The Perfect Fall Oatmeal

The Perfect Fall Oatmeal

Pardon the quality. Phone photos are just so much faster!

I know it's a little bit early to be thinking of fall, but I just love all the fall decorations and fall flavors; so I tend to jump the gun a little.  I'm already thinking about all the pumpkin goodness I can make!

I've been on and off trying to live gluten-free, but I failed a few times this week just not thinking or completely ran out of GF friendly food.  Today's recipe I believe is gluten-free, but I can't vouch all the ingredients were made in gf facilities.  It's a start!

The Perfect Fall Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1 c hot water (I took mine straight from the tea kettle after it boiled)

½ c Gluten Free Oatmeal (I used Bob's Red Mill)

¼ c Raisins and Dried Cranberries (I used about half each but you can use your preference)  

1 T cinnamon

dash of cloves

dash of nutmeg

1 T brown sugar

Put your oatmeal, raisins, and cranberries in a bowl (I recommend a non-plastic bowl due to the temperature of the water).  Boil the water and pour into the bowl immediately after boiling.  Stir and let sit until the oatmeal has absorbed most of the water.  Stir again and add the spices and brown sugar.  Mmm mmm mmm!  Would be perfect for a cool fall morning, or even in the summer heat of Florida with some air conditioning.  lol.  Enjoy!

 

Quick Tofurkey Lunch

Looking for something quick and easy so I could get started on my Christmas baking; so I grabbed some Tofurkey I bought the other day (two for $5 on sale) and whipped something up. 

Ingredients used:
Two slices home made bread
Tofurkey Hickory deli slices
Slice of Tomato
Slice of Avocado

Side:
Sliced cantaloupe

Great quick lunch when you're in a hurry and quite filling.  Now - time for Christmas movies and baking.

Pretzel Dogs

Pretzel Dogs

Ingredients:
Lightlife Smart Dogs
Vegan Pretzel Dough

Super simple, fast, and tasty!  Make the pretzel dough according to the recipe above, wrap around some refrigerated hot dogs and bake for 13 minutes on 425°.  Add a little salt if you desire and serve with condiments and side of your choice - I like potato wedges and ketchup.

BBQ Sloppy Joes

BBQ Sloppy Joe on Easy Vegan Bread

Chef Assistant Paul and I found this amazing BBQ sauce and I decided to try BBQ Sloppy Joes.

15oz can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
¼c Quick Oats
¼c BBQ Sauce of choice

1 Green Pepper, chopped

½ Onion, chopped

Chop up the onion and pepper and saute on medium in a small amount of water until softened.  While those are cooking, put the black beans in a bowl and mash them.  Add the black beans, oats, and bbq sauce to the pepper and onion mixture and heat until warm.  Serve on bun or bread of choice.  

Tofu Sandwich

I had some tofu in the fridge and saw this recipe in an e-mail from Peta and had to try it.

Recipe: $3 Dish of the Day: Grilled Tofu Sandwhich

I used the recipe for the tofu but added tomato and avocado to the sandwich instead with my fresh made bread!

I don't think I drained the tofu enough before pouring on the soy sauce because it probably only absorbed an 8th of what it called for.  Next time I will press my tofu before adding the sauce.  Also the soy sauce made this dish VERY salty, so maybe lighter on the sauce wouldn't be such a bad thing.

For $3, this meal gets an A!

Mediterranean Spinach and Couscous

After a long day of work and meetings, I wanted something fast.  This was super fast and easy and quite yummy!

Recipe: Mediterranean Spinach and Couscous

Great for when you're in a bind (probably took 10 minutes tops for prep and cooking) and need to use up almost two boxes of couscous!  :)

Sweet & Spicy Rice

My roommate and I had a plan to make Bourbon Chik'n tonight, until we realized it had to marinate overnight in the sauce.  We had already started the rice in our rice steamer, and I was starving, so I decided to make something up and fast!

I remembered a spanish rice recipe my friends mom used to make with rice and salsa. and I had just bought an interesting jar of salsa from Walmart that I wanted to try on my burgers.

Sweet & Spicy Rice (makes 1 bowl)
1½-2c White Rice, cooked
¼-½c Peach Pineapple Chipotle Salsa (I used Great Value brand)
Fresh ground pepper to Taste

Cook the rice however you'd like, I used a rice steamer. Mix in the salsa until all the rice is covered and add some fresh ground pepper for an extra kick.

Vegan On The Go

Not enough left overs in the fridge for today's lunch & only minutes to spare? That is my usual routine when it comes to making a lunch for work so this grab and go lunch works great!

Ingredients:
Wrap of choice (I used Flat Out Spinach Wrap)
Humus (I used Publix Roasted Red Pepper)
Bag of mixed greens

Grab a wrap, spread some hummus, wash a handful of greens and toss them on.

I usually just grab the whole packages of each and a spoon or butter knife and you're good to go!