cooled off with some homemade ice cream.  It was great!

After the sun had gone in a bit, we headed outside for a little slip n slide fun.  The kids had an absolute blast! 

 

 CHEESE!  Happy parents. Hardly any whining all day. 

To end the evening we did our bedtime routine, got the jammies on, and packed the kids and chairs into the stroller to the end of our dead end street.  We waited 5 minutes, saw an amazing fireworks display in the town next to us, and then walked 5 seconds back to our house and went to bed.  How convenient!  It really was a great day!