Tag Archives: yogurt

Pumpkin, 4 ways

That would be breakfast.  More specifically oats with chopped apple and flax seeds.

Then things got a little crazy.  I took an inspiration from Kath and my leftover pumpkin.

Boiled, mashed, and tossed into the mix.

I admit, I was a bit skeptical, even as a pumpkin lover but this girl seems to know her stuff.  Especially when it comes to pumpkins!

I also added lots of cinnamon, ground ginger, a touch of stevia, a pinch of salt, and vanilla.

Sprinkled with chopped walnuts and doused in soy-milk this was a delicious and super filling breakfast.  This pumpkin is pretty mild in the flavor department but it added a LOT of bulk (I am all about the volume eating), fiber, and vitamins.  Definitely a breakfast to repeat.

I decided to start the week in the kitchen and set about making yogurt.

You pour the milk into a double boiler.  I used Horizons fat free organic.  Set 2 tablespoons of yogurt per quart of milk out on the counter to come to room temperature.

Wait for it to reach 185 degrees while stirring occasionally.  When it reaches temperature set the pot into a sink full of cold water.  Stir occasionally as the temp comes down to 110

When the milk reaches 110 degrees add the room temp yogurt and stir well.  Pour into containers.

Set containers into a warm water bath. I use my sink but have heard that a cooler works well.  The water needs to stay as close to 100 degrees as possible.  When the temp dips I drain a bit of water out the bottom and add hot from the faucet, this is every 1-2 hours.

After 6-7 hours it’s ready to ready to put in the fridge for a few hours and then EATEN!

I also baked off the pumpkin seeds from yesterday.

I sprinkled them with cayenne, curry powder, smoked salt, and liquid aminos and popped them in the oven.

They are delicious!  I had to stop myself from eating the whole pan because I am still full from those pumpkin oats.

I still had a bit of kitchen energy left in me so it was applesauce time.  After lots of chopping I cooked the apples until they were nice and soft and into the blender they went.  I also added a bit of pumpkin, cinnamon, and ground ginger.

This will be perfect for my next batch of brownies!

And then it was lunch time. Leftover chili of course!  With toasted pumpkin seeds, greek yogurt, and chili flakes.

I am really looking forward to taking a Pilates class and a Zumba class at Gold’s this evening.  I neglected Pilates last week in favor of checking out all the classes while on my week free pass and Zumba is just so fun.

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Oat Crumbs

I am writing from my dining table! We are connected! Let’s just say it was not easy and we are not the biggest fans of Comcast right now.  (Lucky for me, my AMAZING husband took the brunt of the annoyance).

Weird morning.  I was up until nearly 4am with insomnia and didn’t get moving again until about 10:30 so although it’s just past noon I feel like I am just getting my day started.  Considering the lack of sleep and weird hours I am feeling pretty good, just having a hard time focusing.  Time for a TO DO list!

  • Sign up for the Charlottesville Fall Classic 10K
  • Call the Food Bank and make appointment to come in and volunteer (September is National Hunger Month)
  • Change address with bank
  • Go to BodyAttack at Gold’s
  • Reply to e-mails
  • Get a job (just a few more days and then I will hit the job trail…)

I really wanted hot oats this morning.  With blueberries and walnuts.  But, alas, when I opened the oat container there was merely crumbs left. 😦 (this means that we have eaten a pound of oats since we moved in last Tuesday!) So I settled on fruitful yogurt. Wednesday’s yogurt turned out pretty well, at least for a first batch.

I made the mistake of following the directions and stirring it when it came out of the water-bath.  Before stirring the whey was separated and the top was smooth and glassy, just like I like it.  Next time, no stirring!  And there will be a next time…

I topped a cup of yogurt with some defrosted peach slices, blueberries, strawberries, the oat crumbs, and flax seed.  At the last minute I threw on a pinch of unsweetened coconut flakes for good measure (and good fat ;)).

Looks a bit like melted cheese but it tasted like paradise!  The coconut really made this bowl although a sprinkle of cinnamon and ginger would have taken it even higher.  Next time.

We started our tasting tour of Charlottesville last night.  C’ville is a super “foodie” town with LOADS of restaurants, many of which pride themselves on localism and partner with area farms for everything from their meat to the hops for beer.  Tate and I have been so busy with the move, not to mention enjoying having OUR OWN kitchen after 8 months, that we hadn’t really been out to eat yet.

Last night we met friends at South Street Brewery.  This spot is just off of the downtown mall and it took us less than 15 minutes to walk there from home.  I am not in love with our immediate neighborhood but the location within the city is perfect.  We can easily walk or bike to all the hot spots in 10-15 minutes!

I drank the Harvest Hops and ate the Ahi Tuna.  Both were worth returning for!  Especially on a Tuesday when pints are only $2.50 instead of the usual $4.  The tuna was two skewers of perfectly seared fish on top of a mountain of spring mix, shredded cabbage, and sauteed super-garlicy mushrooms and covered with a ginger dressing.  Should have taken a picture.  I am still getting the hang of this blogging thing ;).

To run or not to run?  One thing I am growing to LOVE about C’ville is what a huge running community it is.  There are ALWAYS people out running and it inspires me to want to be out running with them!  So although I have a class planned at the gym for this evening I might head out for a quick jog.  Plus, I still have two runs this week to accomplish my Mission Get Moving for the week.

On to the TO DO list!

Happy Friday!

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