Oats, Glorious Oats!

We love oats.

I love them, my husband really loves them, and our little man is even starting to love them.

Our favorite way to eat oats is in one of their purest forms: Overnight Oats, like these:

If you’ve never tried them, Kath is a great resource for instructions and recipes. We do ours even more simply, though. Just oats and almond milk, soaked overnight, then topped with whatever we have around. Easy peasy!

When using a recipe where the oats are the star of the show, it’s important to start out with the best ones you can find. Our favorites are the certified organic thick rolled whole grain oats from Tropical Traditions.

(Yup, that Tropical Traditions. The company  known for their coconut oil also carries oats, and a ton of other products, from whole grain cereals to deodorant!)

As you can see, TT oats have a great, old-fashioned rolled oat texture.

They hold up to the soaking without getting mushy, and they retain a dense, chewy bite. Plus, they’re organic! Tropical Traditions oats are by far the best quality oats we’ve found.

Breakfast is a hard meal for me, since I don’t eat eggs or sausage (and I reserve bacon for only the fudgiest occasions.) Empty carbs are easy to find in the morning, but eating them for breakfast is the quickest way to ruin my day. So I stick with what works: Add some fresh fruit, nut butter and a few shakes of cinnamon or cardamom to a cup of almond-milky oats, and you’ve got a satisfying, breakfast that beats any Rooty Tooty Fresh n’ Fruity or McHeart Attack sandwich.

I love having a big bag of Tropical Traditions oats around for savory recipes, too. I recently used them in my new favorite recipe: Quinoa Burgers. If you haven’t tried these, please, please do. I promise you – they are FAB (and easy!)

If you haven’t checked out Tropical Traditions yet, stop by their website and see all they have to offer, and make sure you don’t miss their impressive recipe page (it features more recipes than I could hope to make in a lifetime! 😯 )

Next up on the ABCGP “to-make” list?

Healthy Carrot Oatmeal Bites

Spiced Crockpot Granola

Uh oh! It might be time to order more oats! 😉

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Disclosure: I received a product sample from Tropical Traditions for review purposes. I was under no obligation to provide a review or positive comments about the product. All opinions stated above are my own, honest opinions based on my personal experience with the product mentioned.

My New Fave Meatless Recipe!

I’m not vegan, nor am I vegetarian…but I’m still totally down with the Meatless Monday.

Actually, since we’re aiming for quality over quantity these days, I’m more likely to go meatless most days, eating small portions of meat only once or twice a week.

That’s why I am loving the new recipe I found for Quinoa Burgers!

These burgers are easy enough to whip together during nap time, and they contain lots of my favorite ingredients: quinoa, mushrooms, oats, Parmesan…

…and the texture (which I’m pretty picky about) is waaaay better than almost any other meatless patty I’ve made, or purchased.

My husband AND toddler even liked them! <<does victory booty-shake>>

I followed the recipe pretty much word for word, so I’d like to show some love and link you straight over to to A Life Less Sweet, who provided the path to yumminess. 😀

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Do you do “Meatless Monday”?  Do your kids eat meat? I’d love to hear some of your favorite meatless meals!

Buh-bye, French Fry

In our house, Friday night is take-out night. Last night, I made what I thought was a pretty good choice: a grilled tuna sandwich. 

Of course, as usual, that pretty good choice came with a giant pile of fries.

As I sat and ate those fries, I became aware of the fact that I did not order fries, nor did I particularly want fries, but they came with my meal so I ate them (out of work-related stress, I can tell you for sure, but that’s best saved for another post.) Don’t get me wrong – Fries are good, especially thick cut, with the skins on, drenched in vinegar and dusted with salt…

But I digress…

My point here is that while I like fries, the custom of just attaching the obligatory, expected ‘side o fries’ with nearly everything served in every restaurant is just too blindly accepted and I’m annoyed with myself for falling into the trap. I mean, just think of how many fries are served in the course of a day in this country. It’s out of control. And how many of those people even think about the fact that they are eating them? Most just salt, dip and eat, salt, dip and eat, because that’s just what you do. I mean, they came with the meal, right? 

And, half the time they aren’t even good fries, but we eat them anyway…

It’s the very opposite of mindful eating, and I am becoming more and more alert to the fact that I am modeling behavior for my son, who now wants whatever I have. Mindless eating is not what I want him to see.

Like I said, I like fries just fine, but I also like many other things that have a whole lot more nutrient value. Not to bash the potato (bashed potatoes? 😆 ), which does have value, but in the case of French fries I think the bad outweighs the good. But what do you do in the face of this fry nation? Anyone who has ever substituted steamed veg for fries knows that once the plate hits your table, the offering is often mediocre at best. I’m sure many of you veg and vegan folks out there can feel me on this one, because I know you get stuck with a plate of fries as your only option far too often.

So I am on the quest for new side dishes. I’m all fry-ed out. I hope my local restaurants are up for the challenge because NO, I do not want fries with that, thank you very much.

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How often do you find yourself faced with fries? Do you substitute? Do you find good options?