Bran Muffins

 I made these muffins last week to use up a bag of oat bran that was taking up space in my freezer. 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt

• 2/3 cup water

• 1/2 cup date sugar

• ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce

• 1 tbs ground flaxseed

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 ½ cups bran (wheat and/or oat)

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or substitute another whole grain flour)

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ½ cup Craisins (or raisins or other dried fruit)

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Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Combine wet ingredients (yogurt through vanilla extract). Combine dry ingredients (bran through salt). 

3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add Craisins and mix until combined.

4. Fill muffin liners in muffin tin and bake 15 to 20 minutes. 

Pumpkin Spice Groatnola

This is my new favorite breakfast, courtesy of NutritionFacts.org's Instagram account. I eat the groatnola as a cold cereal with golden raisins, pumpkin seeds, and unsweetened soy milk. It's not really sweet at all on its own, but the addition of raisins and milk makes it really good, kind of like a raisin bran crunch flavor.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup uncooked buckwheat groats, rinsed
1 large cooked sweet potato (1¼-1½ cups mashed)
1-2 teaspoon(s) cinnamon, or more to taste
2-3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, or more to taste
8-12 cups rolled oats

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Preheat the oven to 250F

2) In a sauce pan, bring 1½ cups water to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and add the uncooked buckwheat groats. Cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes or until soft.

3) Add the cooked buckwheat and sweet potato to a large mixing bowl. Using a potato masher or a fork, mash together until well combined. Add the pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon, and continue mashing together.

4) Add 8 cups of rolled oats and stir until the mixture is well combined and forms clumps. 

5) Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Spread the granola on the cookie sheets. Bake for 2½ hours. 

Vegan Breakfast Sausages

This recipe is originally from Hell Yeah It's Vegan, but the site went down and now, each time I make this, I scramble to find copies of the recipe that have been saved elsewhere. Occasionally I've found what I thought was the right recipe but it had the wrong ratios and didn't taste right. Here it is for my future reference. The directions are to the best of my memory.

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup tvp

1/2 cup boiling water

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup oat bran

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp ground flaxseed

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp crushed sage leaves

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup water

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp blackstrap molasses

oil for frying

 

 

Directions

 

1) Combine the tvp and 1/2 cup boiling water. Let it sit for 10 minutes.

 

2) Combine the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a separate bowl.

3) Add liquid smoke, soy sauce, maple syrup, and molasses to the tvp and combine.

4) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together. Add up to 1/4 cup water as necessary to get the dough to stick together in patty form.

5) Heat 2 tbs vegetable oil in a skillet and cook sausage patties on both sides until evenly brown. Serve hot.

6) Reheat leftovers in toaster oven for 5 minutes at 425 degrees.

Cinnamon Rolls

Sameer's favorite cinnamon roll recipe for his future reference.

From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q0FYoCl4Cs&feature=youtu.be

Bloom Yeast

2 cups warm milk

0.5 cups white sugar

0.5 cups melted butter

2.25 TSP yeast

Bloom for 10 mins

4 cups flour

Rise for an hour

Sugar Spread

0.75 cups light brown sugar

0.75 cups  softened butter

2 TBSP cinnamon 

Add 1 cup of flour to dough

add 1 TSP baking powder

Add 2 TSP salt

Dough hook dough

Roll into sheet

Add cinnamon mix

Roll

Cut into cinnamon rolls

Put on buttered cookie sheet and let rise 45 mins

Bake 350 for 27 mins

Icing:

4 oz cream cheese

2 TBSP melted butter

4 TBSP milk 

1 TSP vanilla

Combine above and gradually add

1 cup powdered sugar

Blueberry BROL Breakfast Bowl

 

 

This is my new go-to breakfast.  I cook the BROL in advance and keep it in the refrigerator ready to go.  One batch lasts almost a week.  Then in the morning I put one cup of BROL, 1 tbs of ground flaxseed, and half a cup of frozen wild blueberries in a bowl and stir them up and microwave them for 90 seconds.  Then cut up a banana on top for added sweetness.

Almond Milk

From The How Not to Die Cookbook.  I ran out of store-bought soy milk, and the batch I made from dry soy beans 1) was not very good tasting, and 2) yielded an incredibly small amount of milk.  So today I made this almond milk for use in my coffee.  I'll try to buy unsweetened soy milk the next time I go to the store, but this does just fine in its place.

Ingredients
2 tbs raw almond butter
2 cups water

Directions

1) Put ingredients in blender and blend until smooth.  Store in refrigerator.  Shake before using.

New Kale-Berry Smoothie

My regular morning smoothie recipe has changed enough to warrant an update.  Here is its current iteration.  I make it every day now, give Simran a little 4 oz glass worth, and Sameer and I each get a 16 oz glassful.  

Ingredients

1) 2 cup water

2) 1 tsp amla powder (because it's supposed to help lower cholesterol -- skip it if you want)

3) chunk of fresh or frozen ginger

4) 3 tbs ground flax seeds

4) 1/4 - 1/2 cup pineapple chunks (I buy canned pineapple in juice for this)

5) 1 banana, fresh or frozen

6) about a thumb size chunk of fresh or frozen turmeric root (because it's supposed to decrease inflammation in the body.  I haven't been to Patel Bros in ages, which is the only place I've ever found frozen turmeric, so I've learned that buying a few handfuls of fresh turmeric, washing it, cutting it into large chunks and putting it in a ziploc bag in the freezer is quick and easy -- don't bother peeling it)

 

7) 2 cups packed frozen kale (or dark leafy green of your choice.  If you wash and freeze them in advance, they have very little flavor, which is a good thing in a berry smoothie.  They taste much greener fresh.  It's not good.  Note:  Spinach has less flavor fresh, but it's high in oxalates, so I only use it when I have some that needs to be used up.  You can use whatever dark leafy greens you have, but when I'm shopping for smoothie ingredients, I just get green kale.)

8) 1/2 - 1 cup berries (strawberries, blueberries, pitted dark sweet cherries, bags of organic mixed berries from the freezer section, whatever I've got -- wild blueberries are my favorite for flavor and antioxidants)

Directions

1) Put all ingredients into a high-speed blender.  Blend until smooth.  Serve cold. 

Mexican Omelet

This is a knock-off of the omelet I like best at French Roast NYC.  All amounts are poorly estimated from memory.  It tastes dramatically better with Gruyere than with any other cheese.  I'm not sure why, but I've tried it with whatever I had on hand (frequently cheddar) and it wasn't as good.

Ingredients
3 eggs
1/3 cup Gruyere, shredded (is that a normal amount of cheese for an omelet? you just want a normal amount.)
1/4 cup tomato, diced
2 tbs guacamole
salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1) Whisk the eggs, salt, and pepper in a mixing cup.  Heat the skillet, and lightly oil.  I like to spray it with Pam and then melt a pat of butter onto it.  Keep the heat medium or lower so the eggs don't brown.

2) Pour the eggs into the skillet and allow to cook for about fifteen seconds.  Add shredded Gruyere, tomatoes, and guacamole on one half.  Then fold the other half of the eggs over the filling.  Cook just long enough for cheese to melt and eggs inside to finish cooking.  Serve immediately.

Kale Berry Smoothie

The tropical kale smoothie that had been my daily breakfast for the last year or two has slowly morphed into this kale-berry smoothie.  I've been slowly replacing ingredients with ingredients that seem to have more health benefits, based on Dr. Michael Greger's Nutrition Facts podcast, website, book, and "daily dozen" app. 

Here is how I've been making it these days.  It makes two servings.  I drink a 16 oz glassful and put the other half in a 20 oz mason jar in the fridge for lunch or breakfast the next day.  It is a fantastic start to the day and keeps me full till lunch.

Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk (I use WestSoy these days because its ingredient list is limited to water and soy beans and it tastes good AND it's even shelf stable.  It's expensive though.  A lot cheaper at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods than at my local Jewel.  I should really take another stab at making my own soy milk...)
1/4 cup pineapple (I use chunks canned in their own juice.)
1 ripe banana (fresh or frozen)
1 tsp amla (Indian gooseberry) powder, from dried whole fruit (I bought this on Amazon)
1 tsp chia seeds (or hemp seeds -- I think pretty much any seed would do fine here, it's just to add a touch of fat)
2 tbs ground flaxseed
2 cups frozen kale (I buy fresh curly green kale, tear it up and wash it, and put it in a bag in the freezer for these smoothies.  I've used it without freezing it, and it overpowers the entire smoothie with its green leafy taste.  If I don't have frozen kale, I use fresh baby spinach, which I keep on hand.  I also am not sure it's exactly two cups.  I fill the entire blender with green until there's barely room for the berries.)
1/2 cup berries (This is really good with whole strawberries, wild blueberries, or any kind of berry blend.  I usually get organic ones from the Trader Joe's freezer section.)

Directions

1. Put all ingredients in a high speed blender, blend, and drink.  Makes two servings.

Unsweetened Cashew Soy Yogurt

Nowhere in my region seems to sell unsweetened vegan yogurt, but fortunately it seems to be as simple as making dairy yogurt.  I have now made vegan yogurt two different ways, one with cashew and one without.  The cashewed version is obviously fattier, but it also has a significantly nicer texture.  I got the recipe from Miyoko Schinner's Artisan Vegan Cheese.  I've eaten it plain (would be great in a parfait) and also used it in place of plain dairy yogurt in things like Cranberry Waldorf salad. 

Ingredients
4 cups unsweetened soy milk
2/3 cups cashews, soaked in water for 3 hours then drained and rinsed
1 probiotic capsule (this is the only one I've ever used for this purpose because Fo Reals Life, where I found my non-cashewed vegan yogurt recipe, said it's the best)


Directions

1. Put the cashews and 1 cup of the soy milk in a blender and process until smooth and creamy.
2. Transfer to a heavy medium saucepan and whisk in the remaining soy milk.
3. Warm over low heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture reaches 110 degrees F or until a few drop placed on the wrist feel barely warm. Remove from the heat. 
4. Empty the probiotic capsule into the warm milk and stir until thoroughly combined.
5. Pour into a clean 1 quart glass jar and cover. Let rest in a warm place for 4 - 8 hours, until set and the desired degree of tartness has been achieved.  Alternately, use a yogurt maker, which is severely unnecessary, but mine was a gift.
6. Refrigerate the yogurt; it will thicken more as it cools.
7. Stored in a covered container in the refrigerator, Cashew Yogurt will keep for 1 to 2 weeks.

French Toast Sticks

This recipe is a minor variation on the Banana French Toast recipe from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease.

Ingredients
1/2 cup oat, almond, or nonfat soy milk (I use unsweetened -- the banana and raisin make up for it)
1 ripe banana, cut up
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch ground nutmeg
5 slices Ezekiel 4:9 Cinnamon Raisin Sprouted Whole Grain Bread (found in the freezer section of most grocery stores, typically with the healthy or gluten-free foods)

Directions

1.  Slice the bread into sticks, about three per slice.

2.  Blend first four ingredients in blender until smooth, then pour into a shallow bowl.

3. Dip both sides of bread in mixture.

4.  Cook in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F, turning once, until both sides are golden brown (I'll have to add an approximate time after I make these again -- I just remember it being simple and surprisingly good).  Serve alone or with maple syrup or fruit.

Tropical Kale Smoothie

I've been making this for breakfast pretty much everyday for awhile now.  I put any leftovers in the fridge until lunch.  It's better tasting than the spinach smoothie that tastes like banana bread, and it has more calcium on account of the kale.  The original recipe is from thedailymeal.com.  I've made a few changes in mine, mostly to increase calcium because my intake was a little low. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)
• 1/2 cup coconut water
• 2 tsp hemp seeds
• 1/4 cup rolled oats (optional, but it helps me feel full a little longer)
• 1 - 2 cups frozen kale (I use curly green kale -- I de-spine and wash it when I first buy it and toss it in a bag in the freezer to use whenever -- the freezing process also kills a lot of the flavor, so it's kind of gross if you don't freeze the kale)
• ½ cup pineapple (I use canned chunks in their own juice)
• ½ cup frozen mango 
• 1 frozen banana   

Directions

1. Add ingredients to blender in order listed above (they blend up easier if the liquids are closest to the blade).  Blend until smooth, and serve.

