Oatmeal for breakfast

 I've seen a lot of very negative ads about oatmeal flash by on internet ads, and I have a friend who is always pushing something healthy and he says oats are not good for human consumption.  He says they are sprayed with something (isn't everything?). Before moving to The Estates (aka The Forum) I rarely ate oatmeal, but now that someone else makes it and serves it, I do have it about once a week.  Sometimes I take a small amount of walnuts and raisins with me and add those, plus about 1/4 C whole milk. So I looked it up.

Half a cup (40.5 g) of dry oats (from USDA website) Cereals, oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dry - Nutrients - SR Legacy | USDA FoodData Central

Manganese: 63.9% of the daily value (DV)
Phosphorus: 13.3% of the DV
Magnesium: 13.3% of the DV
Copper: 17.6% of the DV
Iron: 9.4% of the DV
Zinc: 13.4% of the DV
Folate: 3.2% of the DV
Vitamin B1 (thiamin): 15.5% of the DV
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid): 9.1% of the DV
smaller amounts of calcium, potassium, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), and vitamin B3 (niacin)

The nutritional profile of one cup of prepared oatmeal (one half cup dry oats with water) also includes:
27.4 grams (g) of carbs
5.3 g of protein
2.6 g of fat
4 g of fiber
153.5 calories

Dear EWG, This Is Why Real Scientists Think Poorly of You | American Council on Science and Health

Egg-citing breakfast

I know eggs are expensive, but the dozen I have in the frig were about $3. So, I made a fried egg sandwich for breakfast rather than have them go bad. I'm not making desserts (sort of a sugar fast) right now which was about the only dish I used them for. A salute to my Dad--he wasn't much of a cook, but he could make a fried egg sandwich, and after Mom died, I think he ate a lot of them.

It's been a busy week and it's about to end. I have whip lash trying to keep track of what President Trump is doing. Yesterday I watched the bitcoin meeting. Clueless. Dinner out last night with friends, Joyce and Bill and Joan and Jerry. Our Friday night dates which had been a staple for us for 60 years ended with Covid, and now it's about once a month, if that. I've looked at the menu (Houlihan's) before we left and picked out a petite top sirloin 5 oz, with 2 sides, green beans and fresh fruit. And since I don't drink wine anymore because I take too many medications, I treated the table to appetizers, stuff mushrooms. 

Blueberry French Toast Casserole

About 2 decades ago, before I started saving everything at my blog, I was searching for the perfect bread pudding recipe—like my mom made from leftover bread. I missed her and wanted that special taste for a memory.   And I wrote about it.  I found some good ones, but never the exact match because she probably didn’t use a recipe.

This recipe was posted by a guy friend, Brian Good, on Facebook.  But the website had a gazillion ads, and I couldn’t read the directions.  So I looked it up by name on a different site.  It says it is great for brunch or dessert. This one has slightly fewer eggs and cream cheese than the one I saw posted on FB. By soaking the bread overnight, it becomes more of a souffle or a bread pudding. The cream cheese gets creamy and the blueberries add a bit of sweetness and tartness at the same time. Hope you enjoy it! Blueberry French Toast Casserole | Tasty Kitchen: A Happy Recipe Community!

Ingredients

• 1 loaf Texas Toast Or Thick Cut Bread, Cubed (French Toast Style Also Works)
• 12 ounces, weight Cream Cheese, Cubed (Any Kind Other Than Fat Free)
• 1 cup Blueberries, Fresh
• 8 whole Eggs
• 2 cups Milk
• ½ cups Maple Syrup
• Cinnamon, To Taste
• Nutmeg, To Taste
• ½ cups Pecans, Chopped (optional)

Preparation

Place the bread cubes in a greased 13×9-inch baking dish; add blueberries and cream cheese evenly throughout the bread cubes.

Beat eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and syrup with a wire whisk until well blended. Pour over the ingredients in the baking dish; cover. Refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes. Add the pecans if desired, then bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the center is set. Serve with additional syrup, if desired.

