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HEAB’s Butterfied Oaties

I have been meaning to make these for a while now, so when Heather linked to them the other day I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer. All I have to say is – I will never procrastinate with making butterfied oaties (or butterfied anything) again. When they first came out of the oven I was a little bit worried that I had messed them up – they were very crumbly and didn’t stay together – but it didn’t affect the taste at all, and I just put everything (whole oaties + the crumbled ones) in the fridge and they firmed right up.

I made a few changes based on what ingredients I had on hand, so here is my modified version.

Asian-ish Butterfied Oaties

Based on HEAB’s Butterfied Oaties.

Ingredients

  • 1 + 1/3 cups toasted oats (I toasted them in a pan on the stove – just heat the pan and stir them around for 5 minutes)
  • 3 tablespoons honey
  • 1 stick of softened butter
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup hydrated raisins (soak raisins in hot water for 5 minutes, then drain)
  • 1/4 of a chocolate bar, chopped up (check out the chocolate I used below – raspberry rooibos tea flavored dark!)
  • 1.5 teaspoons NuNaturals cocoa bean extract (sub out for vanilla if you don’t have it)
  • 2 heaping tablespoons sesame seeds (secret special ingredient!)

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 325F.
  2. Mix ingredients together to combine, then put in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
  3. Make balls (I used a coffee scoop, about 2 tablespoons, to measure – then I mooshed them into a ball with my hands) out of the dough and put them on a baking tray.
  4. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool. Put in tupperware and put in the fridge so they solidify more.

Just a few notes:

  • I added a little bit more oats than the original recipe called for because my dough was really liquidy.
  • When they came out of the oven they were very crumbly, almost like granola. I just let them sit awhile, and then after I refrigerated them they were pretty solid. Still granola-y in shape (some had broken) but much firmer.
  • You could definitely cut down on the honey – they were pretty sweet.
  • Raisins optional – I added them because Bobby’s favorite cookies are oatmeal raisin.
  • Sesame seeds not optional! These were the best part.

We finished them all in one day (!). They are scrumptious. They are now a new favorite of Bobby’s 🙂 (and mine).

***

Have you made these oaties yet??

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Operation Wedding

**UPDATE**

My wedding was on July 24th, 2010. When I moved to New York in November 2009 from California, I took a new job, I started eating out more, and got a little bit lax about exercise and fitness. I wanted to shape up a little bit for the wedding, so these are the exercises that I found most effective:

Yoga

  • Tom Morley’s Buns and Thighs Yoga (~25 minutes)
  • YogaDownload’s Yoga Sculpt (~25 minutes)
  • YogaDownload’s Weight Loss Yoga (~25 minutes)

Strength Training

Cardio

  • Walking. I try to walk at least 2 miles every day. On my better days I will walk upwards of 4 miles. Walking is great for your bones, your legs, and toning in general. It is an exercise that you can do whether you are in shape or just starting to get fit. You can walk no matter where you live, no matter what the weather is like outside. Walking in snow just makes it better exercise 😉 Walking is my exercise of choice because it’s just so easy to fit in. I walk with my husband and we chat about our days. I walk alone and listen to music or podcasts. I think about things to blog about. I cannot get enough!

My Results

I lost about 5 pounds and I gained back a lot of tone. I was really pleased with the results of “Operation Wedding”. Here are some wedding pictures (I am a little bit wedding-obsessed now, so bear with me! For more pictures visit My Photographer’s site -> Featured Events -> Maggie & Robert):

**END UPDATE**

—Original post below—

I have just over 2.5 months until my wedding to look toned. I’m going to try to do either Jillian’s 30-day shred *or* a 20-minute yogadownload routine every day. This morning I did the 30-day shred level 1 routine. Great before-work workout.

What will I eat? Probably the same stuff I usually do. I just want some nice long lean muscles for the wedding. I’ve lost my toned-ness since moving to New York because I haven’t been doing much yoga (or any kind of strength training at all).

