After the seemingly never-ending snow and cold, we finally had a beautiful day this weekend. The weather was incredible, and it was finally warm. The dogs had been begging us to take a trip to their favorite place for a while now, so we took the opportunity to take them to the lake.

As cute as this picture looks, I think MacGregor misunderstood the directions. I think he is actually biting Abby’s nose. LOL. Oh well, still a fun pose!

I know, I know… this trip to the lake has NOTHING to do with food. I just noticed that I almost never post any pictures of myself, and thought I would share some of our weekend excursion.

Thank You. Gracias. Merci. Danke. Spasibo.

How do you say “Thanks”?

Me? Apparently, I go with a more universal language… German Chocolate Cake.

I know this is going to look like I’m going way off topic here, but just bare (oops, can’t spell) bear with me. As a food lover, I am always interested in trying new tastes, and different ways to prepare them. Until just recently, one taste that had eluded me was deer. I have not been able to talk myself into going hunting, and since it’s not legal to sell venison commercially, it had always been out of my reach. Well, a friend of ours shot a deer for me this past season. I paid for all the processing and everything, but still wanted to do something to express my gratitude… so, I baked.

Sure, there are lots of things that would have worked, like Katherine Hepburn’s Brownies, Layered Brownies, or even Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake, but I wanted to make something really special. A German Chocolate Cake is not some simple, cheap dessert you can throw together quickly (at least not a quality homemade one anyway). I guess not everyone will really see things in the same way, but to me, this kind of cake is truly a thoughtful gift because of the time and preparation that goes into making it

There are actually a few medium difficulty level techniques involved in creating one of these delicious decadences. Among other things, you have to be able to beat egg whites to stiff peaks, and know how to fold ingredients versus simply mixing. Neither of those are very difficult, but they do involve more work than the usual mix-everything-together type of directions. Unfortunately, while most desserts are very inexpensive to make, this one probably runs somewhere in the $10 range just for ingredients. But, please, please, please do not let that stop you from making one of these! It is truly worth it! Besides, you are getting a huge, three-layered cake with an amazing frosting. Unfortunately, I did not get to taste this beauty… I wanted to take a big bite so bad, but it probably wouldn’t have gone over so well if I cut a big slice out before giving it as a gift. But, I have made this recipe before, and this one came out just like the others. Do yourself a favor and put this recipe on your “to-make” list right away! Your taste buds will thank you.

Recipe from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook: Everything You Need to Know to Cook Today. Seriously, one of my favorite cookbooks!!!

I know we all enjoy a nice bowl of oatmeal with our favorite fixins from time to time (some of us much more often than others). Me? I like to surprise myself with fun and new toppings all of the time to keep things from getting boring. I usually find some combination of fresh/frozen fruit, nut butter, and a sweetener (maybe chocolate/caramel baking chips, agave nectar, or even sometimes brown sugar). The one thing that does stay constant however, is a ripe banana mixed into the oats. Yum!

Well, I’m not going to go into toppings today. The good folks at Coach’s Oats sent me some samples of their signature product, and I might share what I found. When they first contacted me about trying a sample, I was happy to accept the free taste, but did not really have any high expectations, because well… oats are oats, right? Over the past year or two, I have started trying different types of cuts of oats, experimenting, and discovering what I do/don’t like with each, but honestly, I have not seen much of a difference between the brands. The steel cut varieties tasted similar, and the same went for the rolled oats. I can say that Coach’s Oats really are original, and seem to combine the “best of both worlds” in the epic battle of steel cut vs. rolled.

OK, let’s back up and take a quick look at the different “types” of oats:
[Images courtesy of the Coach's Oats website.]

	Steel Cut Oats To make steel cut oats, whole grain oats (groats) are cut into smaller pieces with… yep, you guessed it, steel blades. They create a thicker, heartier oatmeal when cooked, but that cooking process takes about 30+ minutes on the stove (less if pre-soaked), and they are not intended for the microwave, nor are they intended for baking (I have not personally tried this to verify).
	Rolled Oats Rolled oats are also cut with steel blades, but are then “rolled” flat, which significantly reduces cooking time. Unfortunately, that faster cooking time comes at a cost. Rolled oats trade the thicker texture and nutty flavor that their steel cut cousins provide for a smoother, mush-like consistency. But hey, you can bake with them, and cook them in minutes in the microwave…
	Coach’s Oats Finally, we look at a different, innovative method of preparing the oats. Coach’s Oats are toasted in their whole grain form, and then cracked into smaller pieces. This method allows them to keep the flavor and texture of steel cut oats, but with shorter cooking times, like rolled oats. Coach’s Oats can be cooked in the microwave, and are good for baking.