Banana-Oatmeal Muffins -- 1st Attempt

This is my first recorded attempt at no-sugar, no-oil, vegan, 100% whole grain banana muffins.  I recall doing something of this sort last year in bread loaf form, but I can't find written evidence, so I don't know what recipe I used.  I just remember the flavor was good but it turned out a bit too wet from all the banana and didn't cook all the way through, which is why I'm making muffins this time.  It's also why I wanted to include rolled oats -- it seemed like they might hold things together as they hydrate and make the bread chewier and less dense.  If they still sort of fall apart, I'm going to try adding 1/4 cup wheat bran next time.  If they need to be sweeter, I think I'll have to add chopped dates or raw date syrup because they are significantly sweeter than bananas.  If they are too dry, I'll just add more bananas (or date syrup).  I tasted the batter before baking, and it seemed to have a slightly bitter aftertaste.  I think next time I'll reduce the baking powder to 1 tsp (and remember the baking soda).

I used this recipe from Saveur for an idea of dry measurements, but it was still kind of a crap shoot since I'm not using sugar or butter or eggs.

They just came out of the oven and are weirdly lumpy, though I'm not sure if that's because of the rolled oats or the lack of baking soda.  I'll post a verdict and outline plans for my second attempt after they're cool enough to taste.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda (which I just realized I forgot to include in the muffin batter -- I'm guessing this will make them denser than they would have been otherwise...?)
1/4 tsp salt
5 large bananas (why five?  because I had six overripe bananas on my kitchen counter, and one appeared to have gone bad)
2 tbs flaxseed meal
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin tins with muffin cups.

2. Use a standing mixer (or very forceful arm) to beat bananas into mostly-liquid form.  Add flaxseed meal and vanilla.

3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add to wet ingredients and stir until just incorporated.

4.  Fold in rolled oats and walnuts.  Scoop into muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes.

[Edited 1/20/2015: These were surprisingly not bad.  The flavor was pretty good, obviously not as sweet as most muffins, but I will easily finish off the batch.  The texture was better than I've had with oil-free baking; I think the oatmeal helped a lot.  Next time I'm going to use six bananas for the added moisture plus sweetener, remember to include the baking soda, and reduce the baking powder to 2 tsp.  I don't think the kind of nuts used matters that much, but I do think their inclusion is vital to the semblance of normal texture.]

Simran's Cinnamon-Raisin Oatmeal

I don't buy instant oatmeal, and while old-fashioned rolled oats only take about five minutes to cook, it's still too long for Simran to wait patiently for breakfast, especially since they have to cool for about another ten, so I was pleased to figure out this tactic for making us a hot breakfast on the particularly cold winter days.  This is enough for the two of us -- I eat about a cup of cooked oatmeal and she eats 2 - 3 times that much.

Ingredients
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
2 dashes ground cinnamon
2 cups non-dairy milk

Directions

1. Mix together all ingredients in a medium-sized pot, uncovered over medium heat.

2. This is when I go get Simran up in the morning.  It takes about 5 - 7 minutes to get her up and bring her downstairs, at which point the oats are at a low but rolling boil.  I turn off the heat immediately, stir the oatmeal, and leave it uncovered in the pot while we take Sameer to the train station.  By the time we get home about 15 minutes later, I put the oatmeal in bowls and it's just cool enough to eat.

[Edited 12/18/2016: I've been using exclusively unsweetened almond milk in this recipe for months now (stopped buying the sweetened variety quite awhile back), and Simran never seemed to notice the change.  She still requests this "hotmeal" on a semi-regular basis.  I don't think it tastes particularly good, but she has zero experience with sweetened instant oatmeal packets and eats this stuff by the pot.]

Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars

I saw some pumpkin spice granola at Trader Joe's last week and thought, "I could make that."  I glanced at the ingredients section and came home and made this.  I am very proud of it because it's pretty tasty and incredibly healthy.  It seems to be Simran's new favorite thing, and it's sweet and chewy enough that you can't really tell there is no sugar or oil.

Ingredients:
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup sesame seeds
3/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
14 oz. pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling, just the pumpkin part)
15 medjool dates, pitted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

2. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper. 

3. Toast sesame seeds and chopped pecans in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Make sure to keep them moving so they don't burn.  When they start to smell toasty (1-2 minutes), remove from heat.

4. If you have a high-speed blender, I recommend putting the pumpkin puree and pitted dates and vanilla in it and blending them up.  If not, chop the dates as finely as you can and add them to the puree and vanilla.

5. Combine rolled oats, nuts, salt, and spices in a large bowl.  Add pumpkin mixture, and stir in raisins.

6. Pour granola into prepared baking pan and smooth out evenly.  Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.  Store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Green Monster

Simran has enjoyed smoothie recipes from OhSheGlows.com before, and I've been trying to come up with more ways to offer her green veggies, so tomorrow I plan to make her a classic green monster.  We have a couple handfuls of fresh baby spinach leftover from dinner tonight, so it's just the right amount to use up on this recipe. 

If I serve it in a proper glass with a straw and perpetually caution her not to spill it all over herself, I think she'll get excited enough to try it.  I like that it works for breakfast and snack time too.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond milk, or milk of choice
• 1 ripe banana, peeled and frozen overnight
• 2 handfuls organic spinach or 1 handful destemmed kale leaves
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds OR ground flax
• 1 tablespoon almond or peanut butter (optional)
• 2-4 ice cubes, as desired
• dash of cinnamon

Directions:

1. Starting with the liquid, add in 1 cup of milk of your choice. Now add in the chia or flax and nut butter. Next, add in the spinach followed by the banana on top. Blend until smooth. Add in your ice cubes and blend some more. Serves 1- about 2 cups.

Flax & Pumpkin Seed Corn Bread

This comes from Whole Foods' recipe site. 

 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup flaxseed
• 1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon powdered gluten-free egg replacer (such as Ener-G)
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 1/4 cup high oleic safflower oil or canola oil
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (use more for a sweeter flavor)
• 1/3 cup roasted pumpkin seeds

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8-inch loaf pan with olive or canola oil spray.

In a mini-food processor or coffee grinder, process flaxseed until finely ground, 10 to 20 seconds.

In a large bowl, combine ground flaxseed, flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, combine egg replacer with warm water, stirring with a whisk. Stir in soy milk, oil and maple syrup. Make a well in dry ingredients and add liquid ingredients. Stir until just combined. Stir in pumpkin seeds.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan and continue cooling on the rack.

Oatie Pancakes

I mentioned in another post wanting to find a 100% whole grain pancake recipe.  I pulled this one from Caldwell Esselstyn's Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease and substituted oat flour for the barley flour, solely because I had oat flour already in the pantry.  I'm sure you could also substitute 2 cups rolled oats that had been run through a food processor for a few minutes for both the grains -- my food processor only works so well, so I'd end up with half oats, half flour anyway.  Simran and I ate these pancakes with unsweetened applesauce and they were okay, but I think I could make an interesting sort of whole grain crepe from these and fill them with a no-sugar-added winter fruit compote.  I think I'd only have to make them a bit bigger (and I think they might even be crepe thin and still hold up if the rolled oats are omitted).

Ingredients
1 cup barley flour
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 tbs baking powder
2 cups non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond, though I have reason to believe sweetened would taste a bit better.)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Mix all dry ingredients in a small bowl.  Mix the vanilla into the milk.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk until there are no more chunks of dry flour.  (You can do this step the night before you make the pancakes and just keep the batter in the fridge.  It'll be a nicer, thicker consistency that way.)

