THANK GOODNESS FOR NO BANANAS

Someone ate the two really ripe bananas that I was going to use to make muffins earlier this afternoon. A little stumped, I walked right back up to my room, sat in front of my laptop and contemplated my next step. I browsed through my bookmarked "muffins" folder and nixed all the ones involved healthy ingredients like ripe bananas and applesauce, and then came across these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Muffins from How Sweet It Is. Could it have been a sign? Did someone eat my ripe naners on purpose; so that I could fulfill my life-long dream of baking these muffins that taste like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies? I scanned the ingredients list, knew that I had all of them on hand and got to work. (Seriously, what good baker doesn't have 2lbs of butter lying around at room temperature on a Sunday afternoon?)

I quickly got to work, mixing all my ingredients together:Less than 30 minutes later (including baking time!), I had 16 muffins that smelled like something my grandma would have made me. Or, maybe. Actually, I'm pretty sure my grandma baked no such thing as it was my grandfather who did the cooking in that household and I don't actually ever recall him making anything other than savory food, but whatever. I digress. Check out my muffins:Complete with a delicious, crunchy layer of turbinado sugar. There's nothing butter than a baked good with a hefty, I mean, healthy layer of turbinado sugar:I ate two or three before deciding it was time to leave the kitchen and immerse myself in other activities in fear of devouring every single one of those muffins. The next day I decided it was time to take Jessica's advice and enjoy said muffin with a pat of butter:
I am so glad I did. Reheated in the microwave for 15 minutes and with a pat of butter, it was the most delicious thing I've probably eaten in a week. Maybe since that seared scallop and leek dish I have yet to blog about.

RECIPE: NUTELLA & BANANA OATMEAL

I had a post all ready about my epic six-layer chocolate and peanut butter cake, but then yesterday was National Nutella Day (as well as Sean's half-birthday) and I just had to celebrate. I've missed every other NND in the past so being home all day (mainly because I was feeling lazy), I felt like yesterday was a NND not to be missed!

Nutella and I have quite the history. When I was really young, I would make myself Nutella sandwiches (Nutella spread inbetween slices of sliced white bread) but every single time I ate those sandwiches, I would get a nose bleed soon after. I knew I wasn't allergic to chocolate and I wasn't allergic to nuts either, so I had no clue why Nutella had this affect on me. I could no longer eat Nutella. I'd watch and sigh as my brothers ate Nutella sandwiches. I'd think about having one and sometimes make one for myself as an afternoon snack, but the same thing always happened, that darned nose bleed. I've ungrown that stage, thank goodness, but it did last a pretty long time.

For 2011's NND, I immediately knew what I was going to make: Nutella hot chocolate from Eat, Live, Run. Two ingredients were all I needed and what I had on hand. I waited until the perfect moment to make it (right after the sun had set) and enjoyed my cup while waiting for my fondant flowers to dry:But then this morning I woke up and decided that Nutella shouldn't just be celebrated on one day and that I would in fact, make this National Nutella weekend by making Nutella & Banana Oatmeal! Sounds good, right? Well it tasted even better!
NUTELLA & BANANA OATMEAL Ingredients:
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 recipe of Nutella hot chocolate, cooled (see first link above for recipe, the recipe makes 1 cup)
1 teaspoon chia seeds
1 teaspoon psyllium husks
1 ripe banana, chopped
Toppings: sliced strawberries, choped hazelnuts, drizzled Nutella, etc

Directions:

1. Place rolled oats and Nutella hot chocolate in a small pot. Cook on medium-high. (I always start my stove at high and then reduce the heat when it starts to boil.)
2. Add chia seeds and psyllium husks and continue to stir.
3. The seeds and husks will thicken the oatmeal. At this point, add your bananas and stir some more until your desired consistency is reached. I like my oatmeal is a little on the thinner, rather than thicker side. If it gets too thick and gloopy, I just tend to stir it around in my bowl and not eat it. If yours gets too thick when you're stirring, just add more milk.
4. Serve in bowl and top with your favourite toppings.
   

