Portable Baked Oatmeal

I am almost completely certain that no one from where I currently live reads about or knows about this blog. This is probably a good thing, because it’s such a small town and word travels quickly. There are things that they probably shouldn’t know about me and I’d kinda like to keep it that way. :O

As such, my sharing of this poster is really just for fun, since none of you can actually come to it.

Our set list is the following:
Of the Father’s Love Begotten
Torches
There shall a star from Jacob come forth
O Nata Lux
I Saw Three Ships
Sing We Noel
In the bleak midwinter
Sussex Carol
Ding! Dong! Merrily on high

O Nata Lux and In the bleak midwinter are my definite favorites (they are so, so beautiful). I’m going to attempt to record them, but I guess we’ll see how that goes. Here are some fun quotes from our last rehearsal of the year:
“I want to see all of your faces! I don’t care if you’re ugly!”

(being moved to the front row)
“You’ve been promoted! How does it feel to be a star?”
“Short. I just feel short.”

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This is from ohsheglows. Definitely a good recipe to make on the weekend so you can have it throughout the week. :D It can be eaten cold or hot, but I definitely prefer hot (especially these days >_>).

Portable Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients:
-1 cup rolled oats
-2 tbsp chia seeds or ground flax
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/4 tsp nutmeg
-pinch of fine grain sea salt
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-1 cup soy milk
-1.5 tsp vanilla extract
-1 chopped fruit (e.g. banana, peach, apple)
-2 tbsp honey
-1/3 cup walnuts/pecans, chopped (not pictured because I’m too cheap to buy these)

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 350F. Grab 6 mini mason jars (125ml/4.2 oz) and remove lids. You can use also 8oz jars and make 3-4 servings.
2) In a large bowl, mix together the oats, chia seed (or ground flax), cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder.
3) Add the almond milk, vanilla, and maple syrup and stir until combined. Fold in the chopped fruit and nuts.
4) Keep stirring the mixture so some of the milk will absorb. Divide the mixture between the 6 mason jars (about 1/3 cup mixture each), leaving about 1.5 cm at the top. If any milk remains at the bottom of the bowl, divide it between the jars. Gently push the oatmeal down with your fingers.
5) Bake at 350F for 22-25 minutes on a small baking sheet, or until slightly firm and golden on top. Allow to cool completely for about an hour or longer. Add any toppings you desire, place on lid, and into the fridge.

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Rice Wine Quinoa Salad in a Jar

Please refer to this post for more information on salad-in-a-jar recipes!

For the record, I don’t actually measure out “1 tbsp  of _____.” I just provide that as a rough estimate. In actuality, I just pour a little of each and if it looks/smells right, I go with it. I don’t tend to enjoy salads that are drenched in dressing, so everything is really up to you, or “to taste” (one of the best blanket terms). I also forgot to throw in the sugar that I meant to add because I’d already put it away…but feel free! It should make it cooler. This will probably taste more “Asian-inspired” due to the sesame oil (and rice wine vinegar). :X

Originally, I was actually going to make a curry one from theyummylife, but I discovered that I didn’t have white wine vinegar (I do have apple cider vinegar and distilled white vinegar though?), but I’ve never made anything with either of those, so I decided to sub with rice wine vinegar. While I was doing that, I figured I might as well experiment and try it with sesame oil. After all, sesame oil is pretty darn magical and makes everything amazing.

Success!

Rice Wine Quinoa Salad in a Jar

Ingredients:
(Quinoa Pilaf)
-1 cup quinoa
-1 tbsp EVOO
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-1/2 tsp ground black pepper
(Dressing)
-1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
-1 tbsp sesame oil
-sprinkle of brown sugar
-1 pinch sea salt
-1 pinch freshly ground pepper
(Salad)
-1/4 cup corn, patted dry if wet
-3-4 cherry tomatoes
-dried cranberries
-white button mushrooms, sliced
-mozzarella, shredded
-lean turkey, shredded
-hardboiled egg, chopped
-1 cup packed greens (romaine lettuce, spinach)

Instructions:
1) Cook quinoa in a rice cooker. (I did 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water.)
2) Combine dressing ingredients in bottom of jar, stirring them with a fork. Add 1/2 cup cooked + cooled quinoa pilaf + use a fork to toss with dressing until well combined. Level out quinoa for an even bottom layer.
3) Layer salad ingredients from bottom up. Put a lid on the jar + refrigerate until you’re ready to eat it.

Balsamic Quinoa Salad in a Jar

I recently purchased a dozen half-pint mason jars that I’m basically going to use to drag food with me to school.

This is a super versatile recipe I stole the idea for it and the quinoa pilaf recipe from theyummylife, but the rest is my own creation! :]! Stay tuned for more recipes borrowed/stolen from there soon, because I’ve been majorly into “in a jar” recipes these days, and even more so, “make ahead” recipes. My goal is to basically be able to make all the food I need for the week over the weekend. :O We’ll see how that goes. I think I had a pretty darn productive Labor-Day-Weekend-Sunday though, since I accomplished all of the following:
-laundry (washed, dried, folded)
-cleaned the floors of the kitchen/bathroom
-did all my grocery shopping, probably for the entire month
-ran the equivalent of 6.5 miles on ellipticals while memorizing drugs + bacterial anatomy + blood tests
-made a batch of whole wheat banana applesauce muffins
-made a loaf of avocado wheat bread
-made a banana avocado smoothie
-made a bunch of hardboiled eggs
-prepared 5 salad-in-a-jars
-caught up with a couple friends on gchat
-watered my plants
-went over 7 lectures’ worth of material

For these salad-in-a-jar recipes, you can eat them hot or cold (if you eat it hot–about 1-2 minutes in the microwave should do; exclude the greens when heating unless you’re a fan of unhappy wilted greens :/ ). I only have half-pint jars, so I kept the greens elsewhere. These stay fresh for 4-5 days, and you can throw in almost anything you want. You can also freeze quinoa if you made too much or if you just want it to be already made the next time you make one of these. :D!

The dressing is a balsamic vinaigrette. :]

You can probably tell from the pictures that I forgot to mix the quinoa around. ;_; Don’t forget to do that. :X (It was still glorious though, for the record.) Sorry for the not-so-awesome picture quality. I made these all at night, so there was clearly no natural light. And hello, camera phone + easy upload. :D? The greens are not pictured because they were sitting around in the colander. Don’t forget those either! :O

Quinoa Salad in a Jar (Balsamic Vinaigrette)

Ingredients:
(Quinoa Pilaf)
-1 cup quinoa
-1 tbsp EVOO
-3 garlic cloves, minced
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-1/2 tsp ground black pepper
(Dressing)
-1 tbsp EVOO
-1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
-1/8 clove garlic, crushed
-1/8 tsp dried oregano
-1/8 tsp Dijon mustard
-1 pinch sea salt
-1 pinch freshly ground pepper
(Salad)
-1/4 cup corn, patted dry if wet
-3-4 cherry tomatoes
-dried cranberries
-white button mushrooms, sliced
-mozzarella, shredded
-lean turkey, shredded
-hardboiled egg, chopped
-1 cup packed greens (romaine lettuce, spinach)

Instructions:
1) Cook quinoa in a rice cooker. (I did 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water.)
2) Combine dressing ingredients in bottom of jar, stirring them with a fork. Add 1/2 cup cooked + cooled quinoa pilaf + use a fork to toss with dressing until well combined. Level out quinoa for an even bottom layer.
3) Layer salad ingredients from bottom up. Put a lid on the jar + refrigerate until you’re ready to eat it.