I Love... Baked Oatmeal

Once upon a time (a few years ago) my housemates and I would host Sunday breakfast potlucks. So for a while I used to make my specialty - baked oatmeal - on a regular basis. 

Then somehow I forgot all about it until one of the housemates e-mailed me a couple weeks ago to say that she was eating my baked oatmeal all the time. I didn't even have the recipe anymore. This appalled her, so she e-mailed it to me right away:

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Baked Oatmeal

one banana, mashed

two eggs

three cups of oatmeal

1/2 tsp baking powder

one cup milk

brown sugar or maple syrup

spices

a chopped apple

in a bowl combine the banana, eggs and oatmeal. mix in the milk, spices and sweeteners desires. add chopped apple [if you like]. bake at 350 for about twenty five minutes.

best served on cold mornings in shallow bowls when made by a roommate.

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So that's all there is to it! Meaghan says that she's modified the recipe a bit - she uses one egg instead of two, and two apples instead of one. She also uses rice milk, and throws in some psyllium fibre and millet for extra binding power.

When I made this again I omitted the eggs entirely and uses "chia eggs" instead. I would have used psyllium too, but I was having a senile moment. Anyways, it makes a fabulous breakfast or snack food.

I Love... Kale Chips

I've known about kale chips for a while now, but I've never made them. Then a blog post called A Tale of Kale reminded me again of what I might be missing out on.

In less than 15 minutes, I had a big bowlful of crispy kale, lightly flavoured with olive oil and French sea salt.

Last week I was convinced that coconut can replace bacon. Now this week, I'm surprised to admit that kale chips could replace potato chips. They have the same satisfying crunch and salty taste, I swear!

I Love My Magnetic Spice Jars

When I was apartment hunting, I knew I wanted a place with charm and character, great architectural details and wooden floors. But equally important was a close proximity to the health food store. What would I do if I couldn't easily buy spices in bulk?

For the longest time I stored my spices in a wicker basket,  in the same plastic bags that I scooped them into.  I tried to be organized - I sorted them according to whether they were herbs or spices, hot or savoury. I made lists of my collection. I even updated the lists sometimes.

But all organizational tactics would eventually fail. Bags were tossed on the table in an attempt to find marjoram or mustard seeds.

My solution? Magnetic spice jars. 

I'd been looking for a while but Ikea was expensive (3 for $10?!) and I'd heard mixed reviews of DIY methods. I finally came across some at Bulk Barn and they were reasonable - about $1.45 each. 

It's honestly improved my cooking experience. I'm just so pleased when I can grab the spices I need, no tossing about required.