Nutty Oat and Cereal Bars

Oatmeal bars, everyone.

Chewy and soft, with a tad of crunch mixed throughout.

Nutty.

Salty.

Sweet.

With cerealllllllllll.

Six ingredients. Customizable. No bake.

Everything about these is amazing.

That's literally all I have to say.

(Did I mention cereal??)


Nutty Oat and Cereal Bars
Serves 12

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked rolled oats
• 3/4 cup chopped nuts of your choice (I used sunflower and pepita seeds)
• 1/4cup Cheerio’s (or other cereal of your choice)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2cup almond butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spread the oats onto a half-sheet pan, and place in oven for 5-7 minutes, or until golden brown. When down, place into a large bowl with the nuts and cheerio’s.
2. Prepare an 8x8 pan with wax paper lining the bottom and sides.  
3. Combine the honey and almond butter in a small saucepan, and heat on low until melted and thin in consistency. Turn off the heat and add the extract. Pour the mixture over the oat-nut-cereal mixture, and stir while still hot to thoroughly combine and coat.
4. Allow to cool in the fridge for at least two hours. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to a month. 

 
Nutrition Information (will vary largely based off of nut types and cereal choice)
Sodium: 14mg
Total Fat: 13g
       Saturated Fat: 1g
       Monounsaturated: 7g
       Trans Fat: 0g
Sugar: 7g
Protein: 3g
Calories: 237

Thyme, Blueberry, and Banana Steel Cut Oats

This morning I got up at 4:45 AM so I could make it to yoga class.

They had this membership deal where for the first twenty days, you only have to pay $20 and can come whenever you want. If I wanted to (and was crazy flexible, which I'm not), I could technically go to every single class for twenty days. That's about eighty classes. I couldn't resist the deal, particularly because some of my coworkers were going and invited me along and I love yoga. I also went yesterday morning and they did hot yoga, which oh my god. Not to be gross, but I think I produced enough sweat to water my tomato plant.

TMI? TMI.

Anyways. This morning I got up and I managed to shove a Greek yogurt down my throat before I took off for the 6:15 AM class. After doing plenty of down dogs, some planks, and some Warrior positions, I was most definitely hungry again. I didn't feel like going out, so I came home and looked in my fridge and pantry (side note: that's pretty much how I do everything. Half the things I make are like that. I want quick and easy, you know?). I pretty much came up with this on the fly, and I am so happy with how it turned out.

First, you have the awesome texture of the Steel Cut Oats. If you've only ever had rolled before, Steel Cut is so different in the best way. It has more of a hearty feel to it, kind of similar to rice but with the creaminess of regular oatmeal as well. It also has this slightly nutty flavor that goes really well with fruit and herbs which, coincidentally, I added. Who can resist blueberries and bananas, right? They're a fantastic way to pack in some vitamins and nutrients, along with natural sugars, into your meals. The blueberries add nice pops of sweet flavor and the bananas help make the oats smooth and soft with each bite. I love love love it. I also added some thyme because it goes really well with the other ingredients, adding some more brightness and a slight complexity that you wouldn't have otherwise. I know that you will be tempted to leave it out, but don't. I promise that it's delicious.

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone.


Thyme, Blueberry, and Banana Steel Cut Oats
Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 3/4c. water
• 1/4c. (dry) steel cut oats
• 2 sprigs thyme (about eleven little leaves), cut roughly
• 2tsp honey OR a packet of splenda (if vegan, feel free to use agave)
• 1/2c. fresh blueberries
• 1/3c. banana, sliced

Instructions:

1. Bring water to a boil. Add Steel Cut Oats, and cook, covered, for ten minutes on low. Add thyme and honey (or splenda), stir, and cook for another ten minutes, uncovered. Oats should be soft and water evaporated.
2. Ladle oats into a bowl and top with blueberries and banana. Serve hot.

Nutrition Information:
Sodium: 2mg
Total Fat: 3g
        Saturated: 1g
        Trans: 0g
Sugar: 26g
Protein: 7g
Calories: 317

Raspberry-Blueberry Muffins

I once heard someone call muffins "cupcakes without frosting." I wanted to flag them down, jump in front of them with all of my muffin recipes and beg them to reconsider. It's true that many store-bought muffins are, indeed, basically cupcakes being sold as a breakfast food. The amount of sugar in some of those things will make most nutritionists and healthy foodies shudder. But I firmly believe that muffins don't have to be like cupcakes. We need to let muffins be the cool cousin of the cupcake, the one who you can meet with all the time and who listens to your problems and consoles you.

Ok, maybe not that far. But you get my point, right? We can allow muffins to come back into the spotlight as something that can give you health benefits, something that is acceptable as a breakfast food. This involves reducing the sugar and the oil, using more fruit to add sweetness instead of relying on chocolate. It's an easy switch.

I'm not saying to never eat cupcake-muffins. Cupcake-muffins taste good. But muffins, just muffins, also taste good. Really good. Actually, I personally think they taste better. Especially when they're packed with oats and raspberries and blueberries, sweetened with a touch of sugar and undertones of vanilla. It makes it easier to have a healthy lifestyle with these guys every day than with cupcake-muffins every day. Because if I have to choose between "not-so-healthy+tastes good" versus "healthy+tastes-AHmazing," I think we all know what I end up eating.

Raspberry-Blueberry Muffins

Makes 12 servings

Quick tip: If you are using frozen blueberries when baking, toss them with about one tablespoon of flour before mixing them into the batter. This stops them from leaking blue into the rest of the muffin.

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/4c. oats (quick cooking)
• 1/2c. all-purpose flour (Plus 1 tbl)
• 1/2c. whole-wheat flour
• 1/3c. sugar OR Splenda
• 1/4c. brown sugar, unpacked
• 1 tbl. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 1c. light soymilk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2/3c. frozen wild blueberries (use only 1/3 cup if they are not wild -which means small-) rinsed and drained
• 2/3c. fresh raspberries, cut in half
• Cooking spray

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Mix together the oats, flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt together in a medium-sized bowl.
3. In a smaller bowl, combine the egg, milk, and vanilla. 
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir together just until moist (over-mixing can cause unpleasant texture).
5. Mix the frozen blueberries with 1 tbl. flour until they are coated. Add in raspberries. Fold berries gently into the batter, making sure they are evenly distributed
6. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray, and fill each muffin cup about 2/3 of the way full with batter (Tip: I like to use a ice cream scooper to fill mine. Just spray the scooper with cooking spray before hand, and the batter will slide out easily).
7. Place the muffins in the oven and cook for about 20 minutes: this changes depending on where you live (I’m high elevation, so my baking times usually take longer); just make sure to keep an eye on them! (Tip: To test if they are done, either stick a toothpick in and see if it comes out clean, or touch the top of the muffin and if it springs back it is ready). 

Nutrition Facts (using sugar):
Sodium: 227mg
Total Fat: 2g
      Saturated: 0g
      Trans: 0g
Sugar: 12g
Protein: 5g
Calories: 160