So I decided to use my unsuspecting extended family over Easter weekend as guinea pigs and I whipped up an idea I had for a few weeks. Thankfully Mom was here to make some suggestions. The result was a hit and I’ll be eating the leftovers for lunch over the next few days. :)

There is one teeny tiny problem and you may have guessed it if you’ve been reading my blog for some time. Whenever I tack on the word "Idea" to a title that means I didn’t really measure anything. I tried. I really did but making this for the very first time I just had to go with it.

I still like to share these "Ideas" and I hope they give you some of your own. I will be making this again soon and I’ll be jotting down a few notes to give you more specifics. In the mean time all you experimenters out there have fun. :)

This is what I did with as much details as I can provide…

• 1 20oz package of lean ground turkey
• 1 cup Old Fashion Oats
• 1 egg
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch of fresh ginger root (preferably frozen so you can grate)
• 1 8oz can of crushed pineapple
• 1 15oz can of chicken broth
• About 5 dried apricots
• Honey (I used about 1 tbsp but went by taste)
• Molasses (I used about 1 tbsp but went by taste)
• 1 sweet bell pepper chopped (I used a mix of red and orange)
• 1 red onion chopped

Preheat the broiler.

Add the turkey, oatmeal, and egg in a large bowl. Grate in 1 clove of the garlic and 1/2 of the ginger. Combine together with your hands and form the meatballs. Try to keep them on the small side.

Brown the meatballs on a cookie sheet under the broiler.

While the meatballs are in the oven, add the remaining clove of garlic and ginger root, the pineapple, chicken broth, honey and molasses to the blender. Blend on high until smooth.

By this time the meatballs should be brown. Add them to the crockpot, along with the onion, peppers and pineapple mixture. I cooked on high for about 4 hours and then lowered low until we were ready to eat, about 2 more hours. I think they were down after 3. At least that’s when I tried them. :)

I served this over rice for a dinner but we’ll be eating them straight up for the shower.

What I’ll do different next time…

• Measure, of course! That way I can do nutritional info
• Add more garlic. I’m thinking at least 2 cloves in the meatballs and 2 in the "gravy".

Any other ideas? Anyone make anything similar?

To my dismay as I pulled dinner out of the oven he took one look and declared, "I don’t like those."

To which I said, "You don’t even know what they are?"

"What are they?"

"Fish sticks."

"I don’t like fish sticks."

"How do you know, you haven’t tried them yet."

"I don’t like them."

sigh…. kids.

He took a bite making a face before he even started to chew. I’m not a forcer so after he tried one bite I dropped it. But MAN I was disappointed.

However, I LOVED them. Seriously, I could eat these every night for dinner and yes, I dipped mine in ketchup. :)

Oh! and hubby liked them too!

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (40g)
• 1/2 cup wheat bran (30g)
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tbsp onion powder
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tbsp molasses (21g)
• A pound of salmon skinless salmon fillets
• Non-stick cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Line a cookie sheet and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Pulse rolled oats, bran, parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper in the blender to make the "breading."

Whisk the egg whites and molasses together.

Cut the fillet into slices resembling "fingers" as shown. About 4 per fillet.

Coat the cut salmon in the molasses egg white mixture. One by one dip and coat the salmon in the breading and place on the cookie sheet.

Once finished spray the tops with a bit more non-stick cooking spray.

Bake for about 10 minutes flipping once.

Here’s a little before and after cooking.

I served with some brown rice, quick sugar snap peas, and butternut squash fries.

This is one of those "why-didn’t-I-think-of-this-before" ideas. I’m a big fan of light chocolate soy milk. It has a strikingly similar nutritional profile as regular old skim milk only better because it has CHOCOLATE in it. :)

I’ve been using it in my grapenuts for some time now. Which is especially yummy with sliced banana or blueberries or both! That has taken over as my favorite breakfast. But this morning being out of fresh fruit I decided to go the warm route. And this was fantastic.

• 5 oz light chocolate milk
• 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats (40g)
• 1/2 oz almonds (I used the chocolate kind (Cocoa Roast Almonds)
  – My favorite!)

Put the milk and oatmeal in a small pot and bring to a boil while stirring. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until desired thickness. For me it was about 2-3 minutes.

Pour in bowl and top with almonds!

