Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Hungry Morning

OATMEAL WITH APPLE AND PECANS*

1/3 cup (dry) steel-cut oats (pellet-type grains, not flakes like regular oatmeal, which should cook less time)
1 cup water
1 apple, chopped finely or coarsely
a dozen pecan halves, toasted
dash of salt
sprinkling of cardamom

*This is just today's version--there are many variations, including with regular oats, or quick, if you like those (I don't)

Put oats and water together in a saucepan and bring to a boil, turning down to a simmer, then adding chopped apple according to how "done" you like it. Add salt and cardamom. Toast the pecan halves on a foil-lined tray in the toaster oven, on lightest setting, then stir and toast them again. (Or do it in a dry skillet if you prefer.) Break up the nuts with your fingers as you scatter them across the top of the oatmeal.

Verdict--Excellent. I really wanted this this morning, after a light day yesterday.

SKINNY SPINACH OMELETTE

1/4 onion, chopped
clove garlic
small handful fresh spinach
1 egg and 2 egg whites
Creole seasoning
1/2 teaspoon parmesan cheese

Dry-saute onion and garlic in skillet until slightly browned, then add spinach and cook until wilted. Beat egg and whites with a fork and a teaspoon or two of water, mix in seasoning, and add to skillet. Either scramble eggs or let set into omelette form, sprinkling on parmesan at the end.

TODAY'S MENU

Breakfast--OATMEAL WITH APPLE AND PECANS

Lunch-- Compadres Restaurant--Mexican Salad (lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion, avocado, and lime, and I added salsa for more "dressing," as well as a couple of bites of Glenn's burrito, mostly beans), a dozen chips or so, and salsa

Early Supper--<1/2 can Progresso Creamy Tomato-Basil Soup with 2/3 cup light red kidney beans, 1/6 giant honeydew melon with half an orange squeezed over it

Later Supper--SKINNY SPINACH OMELETTE, leftover salad from previous day with low-cal Italian dressing (1 tablespoon = 13 calories, 10 from fat)

NUTRITION DATA

From Fitday.com, an analysis of the day comes up with about 1400 calories, 53g fat (9g saturated)--this is more than usual, from the chips and avocado at lunch, 53g protein, 200g carbohydrate (44g fiber).

2 comments:

  1. Have you ever made Cherry Pie Oats? Yum!
    serves 2
    1/2 cup steel cut oats
    2 c water
    1/2 t salt
    1/4 t cinnamon
    1 c frozen cherries
    1/2 t vanilla extract

    PUt the oats, water, salt and cinnamon in the medium sized pan. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low. cover and cook for 25 min. While oats are cooking, remove cherries from freezer and cut in half. Allow to thaw a little on the counter until oats have cooked for 25 min. Stir in cherries and vanilla. Cover and cook until oats are tender and thick - about 35 to 45 min.

    2 servings - 20 calories each. 9 g fiber, 3 g fat.

    From Susan Voisin's Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

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  2. Very nice, Karen! We grow sour cherries, and I have made the mistake in the past of putting them into the milk I was cooking oatmeal in and it curdled it! No problem with the water-made oatmeal, except that boy, would that be sour. I think I've tried sweet cherries, too, in the past. Thanks for the reminder.

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I'd love to know what you think of these or if you have suggestions for improvements!