Supposedly, steel cut oats and Coach’s Oats, have a lower glycemic index than instant oats. This is very important, because it means there will be a longer, more steady rise in insulin levels after eating them. Sure, you do pay a little more for these types, but to me it kind of seems like the difference in buying sandwich bread. I am willing to pay significantly more for the heavy, whole wheat / multigrain breads versus the cheap, store brand white bread. In both cases, I am eating more complex carbohydrates that should help keep my blood sugar more regular, and get to enjoy a more dense food that will also help to better control my hunger.

Don’t get me wrong, I do like rolled oats (and eat the instant kind sometimes because it is cheap and easy). I almost always keep a large container in the pantry for a quick breakfast, or to use in baking, but I may have found a new contender in the which-oats-will-go-in-my-bowl competition. The Coach’s Oats really did taste better. These were one of the first types of oatmeal that I could actually take a couple bites without anything mixed in. I did still add some fun toppings, but gave them a shot plain, and was pleasantly surprised that they had a sweeter, nuttier flavor than what I have been used to.

All in all, I was very impressed with both the taste, quality, and ease of preparation of Coach’s Oats. Basically, they seemed to have the taste and texture of steel cut oats, but cooked quickly (stove top or microwave), and are supposed to be good for baking. Unfortunately, they are not yet available to me locally, but I can still place an online order. If you would like to learn more about their products, please check out their website.

So, which kinds of oats do you like?

Who says caramel apple treats have to be restricted to only enjoying them in the fall? I mean, hey, there are apples in it, so it counts for eating healthy, right??? Besides, with just about any food, if it has caramel in the name, I’m sold.

We were invited to a dinner party at a friend’s house last weekend, and I decided to take these. They were incredibly simple to throw together, and ended up being quite a hit! By the way, hi to the new people I met. I had a great time talking with you all, and hope we get to do it again soon. I hope you enjoy reading my blog!

As I mention in the recipe below, I did have to play with the proportions of caramels to evaporated milk for the caramel topping, but it really isn’t anything to worry about. Just err on the side of it being thicker. It is simple to adjust either way by just adding a little more evaporated milk to thin it out or more caramels to thicken it up. The only thing to remember is that you will need to keep it warm for when you are ready to serve. Plus, if you make a little extra, you can even drizzle some of the warm caramel over a scoop of vanilla ice cream to really make everyone say mmmmmm!

Adapted from this recipe.

You know how sometimes, you just want something really simple, but extremely flavorful and still healthy? This recipe turned out to fit all of those criteria. In fact, this turned out to be one of the most flavorful things I have eaten recently. I couldn’t believe how well the sweet, warm pepper was complimented by the avocado.

I assume spreadable fruit is basically the same as preserves? Personally, I like for sauces to have a bit of sweetness to them, and the apricot preserves might have actually added a tad too much. Next time I might try a reduced sugar variety. But, either way, I really liked this dish, and will be making it again for sure.

Recipe from Betty Crocker’s New Choices for Two.

For those of you who read about Boots’ Big Adventure, you will remember that I explained how she dislocated her elbow. Well, as you can see from that picture, Ms. Boots is back to her normal, hyper, inquisitive self! Sure, she has been for a couple of weeks now, but I just thought this picture was hilarious, and was a great example of how silly she can be. Yes, that is a clothes dryer, and yes, she jumped inside, and was exploring the warm, fresh scents. On a completely unrelated note, I can’t seem to figure out why I perpetually have cat or dog hair on EVERY. SINGLE. THING I own. Hmmm, I wonder why…

Many of you probably have not seen the new page I added to the site, called Lose the Dough. Since it is a page, it was not published to the RSS feed, and you have to visit the site to actually read it. Anyway, I accepted Tina’s challenge from Carrots N’ Cake, and am going to “Lose the Dough for the Big 3-0″. Basically, it is just a fun way to motivate myself to get in a little better shape by my 30th Birthday, but hey, whatever works, right?

Well, We are about two weeks in now, and things are going well. So far, I have lost about 2-3 lbs. and the running schedule is still going well. We had a big challenge Saturday though… We ran 10 miles! I know, I have run that far before, but I feel like it was later in the training schedule. There is still almost 2 months to go before the half marathon, and we already are up to that point!

So, just to give you an idea of how wonderful it feels to run 10 miles, I will tell you how much else it motivated us to do for the rest of the day. We have started remodeling a bathroom, and even went to the store Saturday morning to buy tile, grout, and paint. So, I would love to tell you that we came back from the gym and finished up the bathroom, and everything looks beautiful and spotless, but…. ummm, yeah, so we kind of came home, laid on the couch and watched a movie. Repeat, and repeat. Yes, we sat on our butts and watched 3 movies! We were so tired, that was the only thing that really sounded good. I guess the bathroom can wait until next weekend.