The idea was to make a light meal. What I call a summer "steak" using fresh veggies and extra lean ground turkey. I had some Swiss Chard from a recent farmers market trip but you can easily swap it for some fresh spinach. This was my first bunch of chard and I’m liking it. It’s a hardy green that has a BUNCH of health benefits. I’m just happy I got my family to eat it as I know they would never go for it straight up.

It was a success! well… sort of. The toddler declared he didn’t like "the chicken" but he ate it without much argument. The husband also ate it without any complaints. I’m not sure it was what he expected when he asked for a meat and potato meal but it passed. :)

The Garden Turkey Steaks.

• 1 small zucchini diced small
• 40g of swiss chard (it was about large 3 leaves) chopped small
• 1/2 of a small onion diced
• 1 glove garlic diced
• 1 egg
• 12 oz extra lean ground turkey
• 1/2 cup (40g) old fashioned oatmeal
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp dried cilantro
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• Kosher Salt and pepper

The Gravy

• about 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 1 tbsp whole wheat flour +
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp dried cilantro
• 1/4 tsp thyme

Hand mix all the Turkey Steak Ingredients together and form 4 large patties. You could make 6 smaller ones but I didn’t have the pan space.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Once the pan is hot add the patties and cook 4-5 minutes a side until brown.

While the patties are cooking whisk together the gravy ingredients. Remove the patties from the pan and deglaze with the gravy mixture. Bring to a boil. If it’s not thick enough whisk in a bit more flour. Lower to a simmer and add back the patties. Cook for an additional 10 minutes flipping once to coat the ’steaks’.

I served with my mashed potatoes and a side of broccoli. Leftovers are packed for lunch tomorrow! :)

I think this version is actually better. It has less ingredients (compared to the packet), it’s cheaper (you can now use the oatmeal in bulk,) it’s not as sweet and I just love being independent of products. :)

As you can see the toddler loved it and he’s in rare form in the video. He’s becoming VERY vocally expressive. Not that he wasn’t always but he just seems to have so much more to say these last few weeks. I tried to keep it short but you’ll see, he tends to distract me a bit. If you do decide to watch it you’ll have to stay to the end, he does another one of his secret taste tests again (like he did with the tabasco in the the Tortilla Soup Video-A YEAR ago!)

Scroll below the video for the recipe.

• 1/2 cup (40g) Old Fashioned Oats
• 6oz water
• 1 packet sweetener (I used Truvia)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Put the oats, water, sweetener and cinnamon in a small pot over medium high heat. Cook and stir until water is absorbed. About 5 minutes.

Mix the cooked oatmeal with applesauce.

Sprinkle a bit more cinnamon on top for effect.

EAT! :)

Then I remembered the Berry Oatmeal Cups and asked the toddler if he wanted to make muffins. Of course he said "Yes!" And so did Irish. :) Notice someone is getting camera shy.

So we (toddler and I) really did LOVE these. I didn’t even bother asking the husband. He doesn’t even like "regular" muffins and I’m not even sure he’s ever even eaten oatmeal. His reaction would have been the standard, "I don’t like it but I can see why others would." And I just didn’t want to deal this morning. As I say… more for us!

• 3 mashed bananas (the more ripe the better!)
• 1 cup vanilla Almond milk (you could use skim but you may want to add a little sweetener)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp Baking powder
• 3 cups (240g) Old Fashion or Rolled Oats
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp (42g) mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix all ingredients except the chocolate chips together, and let sit while you prepare the muffin pans.

Spray a muffin pan and/or liners with with non-stick spray.

Stir the chocolate chips into the oatmeal batter.

Divide batter into 15 muffin cups. They should be just about filled.

Bake 20-30 minutes, you’ll see the edges just starting to brown and they will be firm to the touch.

The muffins may stick when hot but are removed easily when cooled for a bit.

Nutritionally, instant, rolled and even steel cut oats are identical. However the less the oats are processed the lower the glycemic index, which means they absorb slower into your bloodstream. A lot of people recommend steel cut oats and I get it, I really do. I’m just not there YET. :) Consider this my graduation from instant to rolled. Maybe by the end of the year I’ll take to the leap to Steal Cut. Remember… it’s a journey. :)

I did make this for myself and the toddler declared he didn’t like it on sight alone. I then got him to try a bite and he said it was good so I’ll give this the toddler approved mark but I’m not quite sure I’d get him to eat a whole serving yet.