If you are making this recipe for dessert, forego the maple syrup and serve with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

The recipe search

Who has a breakfast potato sausage casserole recipe that uses NO prepared/frozen potatoes, NO Campbell's soup? I've made something up, but would prefer a recipe. I have even gone back to my 1942 Inglenook Granddaughter's Cook Book (found a potato dish recipe by the grandmother in-law of my college roommate, Mrs. Charles Weybright, Syracuse, IN),  Taste of Home annual editions, and old recipes from the 1960s recipe cards from my mother's friends in extension. Potatoes are cheap and nutritious, but rather expensive if you buy them prepared.

Here’s what I’ve made up—expecting 8-9 for brunch on the 6th. I saw a video using instant mashed potatoes and borrowed the idea.

Sausage potato egg breakfast casserole with parmesan cheese

Ingredients: 1 lb roll sausage, peppers and onion, 8 Idaho potatoes, 1 pint sour cream, Panko (break crumbs), parmesan cheese shredded, 8-9 eggs. 10 x 14 pan or dish, 400 degree oven

1 lb roll of cooked crumbled sausage placed in 10 x 14 casserole

Add some red and yellow chopped peppers, and about ½ cup chopped onion--optional

8 cooked and mashed large potatoes mixed with pint of light or regular sour cream.

Spoon the potato mix on top of Sausage

Mix 1 cup Panko with 8 oz. shredded parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the potatoes.

Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees

Make 8 or 9 indentions with a wooden spoon

Crack 8-9 eggs into the indentions

Salt and pepper to taste

Bake for another 30 minutes at 400 degrees

Eat all the colors

            
87% of Americans don't meet recommendations for fruit consumption, and 91% don't meet recommendations for vegetable consumption, according to a new U.S. report published by MMWR. If you're brown bagging, tuck in some carrot sticks and slices of apple. You can even eat vegetables for breakfast. There's just nothing more yummy than a sweet potato, hot with a little butter and salt, in my opinion. Filling, too. When you're my age, you'll be glad you protected the body God gave you with good food and exercise.
 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6426a1.htm?s_cid=mm6426a1_w

So for breakfast today I'm having a "shake" made of banana, blueberries, cranberries, carrots, and orange juice. Remember that blue and orange makes grey, which can be unappetizing, so balance it with some red (the cranberries) to get a beautiful, rich purple.  I cooked the carrots and cranberries first, otherwise the shake would be too difficult to eat.  Four fruits and one vegetable in one delicious drink.

A quest for spirituality gone to waist

Dear Danny  Hamen,

Your ridicule of religion in your chicken and waffles article published in Stock & Barrel, Summer ‘15 (a 614 publication, pp. 38-41) wasn’t cute, funny, or clever, but instead disrespectful, sarcastic and in poor taste (pardon the pun since it was a foodie article).  One or two references, like “promise land” or “on a mission,”  or even an “Oh Lordy” would have been fine, but you apparently spent your Sundays in church as a youth thinking about food instead of the sermon and didn’t want to waste what you learned. 

Here I quote your phrases in all your religious imagery:

Religious experience
I found divinity
The Holy Ghost veiled in Frank’s Red Hot and Ohio maple
I was speaking in tongues
Oh my God. . . Oh my God. . . Oh my God. . . Jesus Christ
Holy pilgrimage
But hath no fear
Like a great messiah of fatty fried food
Took my hand and led me to the promised land
There was only one set of footprints in the sand
Hot sauce stain which looked like a baby Jesus . . .I took this as  a sign.
I  licked it up, and drove home a believer
I had a mission
Divine intervention
I was starting to see visions
What I felt was pure divinity
I was born again, greasy and obese with a chicken breast in one hand and a waffle in the other
Praise be to Biggie

http://614columbus.com/2015/06/biggie-breakfast-and-belgium/

Oatmeal with raisins for breakfast

My husband's breakfast is usually the same (except with the Thursday Cursillo guys when it's bacon and eggs), oatmeal with raisins. This morning (at the lake) he was out of raisins, but being resourceful, he remembered I had raisin bread in the freezer. Yep. He took 2 slices, picked out the raisins for his cereal.

