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  

One Of The Best Gingers I Know!

Hello Sweets,

How has your Tuesday been so far?  Mine has been absolutely wonderful :D, why you ask?  Well this morning I landed in the great state of Texas, which means Nathan and I have been reunited (and it feels so good lol). 

Not great quality, but you can feel the love <3

Even though I am EXTREMELY tired, feel sore, and a little sick, no of that matters as soon as I saw him as I was coming down the escalator.  Knowing that the hand I love to hold is now always in my reach is undeniably the best feeling you can have when everything seems to be going haywire.  Needless to say there will definitely be baking going on, although you may see some old recipes, I will make small changes to keep things fresh.  Not to mention that Nathan will be cooking too, so you will be privy to his delicious bites as well :)

As I promised yesterday, I have a longer post, and tonight you are going to get a yummy treat for your taste buds :)  So yesterday I made candied ginger so my tummy would have a tasty way to be settled which then got me thinking, could I make an even tastier treat that could possibly settle the tummy as well?  Then I came across an idea for the candied ginger, and giant soft and chewy ginger cookies.  When I was growing up, the mother of a childhood friend of mine would make ginger snaps, but they weren't your traditional ginger snaps because they were crisp on the outer edge but the center was chewy.  Now this recipe is not a ginger snap in any shape or form, but the soft and chewy centers of the childhood cookies are the entire embodiment in every sense of the word :)  So let's get to the deliciousness shall we?

Soft and Chewy Ginger Cookies (via The Baker Chic)

Ingredients

 2 1/4C all-purpose flour

2Tsp ground ginger

1 Tsp baking soda

3/4Tsp cinnamon

1/2Tsp cloves (I used allspice as a substitute)

1/4Tsp salt

 3/4C butter, softened

1/2C white sugar

1/2C brown sugar

1 egg

1 Tbs water

1/4C molasses

1/2C ginger, candied (see previous post)

2Tbs raw sugar (for rolling, I used white and it worked just as well)

candied ginger not pictured

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F, positioning the racks in the center of your oven.  Mix together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in a medium bow.  Set aside.

 

2)   In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.

3)  Beat in the egg, then mix in the water and molasses.

4)  Gradually mix in the sifted mixture to the molasses mix.  Stir in the candied ginger.

 

5)  Chill the dough for 15 minuted to allow for easier handling.  Shape dough into 1" sized balls, and roll them into the raw sugar.  Place the cookies 2" apart on a parchment lined baking sheet (lol I made mine a little bit too big as you will see), and flatten slightly.  Baking for 8-10 minutes.

6)  Allow to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.  Store in an air tight container.

Don't they look delicious :)

There are a couple different things that make these cookies unique; the fact that they have the candied ginger in them gives them a spicy depth that most ginger cookies don't have, and they stay soft and chewy as long as you can keep them in the house (lol which isn't long).

So now I am almost caught up with my back up recipes, although I do have one more up my sleeve which is something of a traditional, old fashion treat but with a sweet little surprise to it ;)  Now that I've got you intrigued you'll be coming back tomorrow for yet another one of Canuckette's creations.  Until next time...........

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo