A Decadent Sunday Breakfast!

Happy Sunday everyone!

I know I haven't been posting very often, but that's going to change very soon. I have a couple of recipes that are still waiting to be posted and a few that I'm planning for the next couple of weeks. Keep an eye out for a yummy veggie soup recipe that I'm going to cook tonight!

The recipe I'm sharing right now was an unplanned, impromptu experiment that ended deliciously. After writing a post on the health benefits of dark chocolate for the Barre Blog, I have been trying to incorporate a little bit of it into my diet. I am by no means a chocolate lover. In fact, up until about a year ago, I could not even tolerate the taste of the mildest of chocolates. However, taste buds change as you get older, and I can now say that I can TOLERATE it. Thus, a tiny square of 70% extra strong dark chocolate each evening is all I need! I'm in no danger of becoming a "chocolate addict" as I still don't remotely crave the universally loved sweet, but I can at least reap the health benefits of this little superfood.

To make the chocolate experience a bit more tasty, I decided to try incorporating it into a healthy, energizing breakfast! Since peanut butter and chocolate is such a classic combination and oatmeal is a classic breakfast food, why not put them all together? The result was a satisfying breakfast that is quick to make and weighs in at around 275 calories with about 10g of protein and only 4 grams of sugar!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal
By Caroline Mac

Ingredients:
1/4 c quick cooking, steel-cut oats
3/4 c water
1 T crunchy all natural peanut butter (you can use creamy, but I prefer the texture)
1 square of extra strong dark chocolate (I used 1/16 of a bar of Chocolove 70%)
Cinnamon to taste

I didn't think to take a pic until it was almost gone!

Step 1: Bring water to a boil. Add oats, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and let cook for a few minutes, stirring regularly.

Step 2: When oatmeal begins to thicken, add cinnamon and peanut butter. Stir until incorporated.

Step 3: When oatmeal has just about reached your desired consistency, add chocolate and stir until it has melted into the oatmeal.

Step 4: Serve warm.

Enjoy!


Want to brush up on your dark chocolate knowledge? Check out my "What's Inside" post about cocoa (the main ingredient in chocolate) on the Barre Blog to see why it's actually good to have some in moderation!

~Caroline~

Spicy Sesame Ginger Sauce

In honor of surpassing 2,000 blog views and nearly 50 recipes, I'll be posting a few BRAND NEW recipes this week! That's right, recipes that I have made up myself. I'm sure there will be plenty of improvements to be made in the future, but if they taste good on the first try I'll share them!

My first of the series is a spicy sesame ginger sauce that can be used in a stir fry or as a dipping sauce. I'd like to figure out how to make the sauce thicker without affecting the flavor, so I'll be doing some research and adding an update in the next couple of weeks. This recipe coated a stir fry worth 2-3 servings, so you may want to double it if your want more saturation or are using a larger recipe. If you do, remember the cardinal rule of doubling... Don't double the spices unless you want to end up with something so spicy you can barely eat it! I speak from experience.

Spicy Sesame Ginger Sauce
By Caroline Mac

Ingredients:
2 T water
2 1/2 t sesame oil
2t rice vinegar
1 t soy sauce
1T plus 1/4t minced ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 t red chili pepper
1/4 t agave syrup
2t sesame seeds

Whisk together all ingredients until thoroughly blended. Add to stir fry or use as dipping sauce.

Enjoy!

Berry Lemon Water Infusion

This was my first time infusing water at my new apartment and I discovered a trick to seriously increasing the flavor: Frozen Fruit. I would suggest using the frozen fruit if you have a pitcher with an insert, as the fruit gets very soft when it melts. If you don't have an infusion pitcher, just know that you may be getting some berry chunks when you sip your H2O.

Berry Lemon Water Infusion
By Caroline Mac
Ingredients:
Water
1 cup frozen mixed berries
4-5 fresh strawberries, sliced
1/2- 3/4 lemon, sliced

Step 1: Press Frozen berries into fruit insert. Put Lemon and strawberries into body of the pitcher. Fill with water, leaving room for the infusion insert.

Step 2: Add insert and lid, refrigerate, and let sit for a few hours. The longer the fruit is in the water, the stronger the flavor will be. I thought the flavor was best after leaving the water overnight.

Refill pitcher as many times as you please until the fruit begins to go bad. The flavor will be more diluted than the first time you filled it.

Enjoy!

Creative Hydration

Because of the ballet intensive I've been in for the  past two weeks I've been seriously slacking on my blogging duties. I honestly have not cooked at all, mainly because I didn't want to be on my feet any longer than necessary. As a result, I sat on the floor icing my feet while my mom whipped up dinner. Despite my lack of food experimentation, I was able to mess around with hydration.

I am definitely not an avid water drinker. I tend to stick with teas, Vitamin Water Zero, Zevia, Kombucha etc. I simply don't find water particularly interesting, which results in me not drinking it as much as I should. Lately, though, I've been trying to avoid the vitamin water and hit the regular water... but in an tasty way: Infusion! The basic idea of infusing water? Combining flavorful fruits and herbs in water to make it more interesting and enticing. I've read a lot of articles and have found many websites providing yummy recipes (One good one is fruitinfusedwater.com). I even purchased a special pitcher that has a place to put fruit, herbs, vegetables, and whatever else I may want to use to flavor my water. I haven't made any set recipes yet, because there really isn't a set recipe to use! Here are a few flavor combinations that have been good so far.

Cucumber and Watermelon Infusion
~ Combine lemon juice, about 1 cucumber, sliced, and chunks of watermelon in a pitcher of cold water.
~ You can mash up the watermelon a little to help the flavor spread
~ Let the water sit for a few hours, and enjoy!
~Water will last for a while an you can refill the pitcher a few times, leaving the same ingredients. Just keep an eye on the fruit, making sure you toss it before it starts to rot/ taste bad.

Cucumber, Lemon, and Rosemary Infusion
~ Combine slices of fresh lemon, cucumber, and a few sprigs of rosemary to create a refreshing summer drink!

Here are a few other ingredients that I plan to mix and match in the near future...
~Oranges
~Strawberries
~Lime
~Raspberries
~Basil
~Mint
~Ginger
~Grapefruit

Hope this helps make hydrating a bit more interesting!