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Monday, September 30, 2013

Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal


So I'm still on an apple kick, using up all of our apples from our apple-picking excursion and I don't really see an end in sight.  I may have to go picking again, I'm getting so hooked on fresh apples in everything!  Something else I'm hooked on, particularly in autumn...baked goods for breakfast.  Like most people, during the week I'm generally running out the door as fast as I can for work and while I never skip breakfast (what kind of future dietitian would I be??), I don't often have time to bake from scratch on a weekday morning, i.e. never.  So weekends are it for us, but I try my hardest to take advantage of them.  This weekend I made a baked apple cinnamon oatmeal that satisfied my baked breakfast items addiction while still remaining healthy and very tasty.  This recipe is really easy and can even double as a healthy dessert with a little bit of vanilla yogurt or ice cream...yum!

Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal


3 cups rolled oats
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine oats, cinnamon, baking powder, and brown sugar in a large bowl and mix well.  Whisk together apple sauce, melted butter, eggs, and milk in a separate bowl and then pour into dry ingredients, mixing well.  Pour mixture into greased 9 x 9 baking pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.

Makes 9 servings.




Sunday, September 29, 2013

Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce


Autumn is officially here and I'm celebrating this week with one of my favorite fall fruits: Apples.  Living in Upstate NY, we're lucky to have apple orchards almost as frequent as Wegman's locations and that means plenty of opportunities to pick your own or purchase already picked apples from a local farm.  Why are apples so great?  Because they're not only nutritious and inexpensive, but they're extremely versatile in ways to eat them.  Apples are an excellent source of fiber, low in calories and easy to transport to bring with you to have with your lunch or as a snack.  They are great just simply raw, but they can also be baked and added to oatmeal or by themselves with a little cinnamon for a low calorie dessert.  Of course they're always great in a homemade pie, fritter, or dumpling, but adding them to a favorite whole wheat muffin recipe can make for a delicious breakfast or snack.  Using applesauce in place of oil is another way to cut down on calories from fat when baking.  In addition to all of these attributes, I can't think of a better way to spend a beautiful fall afternoon than picking your own apples. Here's a little bit about the different varieties of apples offered here in New York State:

McIntosh: sweet with a little bit of tartness and very juicy, great on their own for snacking or for cooking
Empire: also sweet and slightly tart and juicy, also great for snacking
Gala: very crisp and mildly sweet
Jonagold: sweet and juicy with a little tartness, great for cooking
Cortland: sweet with a little tartness, white on the inside- I like these best for baking
Red Delicious: dark red color, very sweet
Paula Red: very crisp, tart and juicy, good for baking
Macoun: very sweet and juicy
Autumn Crisp: very crisp and juicy

It's hard to decide on my favorite recipe to use with apples, so I think I'll just start with this super simple one for homemade cinnamon applesauce that can be added to many other dishes and maybe share a few more as the week goes on.  I love this recipe because only takes about 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook and you only need 3 ingredients...pretty easy huh?  I also love it because you can freeze any extra applesauce you have, use it for baking, or as a topping for pancakes, oatmeal, or with a little low fat vanilla yogurt for a healthy dessert.  Here's what I did:

Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce


4-5 large apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
1 cup water
2-3 cinnamon sticks

Place apple slices in a large pot and add water and cinnamon sticks.  Bring to a boil, then lower temperature to a simmer and cook covered for about 20 minutes or until apples are soft and most of the water is absorbed.  Remove remaining cinnamon sticks and use a potato masher to mash apples.  If you prefer smoother applesauce, you can use a hand blender or food processor to blend out all of the chunks.





A good idea for using all of the apple peels and cinnamon sticks after your done prepping is to place them all in a saucepan with water and simmer them, making a very cheap and environmentally-friendly air freshener for your home.  Who can resist the scent of apples and cinnamon on a chilly fall day?

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Late Summer Ratatouille


Although the signs of autumn are all around, apples, school buses, and the first few crunchy leaves on the ground, the recent hot weather has reminded me that summer is not quite over yet.  I'm glad for that because there are still a few more summer dishes I want to savor before the cold weather moves in...and living in Syracuse that may be tomorrow...I'll make sure my snow boots are out just in case.  Checking our garden lately has ended up in pleasant surprises finding yellow squash and zucchini that I had previously written off as a failure.  I've also recently raided my parents' herb garden which have perennial herbs that I'm pretty sure are older than I am.  Adding in some of our tomato harvest and a few bell peppers shared by my husband's coworker from their garden overflow, I made a delicious late summer ratatouille tonight that made me a little bit sad to see the season go.  For this ratatouille, I'd like to note that I forgot to add in eggplant, but I wish I had so I'll add that to the ingredients list.  Also, I added in cannellini beans which is bit untraditional, but added a nice flavor and made the dish a little more hearty which would be great if you're planning on serving it as a main course.  Here's what I did:

Late Summer Ratatouille


2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 medium yellow squash, large diced
1 medium zucchini, large diced
1 medium eggplant, large diced
1 medium bell pepper
1 large tomato, diced
1 small yellow onion, cut in half and finely sliced
1 can of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
A few grinds of fresh black pepper


Prepare all of the diced vegetables ahead of time to make life easier.  Heat olive oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat.  Saute garlic and onions for about 3 minutes, stirring often.  Add in squash, zucchini, eggplant and peppers and cook for about 5 minutes or until they start to become tender.  Add in tomatoes and beans followed by oregano, basil and pepper. Cook for another 2-3 minutes then lower heat and cover.  Allow to simmer for at least 20 minutes before serving.