My parents had just bought some strawberries the day before and I was dying to dig into 'em. I have no clue where these berries are coming from--probably California, because they are pretty sweet for February.Now if that doesn't sound like the most enticing oatmeal for a Nutella fanatic, I don't know what is. I, myself, thought it was pretty darn tasty:
Breakfast? Check.

PUMPKIN OATMEAL!

Yep, I finally jumped onto the pumpkin oats bandwagon! I mean really, who wouldn't want to partake in a delicious meal of this:
I know I would want too, and now you can too! Here's my recipe for success:

DOM's FIRST PUMPKIN-Y OATMEAL:
- 1/4 cup of rolled oats
- 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup of 2% organic milk (or any liquid)
- 1 teaspoon chia seeds
- 2 heaping tablespoons of canned pumpkin (next time I would probably increase this quantity to 3)- 1 ripe banana sliced and halvedToppings:
- sprinkling of roasted, unsalted pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon of pure maple sugar
- drizzle of clover honey, about one teaspoon's worth
Directions:

1. In a small saucepan, combine the oats and 1/2 cup of milk over high heat. Once the mixture starts to boil, turn the heat down to medium-high and add the chia seeds and 1/4 cup of milk. Stir well.
2. Once the chia seeds have begun to congeal, add the pumpkin and stir well. The mixture will turn a lovely shade of orange. Turn off the heat and add the banana. Mix well.
3. Now add your toppings, mix well and enjoy!

The toppings were the best part. I used 1/2 teaspoon of maple sugar and a couple drizzles of clover honey and overall. I'm normally used to instant oats (which contains sugar) and dark Lindt chocolate in my oatmeal so this concoction wasn't very sweet at all. Currently enjoying this at half past 5 so we'll see when I feel like digging into dinner. Even though it was only a 1/4 cup of rolled oats, I have a feeling this is going to keep me satiated for a while.
PS: Might I also add that I realize that September was the worst for blog posts. There was a LOT of stuff going on...trips to Montreal and a record amount of cupcake-making and baking in general. That means lots of good material for future posts. I'm hoping to bang out a post every other day. We'll see how it goes.

MONTREAL, DAY 1

The morning started off earlier than normal:But breakfast was as usual (instant oatmeal, ground flax, chia seeds, grapes and strawberries):to be eaten in the car. We left 18 minutes later than planned:but it was all good. What was not all good was my stomach! The oatmeal was not eaten because after two spoonfuls my stomach started feeling queasy. Even before getting onto the highway, I had to ask stop off at a McDonalds so that I could use the washroom.

The ride along the 401 westbound was pretty uneventful. I even managed to fall asleep for about 15 minutes but I suppose that shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone. Eventually we happened upon the Big Apple in Colborne and decided to pay it a visit. Actually, what really happened was that I got so excited about the Big Apple that Sean obliged when I told him we had to stop to check it out. We were making pretty good timing so I don't think he cared too much. Also, when you squeal with delight, you are more apt to getting your way.

Tons of photos ensued:We never saw any of these animals...Just a couple of llamas and a couple hidden sheep:
Check out the bakery:
Pie and crumble production! Some kind of machinery:
Cutting out pie crusts/shells or something of that sort (no one was really around to give us a tour or more info):
A giant mixer! This is my dream come true--although I'd like a more stable one:And what visit is complete without food?
Savory bites available at the Big Apple cafeteria:Along with some shockingly glowing candy apples:apple butter:and a slice of apple crumble that Sean and I split:
It wasn't totally horrible. I was actually a little hesitant to eat anything, in fear of having an IBS-related attack so I had about 1/3 of it and left the rest for Sean. It was a little too sweet but that's normal of outside desserts.

Of course, what visit to the Big Apple would be complete without a picture with the Big Apple:

Then we continued along our merry way.

