Another way to enjoy oatmeal

Always looking for a new way to make my oatmeal, I recently discovered a love of savory oatmeal. But I found a recipe via Epicurious this week for the exact opposite: something sweet. This recipe is very much like a chocolate no-bake cookie in a bowl.

Chocolate, PB and Banana Oats

INGREDIENTS:
1 C. milk (or non-dairy version)
½ C. old fashioned oats
4 t. cocoa powder
1 t. peanut butter
1 banana, mashed
2 t. brown sugar

PREPARATION:
Mix the milk and oats, and cook as usual. Add remaining four ingredients, and mix thoroughly.

***I used almond milk and Bob's Red Mill Quick Cooking Oats -- delicious!

Found the recipe here.

He's Running For Research! In Dublin, No Less

My boss Jim at All Access Nashville is a survivor of stage 4 non-Hodgkins Lymphoma and now runs marathons with Team In Training to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society research.

He's running a marathon in Dublin, Ireland in October and has a goal to raise $25,000 for research. All donations go toward research, not his trip.

If you can help, visit his fundraising page here.

Choose Enterprise. They'll Pick You Up.

I often use Enterprise Rental Cars when I travel. Best customer service and experience with competitive rates. Have never had a problem until yesterday when I had a not-so-great experience with a local office here in Nashville. After making a reservation online on Monday, I called the office to schedule a "We'll Pick You Up" ride. All was set, or so I thought.

Tuesday noon rolled around. 12:15. No pick-up. So I called and they had no record of the scheduled pick-up. And the courtesy car was out on another pick-up. It would be an hour before they could be there. Which is when I needed to be on the road to Knoxville.

So, that office called another local office (equidistant to my house but further from I-40 East). That office had a car for my reservation and could pick me up. Nice. But they arrived shortly after 1 p.m. so the change of office probably didn't matter at that point.

After getting to the second location, I had another wait until a rep could pull up my reservation. Oye. Clock ticking to my drop-dead time of 1:30 to be on the road. The rep got the paperwork processed, took me to the car and found that it was dirty. She didn't want to give me a dirty car (nice!) but the car she did give me had only a half tank of gas. What a comedy of errors! I made it to Knoxville (barely) on the half tank and made it in time, thankfully.

I returned the car this morning and when the rep Melissa Mink (who wasn't there yesterday) asked about my experience, I explained what all happened. She took 50 percent off my rental fee straightaway. It was the perfect resolution to my trouble the day before without my even having to ask for it. Way to go! I feel like I can continue to sing their praises.

Also, the Twitter feed @enterprisecares also responded quickly to a tweet I made about the missing pick-up and asked for information regarding the reservation. I emailed the information before I left to return the car this morning. I "tweeted" about good experience as I was leaving the office and they replied to the email quickly saying that they saw things had been resolved. My faith has been restored in the customer service of Enterprise...except in the Donelson, TN office.

A New Way to Enjoy Oatmeal

OK, I haven't tried this yet (tomorrow morning!) but I hear it's an amazing way to make your oatmeal. Not sweet but savory - with an egg on top! Yes, please!

Savory Oatmeal:

(The recipe comes from this blog. She's a food photographer, too, so there are some real nice pictures to see as well.)

INGREDIENTS:

steel cut oats or rolled oats
olive oil
flaky sea salt
cracked pepper
aged sharp cheddar
additional toppings, poached or sunny-side up egg, sauteed veggies, or other savory ingredients to taste

 

PREPARATION:

Follow directions for making oats. I normally bring 2 cups of water to a raging boil, add 1 cup of steel cut oats and lower heat to low. Cook slowly for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Oats are done when they are soft unless you prefer them more al dente.

Dish the oatmeal into bowls. The remaining ingredients are to your liking.

I start with the olive oil, add a 1/2 a tablespoon, maybe a pinch of salt, a few twists of crack pepper, and a shaving of cheese. Mix it all together and taste. Maybe add a little more oil, a pinch more of salt, pepper and cheese…mix…taste…I find that I add as I go with this dish.

A. Reads To Auntie Jackie

I've been able to spend the last few days with family in Michigan. My 1.5yo niece is a chatterbox and reader. When you put those two together, you get this....

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150201419116061&comments

Russian Tea Cookies

My family also calls these snowball cookies, probably because they look like little snowballs and we always had them at Christmastime. But I guess the official name for the cookies are Russian tea cookies. My Aunt Marilyn gave me my Grandma's handwritten recipe while I was home for the holidays; it was like receiving a little heirloom.

Russian Tea Cookies:

INGREDIENTS:
1 C. butter or margarine
1/2 C. powdered sugar
2 1/2 C. flour
1 t. vanilla
3/4 C. chopped walnuts or pecans

DIRECTIONS:
Blend the ingredients together well. Form into 1" balls and bake at 350 degrees for 13-14 minutes. Remove from the oven and roll the cookies in powdered sugar. Let cool completely and roll in powdered sugar again.

***This can be vegan if made with the margarine or EarthBalance (I used EarthBalance in my last batch; tasted great!)

Black Bean and Couscous Salad

I got an e-mail from AllRecipes.com with a list of Tangy Bean Salads so I had to try one. The one that I had the most ingredients for was the Black Bean and Couscous Salad, except I didn't have the couscous, cilantro or red pepper and I was almost out of olive oil. I substituted quinoa and vegetable broth (to make it vegetarian) and it worked well. Tangy indeed!

Black Bean and Couscous Salad:

INGREDIENTS:

1 C. uncooked couscous
1 1/4 C. chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 T. fresh lime juice
1 t. red wine vinegar
1/2 t. ground cumin
8 green onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/4 C. chopped fresh cilantro
1 C. frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a 2-quart or larger sauce pan and stir in the couscous. Cover the pot and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, vinegar and cumin. Add green onions, red pepper, cilantro, corn and beans and toss to coat. Fluff the couscous well, breaking up any chunks. Add to the bowl with the vegetables and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve at once or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Find the recipe here.