GF Oatmeal, the Old Fashioned Way, with Fruits & Cinnamon

Bonjour and a lovely good morning to you all!

Today I want to show you a simple way to make a very healthy version, to replace quick cooking oats that we get in those awful little packets. I was talking with my Poppa Bear and we were having a discussion about breakfast. 

At home we were down to little in the pantry and I was forced to eat those oatmeal packets for breakfast. It was not ideal, was likely loaded with allergens-I took meds right away to avoid unpleasantness, and was so overly sweet; I had to cut it down with the handful of remaining plain oats I had. Yeah, we really needed to do groceries. Quaker oats used to be a product that was synonymous with quality. 

Boy have times ever changed! I was shocked by how small the packets had gotten, was depressed by how minuscule the flakes had become, and was turned off by the horrid amount of chemically tasting sugar. The apple bits were almost non-existent as well, I was really left wondering what happened to this once looked forward to, nourishing, and hearty portion breakfast staple; from my childhood?

In this fast-food, destroy the environment, gmo-laden, gluten infested, and profits before people world, oats has easily become a victim of the times.

I was not to be deterred.

If you have been following the blog, you will be well aware that I have been on a homesteading kick. That includes dehydrating my own vegetables and fruits, along with starting an emergency preparedness stash. The latter of the two was because I saw an info thing on the Government of Canada website, telling Canadians that we should all have, a minimum 3-day supply of food an water. 

I agree, having lived through the Quebec ice storm many years ago, I remember what it's like to be without electricity for weeks in the middle of winter, as food supplies rot on the fridge and dwindle. Never again! 

So, as I was dehydrating and prepping, I realized that my organic raisins and apples would be perfect with my newly bought, gluten-free, quick-cooking, plain oats! 

I laid out the ingredients and made a super fast, better tasting, and waaaay healthier version of speedy oats.

These are only oats:

I got them on special for $4.99, which was a great buy as they usually retail for $6.99. I bought 3 bags of different oats. One was steel cut and two were quick cooking; I plan on going back to pick up a few more, as I like to use these in baking a lot.

They're certified GF, non-gmo, are kosher, and free of all priority allergens! I also love that this is a Canadian product, buying Canadian and local is always a bonus for me.

Here's the nutrition info, should you like to know more.

The next pics show you what the oats look like:

    Up close:

I have tried these and another brand called Mum's, I will do a review on both of these in the near future. For today, I am focusing on the easy peasy recipe. Enjoy!

GF OATMEAL-THE OLD FASHIONED WAY, WITH FRUITS & CINNAMON

Ingredients:

2/3 Cup GF quick cooking oat flakes

Handful dried apples

Handful dried raisins

1/2-1 tsp Ground cinnamon

Small pinch pink sea salt

Boiling hot water

2-3 Tbsp Grade B Maple syrup or 1 tsp maple sugar. (Optional)

Milk of choice (Optional) 

Method:

-In a bowl, place all dry ingredients

-Bring water to a boil in kettle, pour water over ingredients, just up to the oats. I like a very lumpy oatmeal, feel free to add more water if you prefer. Cover immediately with a plate and let sit for 3-5 minutes.

-Remove cover and stir with a spoon, add maple syrup and stir.

-Add milk of choice if you like, I sometimes heat my unsweetened almond milk to make it all hotter, but I also like it cold. 

These are my dehydrated apples, I made them in the Excalibur dehydrator. Note that they are not brown, I did not use sulfites as I am allergic to them. I simply soaked the chopped and sliced apples and immediately placed them in a half/half mixture of cool water and lemon juice. After 5 minutes, I drained them, lay them on trays and allowed to dehydrate for 6-8 hours at the raw food setting 105 degrees. You DO NOT need chemicals that are harmful, to keep your fruits from browning.

Adding the boiling water and covering is important.

Stir it up!

Then it looks like this:

I made some fresh apple and carrot juice to go with.

If you want, you can make little Ziploc baggies of the dry oatmeal ingredients and have them at the ready, to be poured into a bowl, super fast for a rushed morning; without sacrificing quality or health. Then you can re-use the Ziploc baggies again for the same recipe next time. Feel free to change up the ingredients, I dehydrated blueberries and cranberries.

These were from frozen, needed no added sugar and came out perfectly!

Cranberries, I added a bit of maple syrup because these are very tart, but not a lot, and what was great about dehydrating all these fruits was that, some of them were on their last legs. I ended up avoiding food waste, adding to my food prep, and having a great time doing it; all the while controlling what was going into my food.

Enjoy your oatmeal and get the little one's involved in making prep packets, they like helping out in the kitchen.

Leave any comments or questions down below, I would love to hear from you.

God bless and remember:

The Best Gf, Vegan, Soy-free, Salted Chocolate Ganache Recipe for Rich Chocolatey Cupcakes

Bonjour my lovelies,

This is the last post in the Valentine's DIY Love series and I thought to end it on a gorgeous, chocolatey, vegan, gluten-free cupcake note!

Hard to believe but those beauties are gluten-free & vegan! Yes, I know. Amazing, magically decadent and delicious.

I would personally make these and give them with a bnch of different colour lipstick kisses with a note that explains what each kiss is for, kinda like this...

                                     

The pic is from boholoco.com because I didn't take a pic of the one's I did for Poppa Bear last Year's Valentine's. I also did it a bit differently, I had these cute small envelopes, wrote on the outside what each kiss was for, used loads of different lip colours and put a cut out paper kissed piece of my lip imprint, then wrapped it all in pretty ribbon. It went over really well!

Here is a fun idea of how you can incorporate the cupcakes into a romantic or scary or action flick movie night for Valentine's, it need not be expensive either. I tried to add the link to momsandmunchkins.ca to get you the free printables but for some weird reason it would not load, no matter what I tried. At least you have a pic with a good idea. Below the first pic is a cheapie breakdown idea from the sweetsandsavorylife.com blog.

                         

                              

I am including a recipe for the vegan gf chocolate cupcakes from The Pretty Bee blog, I changed some ingredients and added coffee to the adjusted liquids because as a Chef, I like the enhancing flavour coffee adds to chocolate. It was not enough to make it taste like coffee because I don't care for coffee as I am an avid tea drinker, however, I have noticed the taste difference when it's not in there. I used her recipe as I wanted to try something different and because she also includes a vegan vanilla buttercream for those of you who prefer both vanilla buttercream and chocolate ganache choices be on offer. Both are splendid. I am putting the link to her blog and down below my pics and ganache recipe follow, which is a decadent chocolate bowl of, slather it everywhere delightfulness! Yes, you may slather it everywhere, it will be our little secret.

( I used Bob's Redmill Flour which can be a bit beanie at times, so I make my cupcakes the night before to allow the flavours to mellow and settle. You may use a gluten-free boxed mix if you prefer to make life easier, I won't judge. Do as you please and are able to.

                                   

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Frosting.

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

Easy chocolate cupcakes with creamy vanilla bean frosting.

Author: The Pretty Bee

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 1½ cups gluten free flour blend (all purpose flour works well, too!)
• 1 cup turbinado sugar
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup water (I use half water and half coffee)
• for frosting:
• 3 Tablespoons vegan buttery spread
• 2-3 Tablespoons almond milk
• 4 cups powdered sugar (I prefer the corn free kind from Whole Foods)
• ½ vanilla bean pod, inside scraped out to get the seeds

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Add the oil, water, vinegar, and vanilla extract. Stir until combined.
4. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about ⅔ full.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
6. Cool in pan, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Make the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the vegan buttery spread and the vanilla bean on medium speed. Add one cup of the powdered sugar and continue to beat. Add a little of the almond milk, then more powdered sugar, and keep alternating until all the powdered sugar is in the mixing bowl. If the frosting is too thick, add a bit more almond milk.
8. Frost cooled cupcakes. Store the frosted cupcakes in the refrigerator.

http://theprettybee.com/2014/09/vegan-chocolate-cupcakes-vanilla-bean-frosting.html 

These were my cupcakes...           

              

                                                Chocolate cake batter fun!

              

                                                      Ready to bake

              

Let these sit overnight if you use a strong tasting flour, I place them in ziploc bags and freeze em'.

Now it's salted chocolate ganache making time. Whoohoooooooo!!!! Make this the day of serving or make ahead 2-3 days and coat cupcakes then freeze right away. The day of serving, remove from freezer and let sit 15 minutes on counter.

THE BEST GLUTEN-FREE, VEGAN, SALTED CHOCOLATE GANACHE

INGREDIENTS:

500 Ml Coconut milk

2 Tbsp Earth Balance Margarine (soy-free)

1/4 Cup Maple syrup or agave

2 Pkgs. Enjoy life chips (283g each)

2 Tbsp Vanilla extract

1 ½ tsp grey sea salt

*For cinnamon add 1½ tsp cinnamon (This is optional but I really find it adds a wonderful punch, whisk it in at the very end, you will see how awesome it is!)

 

Method:

-Heat coconut milk, margarine, add shortening, and whisk

-Our over chips in a bowl, whisk til smooth, whisk in salt

-Add vanilla and whisk well.

-Place plastic wrap touching and covering all ganache top to prevent skin from forming, chill 3-4 hours until scoopable with a spoon, thickened but still a bit loose. You don't want to pipe it, this gets spooned over your cupcakes.

-Spoon over cooled cupcakes until well covered, add sprinkles, cool in fridge for 15 minutes and serve.

They can be frozen and keep up to 1-2 weeks in the freezer.

 

            

                       Aw yeah, chocolate love happening right here baby!

             

Yumminess in the making, I highly recommend you be a dear and sacrifice yourself to taste some. Just to be sure it's good and all ;P

             

It should look like this and have this consistency when out the fridge, if it has gotten too hard leave it on the counter for about 30 minutes and see if it's right. I beat it with a hand mixer for 30 seconds if it's a bit too stiff, this gives the right pouring texture.

               

                                                     Sprinkleration time!

               

Placing them in the fridge really stiffens up the texture and makes for a wonderful mouth feel when you bite it. Now for the hard part, waiting...

                               

               You must sacrifice and taste test once more, you're so kind hearted, you giver you.

                              

                                                   2 bites are a good idea

                            

Here you go, I made some with chocolate that were vegan and some non-vegan carrot cake one's for others who requested something cream cheesy. I hope this ganache recipe works well for you and adds that extra touch to your special occasion. Leave your comments or questions down below and let me know how it goes.

                      

Poppa Bear and I wish you a wonderful and blessed Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

                                         Remember to fill it with love and great memories.