The best part of the ride into Quebec was eating our prosciutto and basil sandwiches that I had made the night before. Mmm, mmm, good. (Does Campbell's have a copyright on that saying? I sure hope not as I think I've mentioned that quite a few times on this blog). Anyway, it was a grande plan as I wasn't fond of stopping at some fast food joint only to stop at the next fast food joint to get re-acquainted with the porcelain. So I made some sandwiches on ciabatta bread. The goat cheese I planned on using had gotten moldy so I nixed that and used some gooseberry jam from Sean's fridge. Sean's sandwiches had the jam, prosciutto and tons of basil while mine just had prosciutto and basil. They were great sandwiches to go with my coconut water. Whole Foods was all out of Vita Coco so I had to stock up (I only got 4) of the Zico brand. It's okay; I still prefer Vita Coco.

The rest of the ride was uneventful--until this came along:The best thing about being in Quebec (not just Montreal) is that my name is everywhere! No longer is my name unique or interesting or related to a song sung by a nun, it's just a French name, like any other name in Quebec--awesome!

More stuff to come...I figured that Smoke Meat Pete deserves its own post!

FOOD RECAP!

Let's get to it, shall we?

26th...Saturday
Can you believe that I actually got up at 6:45 on a Saturday morning to go check out interlocking? Ugh, what a morning. But at least I had oatmeal in a mug to eat on the ride to Pickering:And check out my awesome mug:

These mugs were a steal at $18 for a pair. Sean and I thought it was actually a steal at $18 for one but then the cashier tried to explain to us that it was $18 for a pair of mugs. It was kind of difficult since she barely spoke English and I know zero Cantonese/Mandarin.

I tried to go back to bed once my parents and I came back home from interlock shopping (no dice, the light-coloured interlock we want apparently does not exist), but I couldn't so I puttered about the internetz and then had second breakfast:Two eggs sunnyside-up with sauteed mushrooms, tomato slices and a whole wheat sandwich thin. It was delish! And kept me full all afternoon...but that's mainly because I took a nap, a 3.5 hour nap! It was pretty crazy!! After my nap, I made myself a snack:strawberries and an Altufo mango and then had dinner a few hours later:roast asparagus and mushrooms with pasta salad containing Catelli macaroni, kidney beans, red and yellow pepper and canned salmon. It was just what I was craving--yum!
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27th...Sunday
Not too many photos from Sunday...just two worth showing. Afternoon snackage of mango, blueberries and strawberries:Dinner was mom's turnip and pork "meatballs" drizzled with soy sauce and garlic with basmati rice:This is one of my mom's favourite dishes. It's a LOT of prep work but so delicious in the end. You first have to peel the turnips, then grate them, then steam them, then squeeze all the liquid out (or strain it over cheesecloth), then mix it with minced pork (along with cornstarch and other things) and then form into little balls and steam. A lot of work but totally yum in the end.
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28th...Happy Birthday Jessie!
Check out first breakfast, in a bowl:There must be some weird psychological thing going on where I am compelled to finish eating my oatmeal when consumed in a bowl. Or maybe it's because the co-worker I normally chat with during my first break wasn't there. Yknow, come to think of it, that could really have something to do with it. Normally if there is any kind of talk during my second breakfast break, I won't have enough time to finish my breakfast. She's going to be there tomorrow and if we end up on break at the same time, I guess I'll be able to solve the mystery!

Lunch was pasta salad (Catelli elbow macaroni, red kidney beans, red/orange bell pepper and canned salmon) and I "beefed" it up with a hard-boiled egg:along with a few hasselback potatoes that I had made the night before:and for fruit I had an Altufo mango and blueberries:Dinner was dad's beef curry with carrots, peas and chayote. I ate that with a whole wheat English muffin instead of the basmati rice that it was originally paired with. I'm not really crazy with the basmati rice currently stocked in our house as it's a less fine-grain than the one reserved for my brother's biryani. This rougher grain one helps my dad's blood sugar though he doesn't actually have diabetes; he's just checking up on his blood sugar so it doesn't get out of whack. That's kind of what happens when you have a MASSIVE sweet tooth.

