Oatmeal & Smoothies: A Quick Meal for a Hot Night

This one is a simple quick one folks, but fairly nutritious, or so I tell myself, and little cooking needed for a HOT HOT night.

I spend a lot of money on the fruits on sale at the grocery store and at the local market. I was blessed to have a son who, usually, loves most veggies and loves his fruit even more. So, I buy a wide array each week and let him pick what he'd like to eat throughout the rest of the week. This, of course, leads to lots left over which is fine with me since I then freeze them and use them for several different uses later. My favorite use, SMOOTHIES!

I'm referring to this recipe as a hodge podge smoothie because you can literally put in whatever you want. From fresh or frozen fruits to fresh or frozen veggies. Accompanied by anything from fruit juice (of any flavor) to milk to yogurt to frozen yogurt to ice cream. Almost anything goes!!! Great right! The only thing I would say, if you have no frozen fruit I'd try to add ice cream or frozen yogurt for that cold creamy factor. At the very least, throw in some ice cubes! I'll give you approximately what I put in this one but, seriously, the sky is the limit! Have fun with this one!

Hodge Podge Smoothies

I mixed this all in my tall Magic Bullet cup with the cross blade attachment but any blender would work fine. It's just a convenient size so I don't make too much.

Asst. Frozen fruit filled to top of cup (roughly 2 cups worth)
              Watermelon Chunks, Cantaloupe Chunks, and Mixed Berries including strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries
1/2 a fresh banana (sliced) - leftover from oatmeal to follow
Orange Carrot Juice (about 1/2 the bullet cup - approximately 3/4-1 cup)
A few splashes milk (for added creaminess and to thin out to a drinkable consistency)

Once you have all this in the cup or blender, just blend until everything is smooth.

I know I didn't use any veggies in this one but I have before and I promise you, it's delicious!! Try carrots or spinach or avocado is delicious and adds creaminess. You can also add things like almonds or nuts for protein and energy or seed such as flax seeds. I also found out that some fresh pieces of peeled ginger are delicious blended into the mix! SO good and GOOD FOR YOU!

Cinnamon Banana Honey Oatmeal

This is another simple one! I used instant (the 5 min or 10 min cooking stuff in the canister) but I'm sure you could do it with the regular oatmeal too.

Measure out the ingredients for the portion you'd like as directed on the back of the canister using the milk version. Now, here's the trick for extra special oatmeal. When bringing the milk to a boil, add a good sprinkle of cinnamon. Follow directions as usual. When finished, I always cook mine a little longer than directed to dry it out a little and then I add extra fresh milk once it is in the bowl (just as you would any other cereal). I think it tends to make it a little creamier. Slice banana 1/2 to 1 banana and drizzle with a healthy amount of honey. I used a local honey from a neighbor bee keeper. This is such an easy and YUMMY meal!

ENJOY!!

Tried and True and Tweeked a Bit: Chicken Fried Rice

Growing up, my family was mainly a meat and potatoes kind of family given that we had strong roots in a Pennsylvania Dutch heritage. We didn't eat much, if any, ethnically diverse meals. No Mexican or Indian or French. A little spaghetti here and there, but you don't have to be Italian to enjoy a big bowl of pasta smothered in sauce and, being married to an Italian now, I know we didn't truly know how to make spaghetti as Italians do. Our meals were very undiverse, with one exception to this rule which was the homemade Chinese stir-fried rice we had as a side, usually to our own version of sausage sandwiches which were completely PA Dutch. A country style sausage butterflied open served on a potato roll accompanied by American cheese, sauteed onions and peppers and ketchup. Talk about a confused meal. But I grew veryattached to it and that meal, as a whole, has become a comfort meal to me no matter how strange it sounds.

As a young teenager, I remember being home from school one summer day and wanting to make myself real food. Wanting something other than sandwiches or mac n cheese from a box or soup from a can or pizza from the freezer. So I started searching through my Mom's recipe box and stumbled upon this recipe. So, to my best recollection, this is the first recipe I really made by myself, with no adults within ear shot. Yet another reason it may have become so near and dear to my heart. Now, I've made this recipe over and over and have had it memorized for years. My Mom even thinks I make it better than her. At some point, I decided that I wanted to make it a main dish and started adding whatever protein I had in my fridge and using up any, and all, veggies that were sitting around. So here it is, a recipe that I adore not only for its flavors but it's versatility! This recipe is TRULY a part of my heart that I share with you! Hope you enjoy it!

Fried Rice Basic Recipe
From the recipe box of MY MOM!

1 c. water
1 1/3 c. Minute® Rice
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 c. chopped onion
1/3 c. water
3 - 4 Tbsp. soy sauce, I prefer La Choy®

Bring 1 c. water to a boil in small saucepan. Stir in rice, remove from heat and cover. Let stand at least 5 min., untouched, until water is absorbed.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large saute pan. Add eggs and cook until just set. Add onions and continue to saute until desired doneness. Add rice. You may need to add a touch more butter if the pan is very dry.

Mix water and soy sauce (I usually mix it right in the measuring cup) and then pour over the rice making sure to mix well to distribute the soy sauce mixture.

My Additions:
Any protein (I prefer chicken) cut into very small pieces
Any Veggies cut to a small dice or julienned

Start by following the same directions as above with the rice. Instead of going to the eggs next, I first cook all my veggies and protein. I prefer to work in batches and, when making this amount, I use a large pot instead of saute pan because the veggies do really stretch a buck and make the yield huge! I usually start by sauteing mushrooms, adding onions, peppers, julienned carrots and, in this case, asparagus. Literally, whatever is sitting in my fridge. I then move them to a plate or bowl and keep warm. Try to be sensitive to the cooking time of each veggie or the desired doneness you'd like. If you are new to cooking and aren't sure what cooks longer than others, cook each veggie solo and just continue to add to your bowl and keep warm.  I then saute my protein. After the protein is fully cooked and has joined the veggies in the bowl, continue following the recipe. After your eggs are cooked, rice added, and diluted soy sauce distributed throughout, added your bowl mixture back in. This is when I would add peas, if using them, since it literally takes a few minutes for them to heat through. When I was younger, I'd add a few more glugs of soy sauce from the bottle so you may want to keep the soy sauce bottle close to the table so you can adjust to your own taste.

ENJOY!