Baked Oatmeal In A Mug

It's back! Another installment of Mug Monday! After a very long sabbatical...

Ever since my days at summer camp, I've loved baked oatmeal. In fact, baked oatmeal is actually one of the best-loved and well-known breakfast meals at Camp Luz.

When my parents opened the Cream & Sugar Cafe while I was in high school, we found a recipe that my sister and I decided was close enough to camp's and the love of baked oatmeal spread throughout West Liberty.

Now, in New York, I still love to make baked oatmeal. However, like everything that requires an oven, it was a little inconvenient to have to carry all my supplies to the kitchen one floor up.

Then I got to thinking, I can make regular oatmeal in a mug. And I can bake muffins in a mug; I wonder if I can make my baked oatmeal in the microwave?

I did a little experimenting, cutting down the recipe, adjusting ingredients, and I found that yes, yes you can make baked oatmeal in the microwave! The best part is it's super quick! Just 2 minutes at most to mix up the ingredients and 1-2 minutes to cook it! Plus it's filling, healthy, delicious, oh, and gluten free!

Baked Oatmeal

(Gluten Free)

1 Tablespoon butter

1 1/2 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 egg white

1 Tablespoon milk

dash salt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

2 teaspoons cranberries, raisins, dried cherries, chocolate chips, etc. (optional)

Melt the butter in your mug. Add the brown sugar, egg white, milk, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder. Mix together then add oats and any extras. Stir until oats are coated and liquids aren't settled at the bottom.

Microwave 1-2 minutes (my microwave takes exactly 2 minutes but it's not a very powerful microwave, I would guess that 1 minute 30 seconds would do in most microwaves). When it's done, the oatmeal will pull away from the sides.

Give it a couple minutes to cool, as this is very hot when first out of the microwave, then enjoy warm with some tea, milk, or coffee.

7 Things To Do With Ripe Bananas

Ok, I'm kindof picky when it comes to bananas. I like them a little green, or just yellow. As soon as they have a couple brown spots, or are getting darker yellow, I don't eat them. Not unless they're in something. They have a totally different taste!

It's always been a bit of a problem, especially in the summer when bananas turn super fast. And since it's difficult for one person to eat a bunch of bananas in the two days that they're actually at their tastiest (in my opinion) I've had to come up with a lot of ideas of things to do with them when they're no longer in their prime.

Lucky for me, bananas are extremely versatile and can be used a lot of different ways. I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who doesn't like their bananas too ripe so I thought I'd share what I like to do with bananas when they're past the point of me just peeling and eating it.

Things to do with bananas when they're no longer green:

- Make banana-peanut butter toast! Just toast a piece of whole wheat bread, spread it with peanut butter and top with a sliced banana. A delicious, nutritious and filling breakfast that will stick with ya til lunch.

- Make a Chunky Monkey Smoothie!
1/4 cup milk, 1 banana, 2 TBSP chocolate milk mix, 2 TBSP peanut butter, 2-3 ice cubes and blend

- Make a banana-peanut butter-granola wrap! Take a whole wheat soft-shell tortilla, spread with peanut butter, sprinkle with granola then place banana in the middle, roll up and enjoy! This could also be for an on-the-go breakfast.

Things to do with bananas when they're ripe/overly ripe:

- Make banana pancakes
a) Mash up a banana and add it to you regular pancake recipe or mix

Happy food!

b) Healthy, gluten free banana pancakes
2 eggs, 1 mashed up banana, a little cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of vanilla - mix is all together and cook like you would a regular pancake. I was afraid these would be really eggy but they weren't actually, they cooked up just like regular pancakes! I topped them with a little cream cheese and cinnamon-sugar and they were quite delicious!

- Make banana bread! Or banana muffins which are easy to share with friends as I've been doing :)

- Make Peanut Butter-Oatmeal-Banana Cookies! For breakfast!!

These are soooo yummy! I made some last week and not only could I bake them in my lil toaster oven (!) they made my whole apartment smell like this delicious peanut butter-banana scent. The original recipe calls for vanilla protein powder and butter extract but also said it was optional so I didn't use them... I also didn't have any nuts to add so I just used crunchy peanut butter. And I only made a half recipe which made about 9 cookies.

Basically my recipe looked like this:

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/4 cup + 1/8 cup chunky peanut butter

1/3 cup applesauce

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup old fashioned oats

1/8 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350* (or don't if you're using a toaster oven like me). Combine the banana and peanut butter in a medium-sized bowl. Add applesauce and vanilla. Then add oatmeal and chocolate chips. Let dough stand for 10 minutes then drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet (or greased piece of aluminum foil with cleverly folded sides in my case) and flatten. Bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on your oven and  how done you want the cookies. I went about 23 minutes.) 

