Your Morning Oatmeal, Jacked Up

Hello Sweets,

Jeez I can't seem to catch a break lately lol.  I am clearly coming off of another sick day :/, just when you think I'm in the clear.  I really think this move stressed my system right out, and I am still adjusting.  Just to add a little salt to the wound that is my  pride, Nathan and I won't be spending valentines day together :(.  With all these doctor appointments and moving, it has made our normal travel plans come to a screeching halt.  No girl wants to spend valentines day apart from her man, especially this girl :'(  But it's not the date that matters, it's when we finally can recreate our day :)  However, that does not mean I don't have something sweet planned for my man.  Annnd I'm spending tonight piecing it all together, even if we won't get to see each other for another month (uggghhhh this is going to be the longest stretch we've done in quite some time).

Tonight I thought I would completely veer away from sweet desserts.  I'm not evening going to be sharing a dinner post, instead I am bringing you the greatest meal of the entire day.  Yea you know I'm talking about breakfast!!  I don't know anyone who doesn't like breakfast, and if there is someone out there who doesn't I am sure if you'd let me make you breakfast you'd love it :D  Yea I am a pretty confident breakfast maker lol, but when you know what you're doing it's pretty simple.  Normally I don't eat oatmeal for breakfast lol, yea normally it's a snack or lunch.  But this time I made it for breakfast, and it is unlike any oatmeal I've ever eaten before.

Baked Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal

Ingredients

2C rolled oats

1tsp vanilla

2tsp pumpkin spice (I made mine with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice)

6Tbs brown sugar

1C pumpkin puree

1C milk

1/2tsp salt

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 375F.  In a bowl combine oats, vanilla, pumpkin spice, brown sugar, pumpkin, and milk.

 

 

2)  Pour into a casserole dish.

 

 

3)  Bake for 40 minutes, or until oatmeal is set.

 

4)  Serve immediately.  I chose to add a little splash of milk, it was delicious!

 

 

Who would've thought, that pumpkin in oatmeal would be this dang good!!  The spiciness has this wonderful warmth to it, and it's very hearty so you won't be getting hungry anytime soon.  I don't think I'll ever make oatmeal on the stove top again, baking it clearly is the way to go.  Now to think about an apple, cinnamon, brown sugar medley mmmmm sounds yummy ;)

I know this was a short post y'all, but my little project is anything but little lol.  And we all know how much of a perfectionist I am, so I better get my butt in gear!  I'm also making a sweet treat for this sweet holiday, of course!  But y'all will have to come back tomorrow and see what that will be.  Until next time....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo  

The Hearty Little Cookie

Hello Sweets,

Happy Monday y'all!  Lol okay maybe Monday isn't the day most people look forward to, but if there's cookies involved people might be more receptive :)  My day was full of phone calls and migraines :( but the show must going on right?  Since tomorrow is the birthday of this very blog, I have much to do and no time to do it lol.  I'm trying to narrow down a special recipe to celebrate this occasion and I'm looking at thousands lol.  I also have a sad announcement to make :(  A website that originally started as a monthly subscription and ignited my passion to creating in the kitchen is closing in 2 weeks.  Grandma's Kitchen has always been an inspiration to me, but she is retiring to spend more time with her grand kids, so I can understand.  I will, however, miss all her helpful tips and and suggestions.  So naturally I am scouring through every recipe on her site (which is a LOT), and writing down every recipe that sounds to delicious to be lost forever.  If you're an enthusiast of all things delicious and love to create them too, head over to the site and take a look. You won't be disappointed ;)

Enough sad news, lets get to something delicious and will bring a smile to any face.  As I've mentioned over the last few weeks I've been craving oatmeal cookies, but I wanted to try something new and a little unusual.  So I've been searching and searching but never found what I was looking for.  That is until I received the email letting me know of grandma's retirement. I should have known to look on her site.  I found a recipe that was sort of what I was looking for, and I made a few changes to suit exactly what I had been craving.  The original recipe called for white chocolate, but I'm not a big fan of chocolate anyways (I know *gasp*) so I replaced it with pecans.  I adjusted some of the ingredient quantities, and also added some spices for a little more dimension.  You can find the original recipe, for the next two weeks anyways, on Grandma's website!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with a Canuckette Flare

Ingredients

1 1/2C raisins

3Tbs orange juice

3/4C sugar

1/2C butter, softened

2 large egg

2tsp orange zest

1C flour

1tsp baking soda

1 1/2tsp cinnamon

3/4tsp nutmeg

1 1/2C rolled oats

1C pecans, chopped

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F, grease two baking sheets.  Combine raisins and orange juice in a small bowl, allow to sit for 10 minutes.

 

2)  Combine sugar and butter in a large bowl.  Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

 

3)  Beat in egg and orange zest.

 

4)  Mix in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking soda in a small bowl.

 

5)  Add to butter mixture and mix well.

 

6)  Add raisin mixture, oats, and pecans mixing well.

 

 

7)  Drop by rounded teaspoonful 2" apart on baking sheet.  Flatten with a fork.  Bake until golden brown, about 8 minutes.

 

 

These cookies are unlike any other oatmeal cookie, there soft and chewy like normal but the orange juice and zest really enhance the flavor of the raisins.  I wasn't sure how it would blend but I am very glad I didn't omit it, I actually might even try this little trick with other recipes that include raisins or any fruit.  On grandma's site she says that the acidity works with the natural sweetness of the front and enhance the flavors.  She's one smart lady, and I'm really going to miss all her wonderful recipes and wisdom!

I wanted to share something with y'all that I'm pretty darn proud of :D  In preparation for this weekends birthday booking I wanted to make sure my logo for the box was perfect, presentable, and had contact information if any of the guests wanted to contact me

 

aren't they cute :)

They're printed on sticker paper so that is goes on seamlessly.  Next thing to tackel is business cards, but that will have to wait until there are funds to do so.  Until next time.....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxoxoxo