Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast

(photo by www.noveleats.com)

Tonight I was chatting with a friend of mine who spoke of how she discovered something delicious to make for breakfast. She called it Pumpkin Oatmeal, and confessed that the reason she actually went to sleep at night was due to the prospect of eating a juicy meal in the morning.

She described that after she makes a bowl of plain oatmeal, she takes a spoonful of organic pumpkin puree and drops it over the hot grain. She then sprinkles brown sugar and cinnamon over it to seal the deal!

As the weather turns colder, trees morph into the colors of fire and, (with Halloween this weekend), jack-o-lanterns stare at me from every porch, I have been craving to bake something that has the intense spicy-sweetness of pumpkin. Except baking bread or muffins has just been out of the question with midterms this week.

Pumpkin Oatmeal will satisfy my wish to eat Autumnal food while ensuring that I will still pass my courses.

Now I'm excited to go to sleep tonight just to wake up. That doesn't say food-obsessed right?
Thanks for the recipe friend!

Vegan Diner for Activism

In Indiana there is currently a large controversy surrounding the I-69 highway that is being built. Over 400 families have or will be evicted from their homes to make way for the new construction and 7,000 acres of land will be paved over. When two Bloomington, IN residents recently received extremely large tickets while protesting the highway, their friends decided to host a vegan diner to help cushion their legal costs.

I attended the "diner" (which was held in a local house) this Saturday, and was blown away by the deliciousness of the meal!

For $5 I was given a plate of scrambled tofu, pancakes, steamed kale, seitan sausage and unlimited amounts of coffee. So inspired was I by the brunch that I acquired my very own vegan cookbook later that day: How It All Vegan, by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer.

Below is a recipe for scrambled tofu similar to the one I so loved at the diner. I assure you, nothing tastes better than vegan fare with a cause.

Vegetable Tofu Scrambler
From How It All Vegan, makes 2 or more servings.

1/2 medium onion

4-5 mushrooms, sliced

splash of olive oil

1 package firm tofu, crumbled

1-2 tsp curry powder

pepper to taste

salsa to taste

2 stalks green onions, chopped

Directions:
In a large saucepan, add the onions and mushrooms to a splash of oil and saute on medium-high heat until the onions are translucent. Crumble tofu and add to saucepan. Add curry and pepper. Saute 10-12 minutes until moisture has evaporated. Add salsa and green onions and scramble on high heat for 2-3 minutes.
Note: You could also add any other veggies!

Banana Bread

Every time I make banana bread, it is such an impromptu and spur the of moment decision. Without even thinking, when I see a banana that is way past it's prime, I shove it in the freezer. Eventually an arsenal of seemingly unusable brown bananas grow, and they are like ugly ducklings just begging to be transformed into something beautiful. And everything about banana bread is beautiful. The gentle splitting of the top of the bread as it bakes, the flecks of brown dotting the inside of the bread, and, if you add them, the luscious shine of the chocolate chips.

I found the following recipe on the blog, Smitten Kitchen. Adding a splash of bourbon was optional, and I wish that I had had some on hand to try. However, it is delicious without it. I also used 1/4 cup olive oil instead of the 1/3 cup butter the recipe called for.

Banana Bread
From the Blog, Smitten Kitchen

3-4 ripe bananas

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup light brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon bourbon, (optional)

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Pinch ground cloves

1 1/2 cups flour

2 cups chocolate chips (I added these)


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a wooden spoon, mix mashed bananas with the olive oil. Add the sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon if using. Mix well. Add the spices. Sprinkle the salt and baking soda over the mixture. Add the chocolate chips. Mix in the flour. Pour into a greased bread pan, and bake for about 50 minutes, until a wooden tester comes out clean.
Cool and devour.

Pumpkin Muffins

The Stealthy Pumpkin Muffin sits quietly, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Though there are many recipes calling for pumpkin, few are capable of leading the pack as well as the one found in the cookbook, The Food You Crave. The muffin's dark, deep brown color, usually indicative of a nut-bran muffin, camouflages its true deliciousness. But fear not food adventurer, this breakfast goodie is unique with its earthy, spicy flavor.
Indeed, like a lion stalking its prey, it will lure you into the kitchen with it's addictive aroma.

Have a wild morning!


Pumpkin Muffins
From Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave

Cooking spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned solid-packed pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat milk (+ 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar)
1/4 cup unsalted raw pumpkin seeds (optional)
Sanding sugar (optional)

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
In a small bowl, whisk the milk and the apple cider vinegar. Set aside.
Whisk together both flours, baking soda, salt and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, molasses, oil and one of the eggs until combined. Add the other egg and combine.
Alternate the flour mixture with the milk mixture, stirring each time more flour is added, until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tins about 2/3 full.
While the recipe calls for topping the muffins with pumpkin seeds, I opted for sanding sugar!
Tap the pan several times to remove air bubbles.
Bake around 20 minutes.
Serve while still warm!

Have You Had Your Granola Today?

For me, breakfast is pretty much the driving force that gets me out of bed. After fasting for about 12 hours, (aka after dinner and sleep), I am consistently famished when I wake up. It must also be said that I am a modern dancer and remain active for most of the day. Therefore, it is essential that I make a breakfast powerful enough to see me through dance class, rehearsal and onto lunch, without making me overly full. No one likes to stuff themselves into a leotard after a gut-breaking meal anyhow. 

Because Granola Medley is a compilation of items, it is extremely easy to add your own components. Try a bit of unprocessed peanut butter if you don't have any yogurt on hand, or maybe add a dash of cinnamon or flax to get some cholesterol-lowering benefits. Later on in my posts, I will share an outstanding homemade granola recipe. 

Granola Medley

serves 1

1 apple or banana, cut into chunks

small handful of your favorite granola

2 sheets of graham crackers, broken into pieces

dollop of plain, fat free greek yogurt (Fage is my favorite)

drizzle of honey

snips of fresh wheat-grass (optional)

Combine the granola, crackers, fruit and yogurt into a shallow bowl. Sprinkle on the wheat-grass. Finish with a hefty drizzle of honey. Eat. 

Because the bowl is shallow- perfect for licking!