Diabetes and high fiber breakfast cereal

I was watching a medical segment on Fox News this morning with Dr. David Samadi which was a display of breakfast cereals and which ones are high in fiber and therefore help fight diabetes.  So I looked it up, and found . . . an article published in 2004, 11 years ago.

http://www.webmd.com/diabetes/news/20040618/high-fiber-cereal-ward-off-diabetes

and from 2006

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16443861

and from 2008

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=183081

So maybe someone from the cereal companies was just doing some clever marketing.  Eating cereal at breakfast makes me hungry all day, so I don’t do it.

A tasty breakfast drink and an easy lunch

The last two days I decided I’d try for my fruits at breakfast.  Usually I have either an apple or an orange, and maybe nuts. But this was really good.

In a blender:

One small banana
Two really large strawberries (or several small)
One slice of fresh pineapple
Frozen blueberries (not sure, maybe 1/3 cup)
¼ cup of orange juice
Some orange peel (cooked and sugared)
About two tablespoons of almond meal

This made about 2 1/4 cups of a very pretty purple drink (red and blue make purple) with some texture. Really good. I have no idea what the nutritional value is.

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Pierogies are pasta filled with whipped potatoes, and this product includes spinach and feta.  Some ethic groups like to make these, but I think it looks like a lot of work. I drop 3 in boiling water for about 7 minutes, and about 3 minutes in drop in some fresh baby spinach.  Makes a great lunch. This package costs about $2.00.

Breakfast make up

We had lunch at the OSU golf course dining room for our son’s birthday yesterday and of course, I had to celebrate with some decadent chocolate cake. So today I'm making up for my indiscretion with a baked sweet potato for breakfast--769% of Vit. A requirement and 65% Vit. C. Low in sodium, and very low in saturated fat (until I add salt and butter) and cholesterol. It is also a good source of fiber, Vitamin B6, potassium and manganese. Blogs are pretty good for posting about what you eat, because others find that more interesting than Ferguson or illegal immigration.

We’re hosting a Haitian doctor on Friday, and I’m not sure what to fix for dinner.  In fact, I learned Sunday that he isn’t Haitian, he is an African working in Haiti.  Recently we hosted someone from Michigan, and she was a gluten free guest, and fortunately I had made a big pot of homemade vegetable soup, although she didn’t eat any of the hot rolls. We met her at Lakeside this summer and she is hoping to go on the next Haitian mission sponsored by our church.

I have no idea who the person on the right is, but on the left is our 46 year old birthday boy wearing his braces.

Hearty Breakfast Muffins (Carol Shaw Johnston)

• 2 carrots, shredded
• 1 zucchini, shredded
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries (I used low-sugar Craisins)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place paper muffin cups into a 12-muffin pan.

. Mix carrots, banana, zucchini,vegetable oil, yogurt, and eggs together until fully incorporated.

. Whisk flour and baking soda in a separate bowl. Mix brown sugar, oats, coconut, pecans, cherries, cinnamon,salt, and ginger into flour mixture until all ingredients are coated in flour.Stir wet ingredients into flour mixture until just combined. Scoop batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean and edges are slightly brown, 17 to 22 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Baked French Toast for 12

Or one. Me.

I've tried a recipe in my New Inglenook Cookbook (Brethren Press, 2013) and declare it tasty. It's baked French toast, but the mix is eggs and orange juice with the soaked bread baked in a glaze of butter and cinnamon. It was a camp recipe to serve 12 so I reduced it and left out the sugar, which was rather high.

10 eggs, beaten (I used one)
2 cups orange juice (I used 1/4 cup)
1 cup butter, melted (I used a Tablespoon)
1 1/2 cups of sugar (didn't use it)
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (sprinkle)
24 slices thick-sliced crusty bread (I used 2 heels and one dried out bakery something)

• Preheat oven to 325.
• Combine eggs and orange juice.
• Combine butter, sugar, and cinnamon and divide between two 13 x 9 baking dishes (I used one 8 x 8).
• Spread the butter mixture around to thoroughly coat the bottom of the dishes.
• Dip the bread into the egg mixture, turning to coat thoroughly.
• Lay the bread in the dishes.
• Bake for 25 minutes.
• When ready to serve, flip the bread pieces over so the glaze is on top.