Almost immediately after dinner, I indulged in a serving (1/2 cup) of Cold Stone Creamery's Coffee Lover's Only ice cream. It's coffee ice cream with pieces of Skor, roasted almonds and caramel. I'm not crazy about caramel or fudge or any sort of liquidy, ripply type thing in my ice cream so I kind of wish it wasn't there. Oh well, it's still amazing! The American version comes with Heath bar pieces, not Skor bar but we don't have Heath in Canada. It was also a good and bad thing that Sean convinced me to get the 32oz. container to-go. It is a WAY better deal at $8.99, however now I have 32oz. worth of rich and delicious ice cream in my freezer. Oh well...I guess I'll just have to eat it ;)

I'm now stuffed to the brim! And waiting for my homemade whole wheat pizza dough to rise. The options in the fridge are really slim so I have no clue what I'm going to top my pizza with. All we've got are cloves of pre-peeled garlic, carrots, a few sweet potatoes and a couple of avocados.
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29th...Tuesday
Lunch was homemade pizza (with a homemade crust!) with mozzarella, tomatoes, Sean's homemade bacon and mushroom:along with a whole lotta fruit:I spent the evening with Sean. We went to the mall after work to do some shopping and then grabbed some dumplings for dinner. No photos of the dumplings (pork and chive ones) but Sean also made me an egg and cheese sandwich:I also had a chocolate chip muffin from Tim Horton's that was 430 calories! Can you believe it?! Holy crap!!!! I almost had a hard attack when I checked it out. Sean told me later on that it was almost the same as eating a Big Mac but still, holy crap!
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30th...Wednesday
Lunch was more homemade pizza, this time with Sean's homemade bacon, mozz and mushrooms:along with leftover pasta salad:and tons of fruit. You see blueberries and kiwis on top:
but I've also got layers of mango and strawberries:Delicious way to end off June's lunches.

FOOD BABY IN MY BELLY!

I ate too much food today. I had the best of intentions when I woke up this morning, but then breakfast manifested itself into this:Olympic organic green tea and vanilla yogurt, 6 water crackers with 1 slice of prosciutto, half a whole wheat English muffin with PB and coconut butter and 3 strawberries, plus a small glass of OJ, unpictured. Breakfast overload! But it was all rather small-portioned stuff and totally worth it!

I wasn't going to eat my usual second breakfast oatmeal but I knew that skipping out on food for a full five hours was not going to be fun. I struggled with the idea of eating oatmeal with chia seeds and ground flax yet again (I actually really hate oatmeal despite eating it every.freaking.day) so I decided to add two squares of Lindt's Sea Salt dark chocolate to my oatmeal this morning. I added it just after adding the boiling water and it melted into a wonderful brown gunk. It smelled yummy! Then I added strawberries and grapes:Tastebuds satisfied? Check. Stomach satisfied for four hours? Double-check!

Lunch was equally delicious:A salad of mixed greens, beans (my dad says they're kidney beans but I don't think they are because they're really light in colour), strawberries and 1/4 salmon filet). I made the mistake of packing this all together instead of packing the beans and salmon separately. I knew I was going to heat the salmon and beans in the microwave before consuming at lunch time so of course, the strawberries and greens were a little mushy upon consumption. It was okay...still delicious, tastebuds rocked!

Snacks included the rest of my grapes and strawberries:And perhaps 2/3 of the following brownies:
Despite hating walnuts in their natural form, I adore walnuts in brownies. Yum!

Came home from work and immediately decided to enjoy leftover orzo with light red kidney beans:Maybe times two--oops! Quite some time after that I had a small bowl of broccoli and mushrooms and then a pickle. It was too much food. Belly is currently not happy with me--double oops!