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup (40g) Old Fashioned (Rolled) Oats
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4-1/2 tsp stevia based on taste (equivalent in sweetener of your choice)
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries (about 75g)

Bring water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Add the oats, cinnamon and stevia. Reduce to medium heat and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the frozen blueberries. Raise the heat back to high and bring to a boil (about another minute cooking time) while stirring to defrost the blueberries.

Remove from heat and serve!

• 1 cup whole wheat white flour (120g)
• 1 cup old fashioned oats (80g)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup raw sugar (105g)
• 1 tbsp molasses (20g)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 oz fat free cream cheese
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (30g)
• 1/3 raisins or dried fruit chopped (I used a combo of cherries & blueberries)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Place the sugar, butter, molasses and cream cheese in a bowl and beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg beat again until blended finishing the wet ingredients.

Gradually add the flour/oats mixture to the wet ingredients, beating at low speed just until combined. Once all the dry ingredients are incorporated stir in walnuts and dried fruit. Click here to watch a video of the toddler and I making a similar cookie.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. The dough will be sticky, try to flatten a bit as the dough will not melt as much as traditional cookies. Makes 36 cookies (3 dozen).

Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool on the cookie sheet for about 2 minutes before enjoying the warm cookie! :)

To make more festive or involve the kids more, add sprinkles to the top just before baking!

I can’t lie I love these cookies. I’ve made a few batches getting things just right and MAN they are awesome right out of the oven. I’m a warm cookie gal all the way. Give me a gooey chocolate cookie out of the oven and I’m in heaven and these cookies TOTALLY hit the spot.

Anyway, I was so excited about them the toddler and I made a batch for this weeks video. Baking with him is one of my absolute favorite things to do and when he’s taste testing whole wheat and oatmeal cookie dough I think it makes it all the better. :)

Here’s the video… recipe to follow…

The Recipe

• 1 cup whole wheat white flour (120g)
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa (20g)
• 1 cup old fashioned oats (80g) (ground or unground your choice)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup raw sugar
• 1 tbsp molasses (20g)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 oz fat free cream cheese
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (30g)
• 1/4 cup 56g mini chips

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine flour, cocoa, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Place the sugar, butter and cream cheese in a bowl and beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg beat again until blended finishing the wet ingredients.

Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, beating at low speed just until combined. It will be REALLY thick. Once all the dry ingredients are incorporated stir in walnuts and chocolate chips as best you can.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets sprayed with non-stick cooking spray or lined with parchment paper. The dough will be sticky, try to flatten a bit as the dough will not melt as much as traditional chocolate chip cookies. Makes at least 36 cookies (3 dozen).

Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool for about 2 minutes before enjoying the warm cookie! :)

To make more festive or involve the kids more, add sprinkles just before baking!

Tonight, I went with our good old friend oatmeal and paired it with flax seeds. I’ve been reading all the great health benefits and I love the nutty flavor so I thought, why not! I did a crazy spice mixture but you can add your favorites. I was going for a seasonal fish spice mix and i have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised at the result.

As for the family, I served it to husband and toddler without saying a word. I wanted to watch their reaction. They chomped away not even asking if it was a new recipe. I tried so hard not to ask the husband what he thought, but I literally could not help myself. Once his plate was empty I was like… "So?? Did you like it?" To which he responded… "yeah it was good. Why?" I should have left it alone considering his plate was empty. :~P Toddler ate most of one fillet as well! Of course.. he called it chicken! Because "it’s all just chicken to him". LMAO

• 1/2 cup oatmeal (40g)
• 2 tbsp whole flaxseeds (20g)
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (10g)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp celery salt
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• Pinch of Kosher salt and pepper
• 1 pound of tilapia fillets (16oz about 4-6 fillets)

Preheat the broiler

Combine all ingredients except tilapia in a blender or food processor to make the breading.

Season the fish with salt & pepper. Dip the fillets in breading to coat. The fish is normally moist enough for the breading to stick without the use of egg.

Spray a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil with non-stick cooking spray, Place fillets on sheet and spray tops with non-stick cooking spray.

Broil the fish for about 3-4 minutes a side.

The picture above shows how much of the breading I had leftover.

I served with a side of broccoli and Delicata Steak Fries (the husband had leftover mashed potatoes). The nutritional information in my estimate per fillet as you could use the breading to coat more, or less fish.

The toddler and I cleaned our traditional morning Pomegranate (we do it at least once a week) and the idea smacked me in the face! Why not top some berry flavored oatmeal with theses!