These cookies can be eaten right away or stored for later. If you can only work in small batches like me then the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for later also :)

Clearly I'm a big fan of the peanut butter-banana combo hehe. I've also read that bananas can be mashed up and used as a moisturizing facial mask but I kindof don't want to waste a banana on my face when I can make one of these magical foods instead... I'll let you know if I try it one day though!

How do these sound? What do you do with old bananas?

A Post with Lots of Pictures of Yummy Food

Sorry all! I know I've been really bad about posting lately. I worked 57 hours last week and had a lot of late nights which resulted in my time at home going towards cleaning or doing laundry or trying to plan out how I'm getting places for the holidays, rather than to writing blog posts. I even missed Mug Monday :/ I didn't get home from the office until around 11 and I'm pretty sure all I could do at that point was eat a Salted Caramel Cupcake I'd brought home from Hill Country over the weekend and called it good hehe.

Mmmm rich, gooey caramel

I had a good weekend, mostly just worked at Hill Country but I did go out for brunch on Friday with a friend from Resource. We went to a French Cafe that's pretty new and had some yummy frittatas.

Tea, bread, and frittata

It was really fun to catch up with her and see how things are going at Resource, as well as get a copy of the Fall issue which actually has my name in it! She lives in Williamsburg so I met her there and had my first Williamsburg experience. Except it was raining so it wasn't the full experience of that hipster mecca. Don't worry though, I'll be back to visit her again and have a better report :)

Other highlights from the weekend... I knocked out a few Pinterest projects including cleaning the tray in my toaster oven and trying out what I'm dubbing the most painful mask in the world. It seemed like such a great idea and I was told later in the day that I looked "gorgeous! Did you do something different? To your face or hair or something?" So I guess it was worth something. But wow, I was nearly in tears peeling that thing off. If I use it again I would not put it on my entire face. Be warned!!

Oh! After brunch I stopped by this Italian Bakery that's really near my subway stop home and totally delicious! A treat for the Bronx, I must say. My dad got us pastries from there for breakfast one morning when my parents were moving me out here and he was exploring the area. I've been meaning to go back but waiting on money and finally felt like I could spurge a little. This is what I got there:

It was delicious and a nice sweet treat since my brunch had been so savory.

In case you can't tell, I really like taking pictures of my food :)

A Little Breakfast Something

Hello again!

It's been a busy weekend (aren't they always?!)-- working and hanging out with friends and cleaning up my apartment in the tiny bits of time I'm actually in it!

I'm trying to take some of the uncertainty out of my mornings by planning my outfits at the beginning of the week, packing my lunches the night before (and making foods that I can take as leftovers a few days in row), and having nutritious and delicious breakfast foods on hand. So far I'm not doing very well in those areas haha. I did make mini baked oatmeals last night so I'm set for some delicious breakfast this week :)

I get home from my internship somewhere between 9:30 and 10 pm and by that point I'm usually ready to settle in and waste time on the internet. Or, if I do have motivation, (like tonight) I get on Pinterest to look up something that I'm going to make/do then half an hour later realize that was a mistake.

I do still have some motivation though so I'm here to post a Mug Monday recipe then I'll be planning some lunchtime meals because, as my boss pointed out to me today, EasyMac is not very good for you. (I think he was a little disappointed that I had EasyMac for lunch after he saw me eating homemade baked oatmeal for breakfast!)

Speaking of breakfast, this was the very first mug recipe that I made. I found it on Pinterest and was intrigued. Then I tried it and was hooked! The original recipe is from the blog Chocolate Covered Katie, where I have also found some great recipes for oatmeal-- but that's a story for another post.

This coffee cake recipe is delicious! And super easy and fast, what could be better?! It takes about 5 minutes total but can also be prepared ahead of time and be nuked in the morning, or whenever you're ready for it! (I found this recipe while still living at home and after I tried it I mixed up 3 for my family one night. I left the mugs on the counter for them to pop in the microwave in the morning before school and work, that way I was treating them to breakfast and I didn't have to wake up at 6am)

Coffee Cake in a Mug

3 Tablespoons flour                                                               Topping:

1/4 teaspoon baking powder                                              1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

2 shakes salt                                                                                1 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar

1 Tablespoon sugar                                                                  2 pecan halves, chopped (optional)

1 Tablespoon + 2  teaspoons water                                  *I keep a ziploc bag with a

2 teaspoons oil                                                                           cinnamon/brown sugar mixture 

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract                                                 so I have it ready whenever

Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add wet ingredients. Scoop 1/2 the batter into a greased, regular sized mug. Sprinkle half of the topping onto the batter. Add the remaining batter and top with the rest of the cinnamon and sugar. Microwave for 1 minute or so and enjoy! With coffee or tea or milk :)

Part of a healthy, balanced breakfast ;)

Salted Caramel Chocolate Cake

It's Mug Monday!!

