Overnight Oats with Cottage Cheese

I have been back on an overnight oats kick lately. I hadn't had them in a while until a couple weeks ago. I rekindled my love for them inspired by this recipe by the Healthy Foodie. I made some changes, but it got me hooked again. I have also seen some recipes for overnight oats out there using cottage cheese. Before I left for the weekend I wanted to use up the last bit of cottage cheese I had in the fridge, so I thought, what better time to give it a try. I love cottage cheese but only recently (last few months) have enjoyed it in a sweet state. I used to only enjoy it on pasta, or salads, on its own, or maybe with some nuts. But now, I like it with sliced strawberries or nectarines. Yum.

I started out with my usual standard overnight oats recipe, and substituted 1/2 cup of the soy milk for almost 1/2 cup of 2% cottage cheese. I absolutely loved the modification. I was quite full so I think next time I would scale it down, but it sure did pack a protein punch, 27 grams to be exact. Woah.

Overnight Oats with Cottage Cheese

1/2 cup oats
1 tbsp ground flax (or chia seeds)
1 small banana, chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese

1. Chop banana into bottom of bowl.
2. Add oats and flax on top of banana.
3. Add soy milk and cottage cheese.
4. Mix, trying to keep the banana on the bottom (prevents browning).
5. Chill overnight (or for a few hours).

It was just the right about of cheesiness. It was a bit thick in the morning so I added a dash of milk until it was the consistency I like. I also added a little bit of almond butter (peanut butter would be good too).  Like I said, I would probably scale it down to 1/3 cup oats next time because I was too full after eating it all.

Overnight oats are a great breakfast for the summer because they are quick, cold, and require no cooking. There is so much potential for this kind of breakfast. Let your imagination run wild!

....And then come back here and let me know what you come up with!

Baked Eggs with Artichokes

Eggs are a huge staple of mine. I eat an egg almost every day along with some egg whites. Usually scrambled, sometimes sandwiched within an English muffin with some goat cheese. That is probably my favourite. However, last week I found another fantastic way to eat my eggs and a hefty dose of protein. It all started when I was trying to find a way to use a can of artichoke hearts that were on sale (and therefore purchased by myself...obviously). I saw a few recipes out there for baked artichokes in eggs. I definitely could not pass up another way to use eggs.

Baked Eggs with Artichokes adapted from Epicurious
serves 1 or 2

2 artichoke hearts, cut into thirds (or you could use artichoke quarters)
1 egg
1/2 cup egg white
1/2 cup cottage cheese
black pepper to taste
1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Lay artichokes in a greased small baking dish. Sprinkle with some black pepper

3. In a bowl beat the eggs, egg whites, and cottage cheese. Pour over the artichokes and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the eggs are set and no longer liquidy.

I loved the flavour combination of the artichokes with the eggs. I will definitely be making this one again. It would make a wonderful brunch item, especially if it was made in individual portions (in a muffin tray for example).

I have some other exciting food news (for me anyway). I tried a new kind of meat this weekend! I think this is exciting because how often do you try a new kind of meat? I haven't tried a new kind of meat in like 15-20 years. I have had all the "most common" meats out there. Chicken, turkey, beef (even grass-fed), tripe, pork, lamb and rabbit. Thanks to my housemates wonderful family I can add venison to the list! Now coming from someone who does not eat meat very often you would think this would not excited me very much but it is actually the opposite! I would consider myself a foodie. I like to try new foods, new restaurants, new recipes, new insert food related item here. So I was very excited to try venison. Especially when that meat was wild and acquired by my housemates Father. I am a big fan of tradition, especially when it comes to food, and you don't get much more traditional than hunting for your own meals.

The way the venison was prepared was phenomenal, and I plan to use a similar method on Friday to prepare a lamb roast for a special dinner. The meal is planned all the way down to dessert (so you know I mean business). I have never made a roast before. Lets hope for the best!

Baked Foods Equal Comfort Foods

I love when foods are baked in the oven. I am fairly certain that any and all comfort foods are baked for some period of time. Think about it: cookies, muffins, macaroni and cheese, lasagna, chili (not usually baked but I think it would be even more comforting), and many more I'm sure. I had just made some fresh tomato sauce and was really craving cheesy pasta. The only cheese I had on hand was cottage cheese and goat cheese so I worked with what I had. I also had kidney beans cooked up so the next day I finally got to make a dish similar to one I've looked at (ok, maybe drooled over) so many times on 101cookbooks that would use up more tomato sauce.

