Domestic Goddess At Work

Today’s Numbers: Nancy's Total Movement Mileage: 81.4 (running: 46.5; walking: 5.1; biking: 29.8) Money Found For Food Bank: $15.55

2,015 in 2015 Team Progress (seriously ... name!!): Nancy: 81.4  Aaron: 69.2 (b: 55.9; w: 13.3)  Elly: 14.5 Total: 165.1

I'm ready to put the Winter decs behind
us and get on with Valentine's Day!

I have been nothing short of a domestic goddess today. With a morning that started much earlier than usual, and no running on the schedule, I knew I'd have some extra time to do such things as put around some Valentine decorations, reveal the real color of my furniture by dusting, and take some time to experiment in the kitchen! I've been poking around quite a bit lately not only looking for fast-but-healthy dinner options but also for options along the snack lines. I found one that I think is great as it is and one that is good but could probably use a tweak! Both are totally worth passing along, so here you go!

First, the one that I need to store in serving sizes or the whole thing will be g.o.n.e.

From The Canyon Ranch Kitchen, Pumpkin Crunch:

Ohhh, yes ... this is in my kitchen right now!! That's literally
my batch! I'm so proud.

Servings: 10 (¼-cup ea.)

Ingredients 

1 cup pumpkin seeds
1½ tsp canola oil
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp allspice
½ tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1¼ cups dried cranberries

 

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 300F. Lightly spray a baking sheet with canola oil spray.
2. Toss seeds with oil in a small bowl. Spread the coated seeds on the baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, or until almost dry.
3. Place seeds in a medium bowl and mix in maple syrup until coated.
4. Combine spices in a small bowl and add mixture to the seeds. Stir to combine.
5. Return seeds to the baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes, or until dry, stirring occasionally. Turn the pan several times to ensure even roasting, checking frequently—seeds burn easily. Set seeds aside until completely cool, about 30 minutes.
6. Combine seeds and dried cranberries in a large bowl. Store in a tightly sealed container.

I admit I was a teeny bit wary of using syrup because I don't like it. But, it all seemed to make sense when I read the whole recipe, so I didn't divert (ours is a lite version, and I, personally, would not hesitate to use sugar-free. But, I like savory more than sweet.).

Pumpkin seed amendment: The ones I bought were already roasted and salted, so I did not use any salt in the recipe, and I did the initial roasting for only 10 minutes to make sure I didn't burn them. I also used 5 ounces, which is a little more than the cup called for in the recipe, but there was only about 1/4 Cup left in my bag, so I figured I'd use them all. I also have about a 1/4 Cup more cranberry in my recipe for the same reason on not wanting just that many left over.

Oh! Here's the nutrition for this one per serving: 125 calories; 7 g. fat; 4 g. protein; 13 g. carbohydrates; 1 g. fiber; 0 g. cholesterol (123 mg. salt for the original recipe; 14 mg. for seeds I used; check your package)

This recipe was perfect. The only problem with it was that the pumpkin seeds were on the counter cooling while I made the next recipe, and all I wanted to do was eat them all. But, I didn't.

So, with those taunting me to the side, I went on to make Baked Oatmeal To Go from the Shayla J. Health & Fitness Facebook page! I made them in mini form ...

... and, in squares!

Here's the original recipe:

Ingredients
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups applesauce, unsweetened
1 banana, mashed
6 packets of Sweetleaf Stevia or 1½ teaspoons stevia powder or use ½ cup honey
5 cups, Old Fashioned rolled oats {Bob’s Red Mill}
¼ cup flaxseed meal
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2¾ cups milk
Optional toppings: raisins, walnuts, chocolate chips

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix eggs, vanilla, applesauce, banana and Stevia together in a bowl.
Add in oats, flax, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and mix well with wet ingredients.
Finally pour in milk and combine.
Spray a 12 and 6 capacity muffin tin with cooking spray or use cupcake liners. Pour mixture evenly into muffin tin cups.
If using toppings add them onto the tops of muffins now. If using fresh or frozen fruit, drop it right into the batter.
Bake 30 minutes until a toothpick in center comes out clean.
Cool and enjoy or freeze them in gallon freezer bags.

Nutrition Info (without toppings):
Servings: 18* Calories for one: 143* Fat: 4g* Cholesterol: 25mg* Sodium: 161mg* Fiber: 4g* Sugars: 4g* Carbs: 23g* Protein: 6g*

Okay, a couple of things. First, I omitted the banana because I only like bananas in their natural, fresh-from-the-peel form. Cook 'em? Forget about it. Gone.

If only you came in a
bear bottle ...

Second: Because I fear recipes turning out too sweet, I did two things. First, I used sugar-free honey which I didn't even know existed until I was standing in the store opting for honey instead of Stevia. What I really wanted was to get honey in one of those bear bottles, but the sugar-free variety doesn't come in one. I won't even pretend like I wasn't a wee bit disappointed. But, I also normally hate honey, and this sugar-free number was really quite good straight from the container. I kind of expected it to make me gag, and that didn't happen even a little, bitty bit.

I also cut its use in half from the 1/2 Cup called for to 1/4 Cup. I tasted the mixture before baking, and it was plenty sweet for me. Feel free to disagree and use all that is called for. I was most definitely not after something sweet ... totally got it, too!

The taste assessment: I love the foundation of these. I am totally on board with having one of these over almost any packaged granola bar because of the lower sweet factor. They are a great base, but I do think they're made for being topped or otherwise having some kind of fruit mixed in to them. As they are, they remind me of plain oatmeal (which I enjoy). But, like with plain oatmeal, it needs just a little something, and I found the slightest sprinkle of salt took it up a positive notch. I'm going to double the cinnamon in my next batch, too. My next batch will be made with dried cranberries mixed in or other topping requested by the fam.

By the way, the recipe made 24 mini muffin sized and 18 cupcake sized (which are the squares). For real, it made a ton!

Between baking and getting some of my windows clean enough to again see out of, it's been a busy one around here this morning! Tomorrow's run is going to feel like a huge break in comparison ... and, I'll take it!! Enjoy your Tuesday, and I see you after the morning run!