I've been making recipes in mugs like crazy- partially to find new ones but mostly because they're just so easy! Breakfast, lunch, dessert... Mostly dessert :) I'm getting quite a collection though and it's difficult to only post them once a week! Maybe I'll have to start sharing them more often... but would that take away from Mug Mondays?!

Anyways, I had a request for this recipe after I'd told my mom about it and she mentioned it to a family friend. I found it (where else?) on Pinterest and it's originally from The Family Kitchen.

I've only added caramels but this makes an awesome, basic chocolate cake that would be equally delcious with chocolate chips, crushed up Andes mints, or a variety of additives. Feel free to be creative :)

Salted Caramel Chocolate Mug Cake

4 Tablespoons flour

4 Tablespoons sugar

3 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg--beaten

3 Tablespoons milk

1 Tablespoon oil

3-4 caramels

In a large mug, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add the wet ingredients and stir until smooth. *Optional: The original recipe calls for salted caramels but I didn't know such a thing existed. I usually just unwrap the caramels and sprinkle them with some salt to give it the salty-sweet combo.* 

Drop the caramels into the batter. (I usually spread them throughout, rather than dropping them all in the middle, because they tend to sink to the bottom.) You could also sprinkle some salt on top of the cake to add to the salty-sweet. 

Microwave the cake for about 1 minute and 30 seconds or until it is done. If I had caramel ice cream topping I would probably add that and sea salt on the top after it had cooked.

It might look like regular chocolate cake, but it has a secret!

Enjoy!!

Day 2 and Cafe R

Today was my second day at my new internship and it went really well! Maybe even better than yesterday because I was past the first day and already knew what I was supposed to be doing.

It's amazing the differences between the two places already. Everything from the atmosphere, to the work, to the style and setup, the office itself, the size of the operation, the hours and people... I'm thankful for my time at Resource, I had a good experience there and definitely learned a lot, but I'm happy to be in a new environment.

Now, because I love food and am completely in love with the food opportunities open to me in New York, I have to talk about my lunch today. At Resource I packed my lunch pretty much every day to save money, and I'll probably do that a lot at WeSell as well. But this morning time got away from me and there was no time to pack. So, come lunch time (which was actually more like early suppertime), I explored a little and found that there's this awesome deli/cafe, Cafe R, right across the street from my building!

I was always impressed by Bridge Fresh, the deli we frequented in DUMBO, but this, this was ridiculous. Literally any food you could imagine or want was at this place. The sign for a sushi special attracted me and at first all I saw was sushi and Chinese food, which you could order at counters and have made right in front of you. Then I noticed how big the place was and how many more counters and signs there were. Then I noticed the buffet of food ($6.65 per pound) in the middle. Then I saw the little grocery area. Then the packaged foods under the counters (like Easy Mac and Chef Boyardee). Then I realized there was a whole other side lined with counters. And these counters where you could order food were in addition to the coolers and cases in the middle where you could grab ready-made sandwiches and sushi and fruit salads and cookies and wraps and... well you get the idea.

Basically this place was overwhelming, but in a very good way. After glancing at the menus for sushi, Chinese, soup, Teriyaki, and Korean I decided on some orange chicken with lo mein. It was prepared right in front of me and delicious! Plus I could only eat about half and had leftovers-yay!

They had seating at both ends of the place, so I stayed there to eat and gawked at all the food options. Pizza, a bakery, "American grill", Mediterranean, hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches (both having pitas, paninis, and wraps), Mexican, Philly Steak, breakfast bar, pasta bar, beverage bar, salad bar, smoothie bar... I, of course, looked them up online later and, although they don't have a website (guess they need a good web designer's help ;), I did find their Facebook page which even shows their specials for every week! 

Maybe no one else finds this interesting and I'm sorry if that's the case but I am a lover of food--places like this amaze me and are just another fantastic thing about New York :)

If I don't post for a few days it's because I'm crazy busy working at HC. Pulling a double tomorrow and Saturday plus working normally Friday and Sunday. Gotta make the money to buy these new clothes I want so bad! Haha, or at least to buy lunch for myself every once and awhile ;)

Weekend Visits and Apple Upside Down Cake

Hey All!

It seems like forever since I've posted. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I've had a lot of excitement the last few days! Over the weekend, a couple of my friends going to school in Virginia drove up for a visit. They brought a guy friend who had two friends from Germany who were on holiday in NYC. It was a fun weekend of seeing old friends as well as making new ones!

