Carrot cake overnight oats

To say I was skeptical about overnight oats would be an understatement. The thought that anything good could come out of mixing uncooked oats with liquid and sticking it in fridge over night seemed an impossibility. But I kept seeing recipes for them and friends (who actually have good taste) made them and liked them. Hmmm. Maybe...

Then one week my CSA came with carrots and a recipe for carrot cake overnight oats. Did they say carrot cake? I still didn't try them right away. But a few weeks later, I gave it a shot. First, it's not so much a recipe as an assembly of ingredients. There's no cooking. Just stir. So it's fabulous to make with the kids. Second, it's yummy. The cinnamon and allspice actually make it taste like carrot cake. I eat it with a scoop of plain Greek yogurt (vanilla would be good too) and a few walnuts or pecans.

Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
Adapted from a recipe by Lee Hersh

Ingredients
Dry
1 cup rolled oats
½ cup carrot, finely grated
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon chia seeds
3 tablespoon raisins
Wet
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoon maple syrup
1 and ¼ cup almond milk, unsweetened
Instructions

1. First, mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add in wet ingredients and mix again.
3. Place in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 2 hours or overnight. Serve cold.
4. Top with Greek yogurt and pecans.

My Favorite Banana Bread

My girls can be as different as night and day. One is calm, kind of shy; the other is non-stop energy. One will try anything; the other cries at new foods. I love observing their differences, but also seeing how well they (usually) play together.

A week or so ago, I made banana bread. Grandma delivered homemade chocolate chip cookies. I didn't think I stood a chance against those cookies, but that night after dinner, my little Nutmeg replied "Banana bread!" when I asked her what she wanted for a treat. My little Eclair (and Daddy and I) all opted for the chocolate chips... But Nutmeg is her own little person - all 30 pounds of her.

Here's a better example of their personalities. Yesterday we went to an event that offered face painting. The girl doing it had a display of different options: animals, princesses, monsters, superheroes, Minnie Mouse, etc. Eclair picked exactly what I expected: the pinkest, sparkliest, girliest design up there. Nutmeg decided she would accept nothing less than Captain America. This picture will put a smile on my face for many, many years to come... Both my girls, exactly as they should be!

Back to the banana bread: it's moist, packed with bananas, and easy enough to make. I double the recipe and freeze a loaf or give one away. If you freeze it, wrap it first in waxed paper, then in foil, then pop it in a Ziploc.

Banana bread with walnuts
Adapted from Family Meal by Tyler Florence

Yield: 1 9-inch loaf

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture.

With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes; you want a light and fluffy banana cream. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated; no need to overly blend. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Give the pan a good rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Don't get nervous if the banana bread develops a crack down the center of the loaf; that's no mistake, it's typical. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning. Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Mix 'n' match granola

I made it to one month. Blogging is starting to feel normal again. (Well, at least the kids don't look at me like I'm a nutjob when I run around with plates of food and my camera...) And I'm pretty sure my husband is psyched cuz he gets all the goodies. Like this one.

Once upon a time, I made homemade granola every couple weeks. For about a year and a half, I've bought granola bars for him instead. He has never complained about it and happily eats his crunchy granola bars. But last night when he came home to the smell of baking granola, he remarked that he forgot I used to make it and then quite eagerly filled a dish for work.

Granola is pretty much impossible to screw up. Unless you forget about it in the oven and burn it, there's really no way to mess it up. I throw in what I have on hand, keeping the wet/dry ratios the same. Feel like pecans instead of almonds? No problem. Have flax seed? Throw it in. Prefer bran flakes to corn? Be a rebel. Add dried fruit, different nuts, flaked coconut. The possibilities are endless. You can even add different extracts to the liquid - a few drops of almond or coconut for example...

My preferred method of gobbling this up is over fat free Greek yogurt. With or without fruit.

Oh, and the three year old ate a whole bowl of it this morning. And the older child willingly tried it and SMILED. Whoo hoo. Happy Friday to me.

Mix 'n' Match Granola
Adapted from Fresh from the Market by Laurent Tourondel

Use this as a guide and then throw in whatever combination of ingredients you like.

Ingredients

• 2 cups corn flakes (or bran flakes, or use more oats if you prefer)
• 2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 1 cup almonds (or walnuts, pecans, pistachios, hazelnuts...)
• 1/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds (or flax, or sunflower, or a mix)
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 vanilla bean, opened and seeds scraped (or use some vanilla extract)
• Zest of one orange

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Line a baking sheet with a large piece of parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the corn flakes, old-fashioned oats, steel-cut oats, nuts, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
4. In a small saucepan, combine the oil, honey, maple syrup, orange zest and vanilla bean (seeds and pod). Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Discard the vanilla bean pod.

5. Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients. Stir until well combined. Pour onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Spread it evenly and then bake for about 20 minutes, stirring it halfway thru. Watch the baking time, you want it golden and starting to dry. Remove from the oven and break up the big chunks. When cool, store in an airtight container.