Tomato and Cheese Baked Macaroni

~1 cup whole-wheat macaroni
~1 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup cottage cheese
crumbled goat cheese

I tried to make a layered baked pasta but the layers mixed a bit in the oven. I first added half the pasta to the bottom of the pyrex dish. I then added the cottage cheese and mixed it in. Add half the sauce. Add the rest of the macaroni and then the rest of the top. Crumble goat cheese on top. Baked in a 375 degree F oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until it is heated through and slightly crispy on top.

This wasn't the cheesiest pasta dish and would have worked better using mozzarella or ricotta cheese. But, it definitely hit the spot and was a great use for the fresh tomato sauce.

Tomato Baked Kidney Beans adapted from 101cookbooks.com

~1 cup of kidney beans
~1 cup of tomato sauce
1 small stalk of kale, leaves removed from tough stems
1/4 cup cottage cheese
crumbled goat cheese

Into a pyrex dish, add beans, sauce, kale and cottage cheese and mix together. Crumble goat cheese on top. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until slightly crispy on top. I had the beans with some polenta chips that I made. I am still working on perfecting the polenta chips so I wont share a recipe for those quite yet.

This recipe deviated largely from that on 101cookbooks because I already had sauce made and I dislike cilantro greatly. I even made pesto to go on top (made with parsley) but I forgot about it and never added it on top as Heidi Swanson's recipe suggests.

I would love to one day make the Giant Chipotle White Bean Recipe with authenticity, but this version suited me fine....for now.

Tomorrow is my first official day as a Master's student, wish me luck :)

Plantain Chips

I have very limited experience with plantains. It is a cousin of the banana, my favourite fruit, so I figured I should experiment with it out of respect. I can only remember two occasions where I actually have had plantain: 1. In Dominican Republic, I believe it was mashed, and 2. at Margarita's in Waterloo, as a chip to dip into guacamole. Now since avocados are my new best friend, I thought this would be a great thing to do with a plantain.

So I purchased a plantain. It was green. I waited and I waited for it to turn ripe. Finally a few days later it was ripe. Once it was ripe I did some research and found that there are lots of uses for green plantains as well. Aparantly it is best to make baked plantain chips with a green plantain, and to make fried or mashed plantain with ripe plantains. So since I had a ripe plantain on my hand, I had to resort to frying the plantain chips. Of course, my version of frying is merely using about a tbsp of oil in the pan, not really "frying".

Plantain Chips

1 plantain
1 tbsp olive oil

serves 2

So I peeled and sliced up the plantain into 1/2 cm slices. I heated the olive oil on medium-high. I then placed the slices on the pan without crowding. After about 5 minutes, flip the slices and heat for another 3 to 5 minutes. You have to watch these carefully becuase they burn quickly.

These went great with the guacamole that I made, based off of the Avocado Salsa Verde from my Mexican Fiesta post. It is my mom's new favourite.

I have since had a new found love for plantains and bought another one the other day. I thought about making plantain tortillas and found a recipe online. The tortillas didn't really turn out (they kind of crumbled), but still tasted good with some spicy quinoa, tomatoes and cottage cheese.

I really like the idea of making tortillas out of plantains and will hopefully get it to work in the future.

Up next: 2 delicious ways to use up all those Ontario peaches!

Slacker!

I have been slacking. But not ACTUALLY. While I am unsure how many of my invitees actually read this blog, I hope I am being missed somewhat. I have had a busy week with my graduation, grad party, work, and trying to exercise. The last few weekends have done a number on my eating habits, so this week I was trying to get back to normal. I have been eating some pretty plain food, nothing too exciting. Lots of overnight oats, veggies, cottage cheese, and legumes.

I finally tried the popular trend of overnight oats and I was delighted! They really are quite good, and you can play around with the recipe to suit your taste. A good change from regular oatmeal. I have been adding 1/2 cup soy milk to 1/3 cup oats, 1/2 tbsp ground flax seed, and cinnamon. It is also good with mashed up banana (add 1/4 cup more milk).

With regards to cottage cheese, this food has gone from an intolerable enemy to a yummy favourite for me. I choose the 1% fat variety to make it more satisfying. It is good with veggies, fruits, or nuts!

In searching for a post-bike ride high protein lunch, I mixed 1/2 cup red lentils, 1/2 cup quinoa, and 1/4 cup cottage cheese. It was delicious! I don't have a photo for that one, but it isn't very pretty anyway.

I am going to try some new recipes this evening to have for tomorrow. At the Locke St. Farmer's Market I picked up some garlic scapes, which is the green portion of a garlic plant. I also picked up some nutritional yeast at Goodness Me, which I have been wanting to get for a long time. These are both foreign ingredients for me so this should be interesting!

I'll post with the results soon!