We packed a ton of stuff into Saturday: Central Park, Times Square, lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, Grand Central Station, snacks from Crumbs bakery, Staten Island Ferry, Little Italy, supper at Puglia's, the Brooklyn Bridge... And that's not even including all the extra things we saw/did on the way to those places--street performers, street fairs, we even stumbled across the Pagan Pride Day gathering in Battery Park!

Getting a great view of the Manhattan nighttime skyline
from the Brooklyn Bridge

It was a busy, wonderful day followed by a relaxing Sunday brunch at Argo Tea on 58th Street, before they headed back to college.

I'll talk more about the other exciting stuff tomorrow! Because tonight, it's Mug Monday.

Inspired by the fall weather and the fact that I was going to have guests, I bought a bag of locally grown, gala apples and yum! My inspiration has carried through to finding tasty fall recipes using these apples.

Today I'd like to share a recipe I found for Coffee Cup Upside Down Cake. This recipe originally came from The Wichita Eagle (which made me like it all the more as I went to college 45 minutes from Wichita) and appeared in an article featuring four mug recipes, all of which look pretty delicious.

When I think of Upside Down Cake, I always think of pineapple but I thought that using apple would be a nice tribute to fall and that, likewise, the caramel-y topping would pay a nice tribute to the apples :) I was not disappointed.

Apple Upside Down Mug Cake

2 Tablespoons butter, divided

3 Tablespoons brown sugar, divided

1/2 apple, thinly sliced

1/2 egg

2 Tablespoons milk

Few drops vanilla

1/4 cup flour + 1/4 teaspoon baking powder + 2 shakes salt 

(or 1/4 cup self-rising flour)

2 pinches cinnamon

Lay apple slices, 1 tablespoon of the butter, 2 tablespoons brown sugar in the bottom of a coffee mug. Microwave for 1 minute. Using a fork, mix remaining butter with sugar until creamy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Add flour and cinnamon and stir until smooth. 

Swirl the coffee mug to coat all the apples with the sugary butter mixture. Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Pour batter into cup and microwave for 1 minute or until the cake is done. 

If you want to actually see the apples and prettiness of this cake, take a small plate and place it upside down on the top of the mug. Holding the plate to the mug, flip them over so that the cake falls onto the plate, apples up. 

Yum! Happy Fall, happy Monday, happy baking, happy eating :)

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2012/04/17/2301171/coffee-cup-cooking.html#storylink=cpy

Jumping On The Bandwagon, Mug in Hand

Welcome to Coffee Mug Mondays! (name pending...)

Here's the thing, I LOVE this new craze of mug recipes! If you don't know what I'm talking about it's like this: you take a regular old coffee mug, add a few ingredients, throw it in the microwave for a few minutes and voila! Some awesome creation that, up until now, we've always needed an oven/stovetop/a lot more time to make! The recipes are usually single-serving and I have yet to find one I don't like.

Basically, mug recipes are perfect for this single girl with limited access to an oven and a schedule that usually results in arriving home real hungry. It also means I might need to buy more mugs...

I've decided to share the love, the love for these super simple, single-serving mug recipes. And because I love alliteration (words starting with the same letter or sound) and because I already shared my recipe for a chocolate chip cookie in a mug last Monday, I've decided that every Monday I'll share a proven-delicious mug recipe.

Today's recipe is one that I came up with on my own. Pasta has become a staple for me, being relatively cheap, versatile, and easily making enough for leftovers. I stocked up on some basic cooking/baking ingredients before moving to New York (meaning that my parents bought me a bunch of food so that I wouldn't starve right away) and then set to work figuring out how to combine them into palette pleasers.

This recipe is seriously one of my new favorites--it's so flavorful and I always have the ingredients on hand. Sometimes I'll add mozzarella cheese or tomatoes (as I did tonight) depending on what's in my fridge. Tonight was the first time I really tried cooking pasta in the microwave and it worked great! So much faster than over my little hot plate, and it was a lot easier to make the right amount.

Umm, Yum! Pasta

1 serving of your favorite pasta (I used 2/3 cup of rotini)

Enough water to cover the pasta (I used about a cup but it boiled over a lot)

A dash of salt

1/2 TBSP butter

1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1 1/2 teaspoon parmesan cheese

1 Tablespoon fresh chopped tomato (optional)

Place the pasta, water, and salt in a mug and microwave for 4-5 minutes or until pasta is cooked through. Drain the pasta and add the butter. Stir to melt the butter and keep the pasta from sticking together. Add the remaining ingredients and enjoy!

Every bite is so flavorful~ it will be gone before you know it!

Hope you enjoy this pasta as much as I do! And check back next Monday for another delicious mug recipe!