So glad I did! SO YUMMY and it didn’t need any sweeteners! NOTHING! I may have to rethink the oatmeal contest now. What do you guys think? This or the Trail Blazin’ Oats? Which one should I enter? Of course if I go with this I’ll have to up the oatmeal to 3/4 of a cup, but that’s cool. It would still work.

Ohh Decisions! I hate decisions. I REALLY want to win. LOL

• 1/2 cup (40g) Quick Oats
• 6 oz boiling water
• 1 berry flavored Green Tea Bag (see image below)
• 1 oz (28g) of pomegranate seeds
• About a tsp of fresh orange peel
• 3-4 fresh mint leaves chopped

Seep the tea bag in boiling water for 2 minutes. You can do this directly in the bowl if you like. Remove the tea bag. Be sure to squeeze extra water out before discarding.

Add the oatmeal to the bowl. Stir and let it sit for a few minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

Top the oatmeal with the seeds, orange peel and mint.

ENJOY!

Simple, right?

This recipe was made exclusively for Quaker. They extended a contest for a few bloggers that were invited to a Quaker weekend in Chicago. I learned so much about oatmeal and nutrition overall. It was SO much fun. I’m planning a whole post about oatmeal soon but first I had to make something up for the contest.

Our mission…

Create and submit an original flavoring for a bowl of oatmeal. Recipe must use a minimum of ¾ cup uncooked Quaker Oats (1 ½ cups cooked); Oats used in recipe must be whole (not ground into flour). Recipe can contain no more than 10 ingredients (excluding water).

Nutritionally the recipe must meet the following nutrition criteria:

• Less than 400 calories per serving
• Less than 1g saturated fat per serving
• Less than 12g added sugar per serving
• Less than 20 mg of cholesterol per serving
• Less than 480 mg of sodium per serving
• At least 3g of fiber (oat soluble fiber)

My idea… a quick bowl of goodness using easy to stock pantry items. I had an idea to use Green Tea as a base after hearing all the wonderful health benefits it contains. I also wanted to start including more almonds in my diets for the same reason.

So I present to you my Green Tea Oatmeal with Dried Fruit and Slivered Almonds! (Can you tell I’m proud of this one? ;~P)

I’d probably use a bit tiny bit more honey for myself, but I had a sugar requirement to worry about. Which, by the way, is fun to consider while experimenting. I love a challenge!

• 8 oz of boiling water
• 1 green tea bag (honey flavor or your favorite would be GREAT! too!)
• 3/4 cups Quick Oats (60g)
• 1 large (or 2 small) dried apricot (8g)
• About 1 tbsp dried berries (cherry, cranberry, blueberry mix works great!) (8g)
• About 1 tbsp slivered almonds (1/4 oz) (7g)
• 1 tsp almond extract
• drizzle of honey (3g)

Seep green tea bag in boiling water for 2 minutes. You can do this directly in the bowl if you like. Remove the tea bag. Be sure to squeezing extra water out before discarding.

Add the oatmeal to the bowl. Stir and let it sit for a few minutes while preparing the rest of the ingredients. (note: If the tea cooled too much before adding oatmeal, throw the bowl into the microwave for 1 minute. I purposely reduced the amount of water used to create a thicker oatmeal "experience". When was the last time you have watery trail mix? ;~P)

Dice the apricot, and berries (if large chunks.) Mix the berries with the slivered almonds. Set aside.

Mix the almond extract into now cooked oatmeal. Top with the fruit almond mixture.

Drizzle with honey. Tip: To measure, place bowl on a scale, zero out and drizzle right from honey jar until scale reads 3g. Do it slow to create thin lines of honey on top of everything.

My Nutrition stats, according to NutritionData.com

• Less than 400 calories per serving – CHECK! 317
• Less than 1g saturated fat per serving – CHECK! 1g — waiting on Quaker to approve
• Less than 12g added sugar per serving – CHECK! 11g
• Less than 20 mg of cholesterol per serving – CHECK! 0mg
• Less than 480 mg of sodium per serving – CHECK! 27mg
• At least 3g of fiber (oat soluble fiber) – CHECK 7g of total Fiber

So? What do you think? What’s my chances for winning? Feedback? Suggestions? I’d LOVE to hear them!

Note: I originally planned on making this with 1/2 cup of oats until I saw the rules. That would change the NI, of course. For those interested, cut the water back to 5-6oz. Make the same as above. One bowl would be 241 calories, 7g of fat and 5g of fiber. It shaves a point and a half off and is still just as filling! :~)