2. Heat a skillet over medium-low heat.  Add a small amount of non-stick cooking spray (you'll only need to do this once, not for each pancake).  Ladle a portion of the batter into the skillet and let cook over medium-low heat until even the top layer of the pancake looks mostly dry, then flip with a spatula and cook the other side.  Please note these pancakes do not burn as easily or cook as quickly as standard buttermilk pancakes.  Serve with maple syrup or warm fruit compote. 

Healthy Whole-Grain Breakfasts

I'm making a list here of the new breakfast recipes I'm going to try so that I can find them again easily.  The vegan overnight oats aren't as appealing to Simran or to me now that it's so cold outside, and making a proper bowl of hot oatmeal takes at least five minutes, which is about four minutes longer than Simran will tolerate in the morning.  My criteria for a good breakfast are whole-grain, high-fiber, low-fat, and low- or no-sugar. 

At the moment I'm making a pot of make ahead steel cut oatmeal to heat up in the microwave tomorrow morning.  If it goes well, I could easily make this with different flavors, such as cinnamon-raisin, pumpkin, apple-spice, and pecan pie (which I imagine would have chopped pecans and Medjool dates with a hint of maple syrup).  There are other versions on the website too.  I like to use bananas and raisins as much as possible in this sort of thing since they are both naturally very sweet and can make added sweeteners unnecessary.  I also plan to try:

Basic Oatmeal Squares
Pumpkin Gingerbread Smoothies (I think I've made this before for Simran's afternoon snack.  It was a pumpkin smoothie from ohsheglows.com anyway, and it was fantastic.)
Carrot Cake Oatmeal (I wonder how much of this could be made ahead, or if it could be done in the fashion of the make ahead steel cut oatmeal.  I've been wanting to try this recipe for a long time, but now that I've received a salad shooter that shreds vegetables automatically for Christmas, I'll actually bother.  I hate shredding carrots by hand.)
Whole-Grain Pancakes, possibly from Caldwell Esselstyn's book or similar, served with fresh fruit or warm fruit compote
I'd also like to experiment with more low-sugar quick breads.  I've made decent pumpkin bread and banana bread that are entirely whole-grain and relatively low-sugar -- about a third of the sugar of a regular quick bread recipe anyway.

When the weather turns warm again, I plan to try:
Green Monster (not sure if Simran will love or hate this)
I also want to experiment with making some whole-fruit sorbets maybe with ground rolled oats in them to add some bulk and staying power.  Though I might just want to make this into fruit smoothies in the fashion of the pumpkin gingerbread one since that might be even easier, both to make and to consume.
Side note: The next time I make vegan overnight oats, I plan to add the banana and any other fruit right before eating it.  I think it will look more appetizing since the chopped banana tends to brown in the fridge.  This would also make it into a more-edible version of Rip's Big Bowl, which is essentially oats and shredded wheat and fruit and non-dairy milk all thrown into a bowl.  I'd also like to try soaking the oats in almond milk overnight and just warming them up in the morning.  They require a bit of actual cooking when they haven't been soaking, so I wonder if I could circumvent the whole actual cooking process this way and still make hot oatmeal.  Worth a shot, I think. 

Vegan Overnight Oats

I discovered this recipe for vegan overnight oats on OhSheGlows.com a couple months ago, and now I eat it every morning.  Before I found this recipe, I had been trying to get used to eating GrapeNuts with fruit and soy milk every morning because there are very few other breakfast cereals without sugar or undesirable additives.  But I just don't like GrapeNuts that much.  Fortunately, I love this cold oatmeal, which is cheap, easy, and healthy, and since I make it before bed, all I have to do in the morning is pull it out of the refrigerator and get a spoon.

It took Simran a couple of weeks of showing an interest in this breakfast and then refusing to taste it before she finally ate a bite.  Now she chases her baby oatmeal with a solid third of my breakfast every morning (I eat really fast so that she can't take more than that, or she might eat it all).  It should be easy to transition her from baby oatmeal to grown-up oatmeal now.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds (the cheapest ones I've seen are in the bulk bins at Whole Foods)
• 1 banana, peeled/quartered/chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional -- I often omit this ingredient, though it does add something to the flavor)

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight.  Stir well before eating.