Yesterday I mentioned that I saw a celebrity at Souen – it was Lisa Edelstein, aka Dr. Cuddy from House. I adore House. Such a good show. Cuddy was absolutely drop dead gorgeous in person. That show does not do her justice. Apparently she is vegan and practices Ashtanga yoga. I may copy her if I will look that good when I’m 44.

I also mentioned that I converted Bobby and Julia (sister) into oatmeal lovers. This was our Sunday brunch:

Mine is on the left (oats, butter, honey). Julia’s in on top (oats, cinnamon, sliced apples, peanut butter). Bobby’s is on the lower right (oats, honey, apples).

The trick is to use Scottish style oats or steel cut oats. They are chewy and have a completely different texture from instant oats or even regular oats. If you think you don’t like oatmeal, think again. You will love these. (Make sure to add a dash of salt for each serving while cooking – that’s another reason that people don’t like oats. They’re awful without the salt.)

I have also been eating yummy lunches at work. Last week I sauteed up some cabbage in a whole lot of butter and ate it with half of a frozen eggplant parm from Trader Joe’s.

Mmm butter. I could be a vegan aside from the butter and the cheese. Oops. I would be a bad vegan.

Though this new breakfast is completely vegan and awesomely delicious (and fatty!) on a hot day:

Yes, that is a smoothie in a bowl. It’s just…

  • 1 cup coconut milk kefir
  • 1.5 cups frozen fruit (this is strawberries, but today’s was raspberries and blueberries)
  • 1 tablespoon honey

Blend it in a food processor, blender, or magic bullet. I used my mini food processor.

It was great after my morning workout. I may have another one tomorrow. I love having fats in the morning.

Have you made a new breakfast recently? I rarely waver from either eggs or oats, so this was a nice change.

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What Makes You Happy?

Just stopping in. Here are some things that make me happy:

This was me in Islamorada at age 6 months (ish). My parents went down to Key West on vacation and I’m pretty sure I loved it. We drove through Bobby’s hometown so we like to say that maybe we caught a glimpse of each other when we were babies.

Jamba Juice oatmeal:

They make the most perfectly cooked bowl of steel cut oats I’ve ever had. I was getting their $1 Wednesday breakfasts, but starting this week it went up to $2. Still a steal!

And I can’t forget salad…

This is from Chickpea, a cute little mediterranean place by my office. Their motto is: “always baked. never fried.” The layout is similar to Chipotle – you pick between a pita, a salad, a platter, or a hummus plate. I got the salad, topped it with original hummus, falafel (spinach flavor), my choice of 4 veggies (pickles, cabbage, black olives, and a cucumber/tomato mix), and tahini dressing. Yum!

Chickpea is located on 6th ave around West 23rd Street I believe. They do have other locations.

I’m out. What makes you happy?

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The Great Fat Animal Experiment

Nope, I’m not talking about these lazy boys (cats… or as we call them: fats).

I’m talking about some new dietary things I’ve been trying. The changes involve fat and animals. Like steel-cut oats cooked in water and almond milk, then topped with organic butter and maple syrup:

I take food to work in these containers. Here is another, better picture of steel cut oats from the other day (this is after the butter had been stirred in).

I cooked (makes ~3 servings):

  • 4.5 cups of water and almond milk (I did half and half)
  • 1 cup steel-cut oats (the “serving size” is 1/4 cup)
  • few dashes of salt
  • cinnamon optional
  • …in my rice cooker.

Just be careful as it cooks – unless you have a very large rice cooker it will overflow. What I like to do is let it start to boil (on the “cook” button), and then turn it to “warm” and let it sit overnight. In the morning you have creamy, chewy, luscious steel-cut oats. They’re just as good as Jamba Juice‘s.

Or how about this guy…

Veggies cooked in 1-2 tablespoons of organic butter, topped with whipped full-fat cream cheese. I actually didn’t have this yet because my boss bought us lunch today (snow day!) – so I saved it in the fridge for tomorrow.

What are your thoughts on diet and healing? Do you think that food can really have that much of an impact on your well-being?