The Best and Easiest Oatmeal Ever! (it cooks while you sleep!)

Autumn is upon us and the mornings are definitely cooler. You're most likely craving warmer, stick-to-your-ribs breakfasts now. Oatmeal is perfect. It's healthy, low in fat and delicious, but who has time in their busy mornings to make that? And those packets of Instant Oatmeal? Ewww.......

Take out your slow cooker and wake up to delicious, hot oatmeal tomorrow!!

Here's how to do it:

Use long-cooking, or better yet, try steel-cut oats; they're firmer, and they get a little creamy in the slow-cooker. Put them in the slow cooker overnight with your choice of milk (regular or non-dairy) or water. (Follow oatmeal package directions for measurements). And don't forget to add salt! Oatmeal without a touch of added salt is just plain awful, so don't even try. A bit of salt isn't bad - it's all that salt in the processed, packaged and fast foods we eat that is the most harmful to us!

Now it's time to get creative! Add some spice to your oatmeal. Cinnamon and nutmeg are perfect with oatmeal. A splash of vanilla is delicious, too. Drizzle in some organic maple syrup for natural sweetness. Toss in a handful of chopped almonds or walnuts for extra protein and good fat. You can add dried fruit, like raisins, dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots, if you wish. Or fresh, cubed apples. The apples will cook along with the oatmeal.

Think NATURAL SWEETNESS over PROCESSED SUGAR.

Set it on low, let it cook overnight and in the morning you will wake up to a hot, nourishing bowl of oatmeal.

Perfection.

Just remember, tons of table sugar in your oatmeal pretty much defeats all the health benefits so, here's a little trick. The more spices and goodies you toss into it as it cooks, the less sugar you will need to add when you eat it. You might discover you don't need any extra sugar at all! If it doesn't taste sweet enough, try mixing in some banana slices or a handful of fresh blueberries before reaching for the sugar bowl.

I adapted this recipe from Nine Ways to Use Your Slow Cooker

Yours in Good Health,
Cynthia
xo

Yummy, Healthy, Late Night Dessert!

Now that Autumn is here and the nights are getting cooler, I've been spending more evenings indoors. I am not much a TV person, but I've become slightly addicted to British drama. As I sat last night wrapped up in my big comforter, watching the last episode in Season One of Happy Valley, (available on Netflix), I had the most intense sweet craving. It would not go away! I paused the show and began rifling through my cabinets looking for something sweet -  A cookie. A piece of chocolate. Anything. Of course, I already knew there was nothing of the sort here in my house, but I was hoping I would find something left over from when my son lived here with me. He moved to LA about a month ago.

No such luck. 

I stood there in my kitchen debating whether to make a quick run to the store or mix up a batch of homemade cookies. I didn't really want to go out ( I was so cozy in my PJ's and would have to get dressed again) and I didn't want to get involved in the mess of baking cookies at 10 PM. Not to mention, I certainly didn't need several dozen cookies in the house. I just wanted one or two. To enjoy with a cup of tea.

Maybe I need to curtail my viewing of all these British dramas. 

They're always having tea and sweets in those shows. 

Well.... you know the saying! Necessity is the Mother of Invention! 

Or in my case - Concoction! 

I decided to use what I had in the house and managed to whip up a healthy and 

incredibly delicious dessert in about 30 minutes.

Here's what I came up with: 

Baked Apples in Maple Almond Butter Sauce with Vanilla Coconut Yogurt!

Ingredients:

3 Organic Apples. 

I used Gala Apples. Any variety will do, but I wouldn't recommend Delicious or McIntosh apples.

Ground Cinnamon

1 Tablespoon Natural Almond Butter. 

I used crunchy almond butter, but creamy is fine, too. Peanut Butter, Cashew Butter - any type of NATURAL nut butter works.

Organic Maple Syrup

Plain Coconut Water
You can use regular water in a pinch - you're just using it as a thinner for the sauce. I've been on a Coconut Water Kick lately and it's a little thicker than plain old water. Plain Almond or Soy milk will work, as well. 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Very lightly coat the bottom of a glass a 8 x 8 baking dish with oil or cooking spray. 

I used coconut oil cooking spray. 

Wash the apples and slice them - not too thin.

 I left the peels on my apples. That's where most of the fiber is, but it's your choice.

Pile the apples into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with ground cinnamon.
No need to measure. Just sprinkle away. Cinnamon is good for you! 

Bake at 350, for about 20 minutes or until apples are soft.

In the meantime, make the sauce.

Put the almond butter into a small mixing bowl. Add about 2 -3 drops of maple syrup for sweetness and mix together with a spoon until blended.  

Lick the spoon! Yummy! Now, take out a new spoon or wash the one you just licked - more than once, I'm sure! 

Add a bit of coconut water to thin the Maple Nut Butter. You don't want it too watery, just thin enough to pour over the apples. Stir and keep adding the coconut water until you reach the desired consistency. I didn't measure, but I probably used less than  1/2  tablespoon of the coconut water. 

Drizzle the Maple Nut Butter Sauce over the baked apples and pop back into the oven for about 5 minutes. 

Serve warm, with a dollop of chilled Vanilla Coconut Yogurt. This is just vanilla-flavored yogurt made from coconut milk. Any type of vanilla yogurt will do.

Makes two delicious and satisfying servings. 

Enjoy! 

Yours in Good Health,

Cynthia

xo

I'm in Avocado Heaven!

A big bag of gorgeous avocados for under five bucks!  I am a very happy girl!

What am I gonna do with them? 

Check back tomorrow. I am going to share some of my favorite avocado recipes with you! 

In the meantime, read about GOOD FAT/BAD FAT and how avocados are DEFINITELY 
good fat!  Fat 101

Yours in Good Health,

Cynthia

xo