Oh, and we have our first race of the year coming up next Saturday as well. It’s just a 5K, so we are going to take MacGregor with us! Mac has been working on his time, and said he is going to try to finish in under 30 minutes, but he sorta had to mention that his time will be contingent on whether or not he is able to pull Abby along at that pace to keep her going. Then, he just started bragging and said that if we weren’t slowing him down he thinks he could actually come in first (at least in his division). Uggh, what a bragger! But, he is soooo excited, so we let it slide.

Last weekend, I was going to make up another batch of those Whole Wheat and Flax Seed Pancakes, but decided to see what else I could do with flax seed meal. I checked out the manufacturer’s website again and found a recipe for Cinnamon Flax Scones. Can you believe I have never made scones? Sure, I have seen them being made on Food Network, and I have eaten them in bakeries, but never made them myself.

After I got started, these scones really only took a couple of minutes to put together, and maybe even a little under 15 minutes to bake. But oh, when they came out of the oven, they were light and sweet. I didn’t even need to put butter or anything else on them. According to the original recipe, if you portion the dough into 12 scones, each has only about 180 calories. Mine must have been much smaller, because I think I ended up making closer to 20 scones. That meant the calories were so low I am allowed to eat 4-5 at a time, right?

Unfortunately, I find myself getting bored with breakfast sometimes, but tossing a batch of these into the mix every now and then is sure to help break the monotony. I am looking forward to trying these again with different fruit combinations.

Two questions for you today:

What do you like to put in your scones?

What kinds of different breakfasts do you use to “switch things up” so you don’t get bored with the same morning routine?

Recipe from Bob’s Red Mill website.

With all the snow we had over the past couple of weeks, soup was high on my list of cravings! And as far as soups go, there are few that are more of a comfort food than hot French Onion Soup with melted Parmesan cheese over the top. To make it even better, this recipe was designed for the slow cooker, so it meant only a couple of minutes of preparation in the morning. Then, dinner was hot and ready to go when I got home from work.

I really wish I would have thought to snap a couple of pictures of the dogs bouncing and playing in the snow. They loved it! Oh well, I’ll just leave you with a view of how deep it was looking out from my back deck.

Recipe adapted slightly from Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook.

Isn’t it just amazing how much color that fresh fruits and vegetables can add to a meal? As we do every Sunday, my family got together for lunch, and fruit was to be my contribution this past weekend. I love fresh pineapple, but had never bought a whole one. The spiny exterior has always seemed a bit daunting, and the courage to try it has always eluded me… until now.

Has anyone used one of those corers to get the pineapple started? I try to stay away from single-purpose tools in the kitchen, so I don’t know if I would be very interested in owning one. As you can see from the picture, I just sliced it down the middle (well, just to one side of the stem). From there, I cut it basically like a mango or avocado, making strips, and cutting each strip into bite-sized chunks. It really wasn’t all that much work, and since fresh pineapple tastes so much better than canned, I’m pretty sure I will be doing this again!

The best part about fruit salads is that you can just toss whatever you have (or whatever sounds good) into the bowl. Unlike baking, there is no need to worry about proportions of different ingredients, or even the order to which they are added. That is one thing I love about salads in general… just cut it up and toss it in the bowl.

I also gave another fruit a test run in prepping this dish. I picked up a couple of prickly pears (cactus), but after slicing, we realized that they were filled with small, very hard seeds, and decided they would not work well in the fruit salad. Anybody have any recommendations for how to eat them?

For this mixture, we chopped up some grapes, strawberries, and kiwi to add to the pineapple. So simple. So healthy. So delicious.

So, how about you? What fresh fruits have you seen in the grocery and always wanted to try, but haven’t had the courage yet?

My Mom makes a Chicken Pot Pie that is so good she is able to use it to bribe people to do things for her. Seriously, it actually became a bartering tool… and a very persuasive one at that. Now, in addition to being an incredibly delicious comfort food treat, her pot pie is also quite the chore to make. Between making the dough from scratch, a homemade white sauce, and prepping all of the vegetables, she said it ends up taking a couple of hours from start to finish.

Don’t get me wrong, I am all for making things the “right” way… but sometimes, you just want a simple meal that doesn’t take a whole lot of work. Well my friends, Betty Crocker has done it again. This recipe for a curried chicken pot pie is really simple, but still at least reminds us of those delicious made-from-scratch masterpieces like my Mom makes. To top it all off, it is fairly low in calories… at least it is if you don’t double the amount of biscuit mix like I did.

Recipe originally from Betty Crocker’s New Choices for Two