Breakfast casserole in a crock pot

I’m not sure why this would be any easier than baking it in the oven, but maybe some people want to sleep in.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag 26 oz. frozen hash browns
• 12 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon ground mustard
• 1 16 oz. roll sausage maple, sage or regular sausage.
• Salt and pepper
• 16 oz. bag shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

• 1. Spray crock pot and evenly spread hash browns at the bottom.
• 2. Crack 12 eggs in a large bowl.
• 3. Mix well (and slowly) using a whisk.
• 4. Add the milk.
• 5. Go ahead and sprinkle in the ground mustard.
• 6. Add salt and lots of fresh pepper. Mix well and set aside.
• 7. Cook the sausage on high heat, drain and set aside.
• 8. Add sausage on top of hash browns.
• 9. Add cheese.
• 10. Mix it up well.
• 11. Pour the egg mixture over everything in the crock pot. Using a wood spoon, even everything out so it's spread evenly.
• 12. Turn the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours. Some fun variations of this recipe. Before cooking (during prep) you can add: chunks of sourdough bread, diced chiles, salsa, diced green onions

Having a crowd for Breakfast? Lazy eggs might work.

1) Spray each muffin well with nonstick spray.
2) Place a slice of ham in the bottom of each muffin well.
3) Place about a teaspoon or so of diced tomatoes on top of the ham.
4) Sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese over the tomatoes.
5) Break one egg into each spot.
6) Sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper on each.
7) Bake at 180/350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until the yolks are as firm as you desire and the whites are cooked through.

Walnuts for breakfast

Most days I have the same breakfast. An apple, handful of walnuts, and raw carrots. I figure if I'm careless the rest of the day, at least I've covered some of the basics, plus without grain, dairy or sugar in my system, I don't get hungry. Today I read:

"The FDA has recently allowed a qualified health claim to be placed on packages of nuts, including walnuts, which says "Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease."

This 1.5-ounce serving would equal about 20 walnut halves, which would have about 277 calories, about 14% of a 2,000-calorie diet. For some people, this amount of walnuts, and this amount of calories from one food, would be excessive and would not be a prudent step to take towards their health goals. Yet, for other people this amount would fit perfectly in a meal plan and would increase its health benefits.

The serving size we feature on our website, one-quarter (1/4) cup (approximately 10 walnut halves), still provides a good amount of nutrients, but only has about 160 calories—approximately 8% of a 2,000 calorie diet." George Mateljan, World's Healthiest Foods

A generation raised to expect breakfast

The man in front of me at Panera's today (fabulous bakery items, in case you've never been there) was buying a delicious selection of breakfast goodies--dense in calories and nutrition. In jest I said something like

"You must be really hungry today."

"These are for my employees. I love to see their smiles and they work harder."

"How nice," I replied. "All I ever got was a paycheck for working hard."

When we were out of earshot of others, he explained in hushed tones the real reason.

"I'm a contractor and I've learned that most of my mid-20s employees grew up getting breakfast, lunch and snacks provided to them by their schools. They have no idea how to feed themselves and they expect to be fed by whoever is in charge. When I give them a job to do, they say, 'But we haven't eaten yet.' "

Most are on food stamps and they come to me from an agency. If I want them to work, I have to feed them."

I'm still in shock. What have we done?

Real food

in times of real stress and real need. Today I looked up the raw peach to check the nutritional value. It is low in calories and fat, but high in carbs, so nutritionists seem to think they are a mixed blessing. Not me. When I was a little girl, my nickname was Peachy. I love peaches. Apples, particularly Honey Crisp, are my first choice, but I'm out--only have Braeburn and Gala on hand. So I sliced up two peaches (leave on the skin) and grilled lightly in some margarine, sprinkled with cinnamon and a touch of vanilla, topped with a 1/2 cup of whole walnuts, and I'm enjoying a warm, delicious breakfast almost as much as if I had an apple. My favorite way to eat peaches is in warm peach pie with vanilla ice cream.

