Tasty Bites: Best.Oats.Ever.

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

Oatmeal is one of my favorite breakfasts. It has that stick-to-your ribs character that gets you through the morning and is full of whole-grain goodness. In addition to the fiber, phosphorus, selenium, and manganese that oats provide, I like to “spike” mine with a few other healthy additions to boost the nutritional value. Therein lies the problem as I attempt to give you a recipe – I have never made them the same way twice, but the basic premise is the same: one part old-fashioned rolled oats to two parts liquid. Then get creative!

I almost always add the same three ingredients after the oats and liquid: ground flax seeds, chia seeds, and banana. Flax and chia seeds give you healthy plant-based Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats, as well as more fiber. The banana makes the oats sweet and provides potassium.

I add spices and extracts to complement the toppings I plan to add. Vanilla, almond, or orange extract, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice … endless possibilities.

Then there are the toppings. Oh, the toppings. Think ice cream and go from there. Fresh in-season or dried fruit (dried is also good cooked in with the oats as well as on top), chocolate chips, coconut, nut butters, jelly, or nuts. (Because in my kitchen, anything good is better with nuts). Drizzle with honey, agave nectar, or maple syrup. Again, the possibilities are infinite.

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Tasty Bites: Super Summer Rice Salad

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

Just like I love hot soups in the winter, I love cold summer salads when it’s hot and sticky outside. This is one of my favorite summer salads because of all of the wonderful flavors and textures. It also makes good use of garden fare – peppers, basil, and lettuce. It keeps well and makes great leftovers for lunch the next day.

The combination of brown rice, wild rice, and garbanzo beans is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. This combination of grains and beautiful colors make this salad a good source of dietary fiber, Vitamin B6, folate, manganese and healthy phytochemicals. And you just can’t beat the crunch factor of the healthy fats in the pistachios!

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Tasty Bites: Ginger Spice Granola

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

Granola can be healthy or it can be full of sugar and fat. Just because the base ingredient is oats, it doesn’t mean it’s always healthy. I think I may have mentioned label-reading here a time or two! There are a lot of healthy brands out there, and they are delicious. But there’s one downfall – the price.

I use quite a bit of granola in my Power Bar recipe and love the crunch it lends to yogurt. If you need a quick meal to go, throw a handful of granola into a cup of yogurt for the healthy carbs and lean protein you need for energy. I also carry a zip-lock bag of it when going on a long bike ride in case I run out of gas.

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Tasty Bites: Brown Rice Penne Pasta with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

It sometimes gets difficult for me to write a post with a recipe, because it’s so seldom I follow even my own recipes. Summer meals can be frustrating to prepare because we simply don’t want to spend time in the kitchen. Yet there’s a bounty of garden produce just begging to be cooked! Some days I will throw together the most random of foods and actually come up with some semblance of dinner. This was one of those days. No recipe, just a little starving spontaneity that I want to share.

After a long day at work, a quick stop at the gym, and a 15 mile bike ride, I came home starving. I had cleaned some Brussels sprouts the day before, slicing them in half and peeling off the browned outer leaves. As I stood staring in the fridge, I grabbed the first few things I could find: the sprouts, a package of Baby Bella mushrooms, a small chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, a near-empty goat cheese container, and a handful of fresh herbs from the pots on my patio. The result in about 20 minutes tasted so good (perhaps part of it was the starving factor), I quickly wrote it down what I did because I know how some people need an actual recipe (you know who you are)! All measurements are pretty accurate but you can substitute just about any vegetable, any type of mushroom, herb, or grain.

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Tasty Bites: Kicked-Up Fried Green Tomatoes

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

There’s really only one reason I plan tomatoes in the spring – as much as I love a juicy ripe red tomato, I love fried green tomatoes even more. They have a great “tomatoey” flavor and I like to keep the breading light but spicy to really make the flavor pop. The coating for these is so simple because I always have the two main ingredients on hand, and never have to run to the store – whole wheat bread crumbs and my favorite seasoning!

What? You don’t keep crumbs in your freezer? We don’t eat the “heels” of the bread, but instead save them in a separate bag in the freezer. When I have several collected, I put them on the counter to dry out overnight or dry them out in a low oven. When they are good and dry, pulse in the food processor until finely crumbled. They keep for a very long time stored in freezer bags in your freezer.

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