Sunday, November 6, 2011

Sweets, Treats and Pizzas

This weekend was a little rushed. Ben is working in Seattle this week, and his flight left this afternoon, so we tried to fit in lots of things together in a shorter-than-usual amount of time. The first point of business: Breakfast.

Yummicilous!
I was such a fan of the steel cut oatmeal we had last week that I decided to make it again this weekend. With the addition of fresh apples, golden raisins and agave nectar we had ourselves an awesome breakfast that kept us both full until lunch. I love it so much I'm making enough tonight to last me through the week!

While I was waiting for my oats to beef up, I decided to experiment with some cereal that was starting to go stale. A couple of months ago I went on a mad cereal-buying spree, and ended up with about 10 boxes of random cereals in my pantry. I ate cereal daily for the longest time, but then I discovered oatmeal and my consumption has since waned. As a result, I had some apple and cinnamon Cheerios in my cupboard for about the last two weeks. I decided to make some cereal bars that we could enjoy through the week. They were easy to make (just nut butter, agave, cinnamon, vanilla and raisins went into the mix) and they are AMAZING!

The magic happening

The finished product

Finally, I decided to make something fun for lunch before Ben left today. I found a recipe for pumpkin pizza on a vegan food blog and knew I had to make it. I followed the recipe pretty closely, but added a few touches of my own. It took time to make, since I always make my own pizza dough from scratch, but it is so completely worth the trouble. The pizza was delicious, nutritious and filling.

Pizza Heaven!

Pre-devouring


And so completes the weekend! Add to these scrumptious meals a pretty bunch of flowers from Ben, a night out with the ladies on Saturday for sushi and drinkies, plus two successful trail runs with Ben and Dougal, and you have yourself a pretty perfect weekend!

What I came home to on Friday :)


Apple and Cinnamon Steel Cut Oats


1 cup steel cut oats
3 cups water
1 cup almond milk
1 apple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp agave nectar
Handful of golden raisins

Bring water to a boil, then add the oats. Boil for 5 minutes, or until oatmeal starts to thicken, then reduce the heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Add almond milk and apple and simmer for a further 5-1- minutes, until oatmeal reaches desired consistency. Serve immediately, topping with agave nectar and raisins.

Cheerio Cereal Bars


4 cups cheerios or other leftover cereal
2/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup smooth nut butter
5 tbsp agave nectar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix cereal and raisins together in a large mixing bowl.

Melt nut butter in a small saucepan, together with the agave nectar until the mixture is a syrupy consistency. Remove from heat, add vanilla and cinnamon, and pour the mixture over the cereal and raisins. Mix well to coat cereal and raisins.

Spray a baking dish (I used 9x13) with cooking spray and pour the cereal mixture into the dish. Wet fingers and pat down to even out the top. Chill for at least once hour, then cut into 12 equal-sized treats. Wrap each treat in cling wrap and store in the fridge.

Pumpkin Pizza


Adapted from Eating Bird Food

Whole wheat pizza crust
1 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2-3 tbsp hummus (I used homemade baba ghanoush)
1 1/2 cup fresh kale, chopped
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, sliced
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup feta or other favorite cheese

Preheat oven to 425 and bake pizza crust for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, saute chopped onions and garlic in a skillet with the olive oil, until golden. Scoop onion mixture into a medium bowl and add pumpkin, basil, oregano, sage, salt and pepper. Mix well.

In the same skillet, saute mushrooms and kale until the kale wilts and reduces in volume.

Spread hummus over the pizza crust, then spread the pumpkin sauce on top. Add kale, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, beans and onions, then top with feta. Bake for about 8 minutes or until the pizza is done to your taste. Enjoy!

No comments:

Post a Comment