If you're under stress because of what is happening to your pension or your plans to buy a new home, you'd better stop with the salty, crunchy snacks that provide pleasure and no benefits and start with some good food. Real food. In the long run, it's a bargain. It will cost you less to eat real food, you'll feel like you're doing something useful (preparing), and you'll get more mileage for your dollar.

Today I chatted with a man at the coffee shop who has a very important job. He was having a large coffee, a large cinnamon roll, and a large chocolate chip cookie. He needs to be kinder to his tummy and brain.

Lakeside 2008--a happy Lakesider!

Another Lakeside artist gave my husband a gift certificate to Summer Stock, a tiny deli and "take and bake" spot in Lakeside sharing the laundry building/former fire station. For three days this week (hours are a bit irregular because there's a light crowd in week 9) he was disappointed that he couldn't get his Belgium waffle, his summer-long plan for that gift certificate. But today--success! He even got an extra waffle for his patience and persistence. The usual order ($5.95) is 2 homemade waffles, maple syrup, whipped cream and fruit. Yum!





"How was it," I asked.
"Fabulous, best ever," he replied.
"Will you get another one?"
"No, not this year. Maybe next."

The man has such discipline! Other sample items on Summer Stock's menu include sandwiches, $6.99: Picnic in the park: slow roasted pulled pork barbecue smothered in a secret sauce; The Hoover: Genoa Ham, provolone, mayo. Salad bowls, $8.00: Cobb; Insalata Neapolitana; Spinach and berries. Take 'n Bake for 4 (price varies from $33 to $52): rosemary roasted chicken & wild rice with summer veggies; beef tenderloin kabobs with vegetables; lemon pepper linguine with fresh basil, sundried tomato parmesan and garlic olive oil. Lite bites: fresh salsa and chips (Michelle says this is Obama's downfall); gazpacho soup and chips. Desserts: white chocolate toffee brownie (I put on 5 lbs just typing this); summer berry layered cake.

So where was I, besides taking the photos? Well, I had my usual breakfast--a crisp, sliced apple and walnuts. I don't do sweets for breakfast, or I'd be eating all day. Try it. You'd be surprised how a no sugar, no wheat, no dairy breakfast can hold until lunch.Summer Stock; food & flowers
Phone: 419-798-9290 (call ahead for take 'n bake)
318 W. 2nd St.
Lakeside,Ohio 43440
summerstockfoodandflowers@gmail.com
photos of flowers: http://picasaweb.google.com/Hours
8 am-11 pm Mon-Sat
Sun: 10 am-10 pm
Open late for after Hoover shows
Garden patio on site

3900

Who buys the food in your household?

Kellogg's is going to stop marketing to children under 12. Excuse me? They never sold a thing to my kids when I was in charge of my kitchen table. I didn't take them to the store--hey, it was my only time to be alone! I've never stood in a check out line with a 10 year old holding the check book or credit card with promises to pay off with their earned income.

It's the parents responsibility to choose the food, pay for it, prepare it and serve it.

Disclaimer: No matter how healthy your little family eats (fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy products, whole grains, etc.), once they are on their own and start eating with friends as teens, all health benefits are off the table. Literally. They will joyfully chose junk. Both of my children are good cooks, one is even a gardener who gives me fresh produce in the summer and bakes home made bread, and the other tries Martha's recipes and sets a fabulous holiday table, but there were many years as young adults that they violated everything they learned at home about good nutrition.

You don't need legislation or law suits by special interest groups like Center for Science in the Public Interest who need to find a steady supply of victims to maintain an income stream. Parents with young children just need some common sense, a back bone, and a book or two from the public library. They also need to send the kids outside to play more often and turn off the TV and computer.

BTW, yesterday I ate a bowl of Kellogg's Raisin Bran for breakfast. I was hungry the entire day.