ENERGY!

How many times have you said, "I wish there were more hours in the day"? Right now I am enrolled for 19 credits at the University of Michigan, some would refer to this as academic suicide, I call it "graduate on time". I always find myself looking for extra time, and more importantly extra energy. My days start early, and end late (or is 2:00 am considered early again?).

Coffee doesn't cut it for me, especially because I have become pretty sensitive to caffeine and it just leaves me with jitters. Someone told me that one apple instead of a cup of coffee should do the trick. I tried. Not exactly what I was looking for. The apple is fructose, therefore the energy is quick to dissipate. What else? OATMEAL! Groundbreaking, I know. However, this simple answer has done wonders for me.

First, I recommend buying whole rolled oats. Nothing instant. When the oats are whole, their nutrients are kept in the grain, therefore your body has to do more work to break it down and digest the goodies inside. Instant oatmeal is already partially broken apart, therefore having a higher glycemic index (the rate at which sugar is released into your body). This means that when eating rolled oats, you won't feel hungry as soon after as instant oatmeal, it fills you up. Oats are also a fantastic source of dietary fiber and iron.

I have had many people tell me that they don't like oatmeal because of the texture and flavor. Well, to each his own but, I highly recommend trying whole rolled oats versus instant before making a final verdict.

Texture: Customizable! The texture of the oats can change by the amount of time you cook it. A shorter time makes for flaky, more chewable oats, similar to barley but flatter of course. As you add more cooking time, the softer the oats become, as well as clumped together. Therefore, if you don't like mushy oatmeal, I recommend whole oats cooked for about 10 minutes.

Flavor: Unlimited. I think the great thing about oatmeal is that I can make it with literarily ANYTHING. I'm going to share three of my favorites.

1. "Tis the Season"
A great way to feed your guest on a budget with health benefits during the holiday season.

Cranberries
White Chocolate Chips
Walnuts
Cinnamon
Brown Sugar
Milk
Whole Rolled Oats

Cook the oats as directed. When they are about 2 minutes out from being done, add either dried cranberries, or leftover cranberry sauce, or simply cooked cranberries. Sprinkle a little cinnamon and brown sugar on each bowl. You can opt out the sugar if someone doesn't have a sweet tooth (I prefer it without as well). Add chopped walnuts and white chocolate chips, more cranberries for garnish, and about 2 tablespoons of milk. It's like Christmas in a bowl. The tart cranberries mixed with the sweet and smooth chocolate chips and the crunchy walnuts are perfectly complemented by the warmth of the cinnamon.

2. "Trick or Treat or Both"
This one is for kids, and for the kids in all of us. Okay, so they will eat an oatmeal cookie, but they won't eat oatmeal. Dilema. So trick them into thinking they are getting a treat! Tell them they will be having warm gooey cookies for breakfast!
My grandma makes these amazing oatmeal cookies and this oatmeal breakfast is inspired by her.

Chocolate Chips
Raisins
Orange zest
Honey

Cook the oats as directed and add the raisins at the very last minute. Add the honey and mix it into the mixture so that it is evenly distributed. Grate some orange zest and mix the oats again. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. If they don't ask for seconds, I will be surprised.

3. "The Original"
Everything seems to be better when it is in the title "something'n'creme". These variations are some of my classical favorites, especially on cold snowy or rainy mornings.

Strawberries (frozen or fresh)
Peaches (frozen or fresh)
Berry mix (frozen or fresh)
Milk
honey

Replace half of the water for your serving size with milk and cook the oats as directed. I have used both fresh and frozen fruit in this, but have found it convenient to buy flash frozen strawberries, peaches, or a berry mix. It's quick and the fruit tend to hold more of its structure because during the first half of cooking, it is defrosting.
If frozen, add the fruit in the pot first with the milk and water. Allow to reach boiling, then add the oats. Cook to completion. Add honey and milk before serving. So simple, but so good. "Strawberries'n'Creme" "Peaches'n'Creme" and "Berries'n'Creme". Incredibly smooth and satisfying.

Boost your energy and get creative in the kitchen while serving your body a good deed.

Pleasant eating everyone!

Apple Pie

I wanted to make apple pie in the spirit of the upcoming holidays. But I didn't want to just follow a recipe and call it good, I wanted to make my own apple pie. Two problems, I don't usually like apple pie (shock and awe) and I have never made a traditional American pie. I went to the experts...bloggers of the internet for advice.

What I usually don't like about pie:
1. Crust. Why:
I find crust on pie to be flavorless, either too soggy or too tough, and generally unappealing.
2. Filling. Why:
The filling of an apple pie is too sweet for my taste, and I could never appreciate the true flavor of the fruit.

What I was looking for:
Flaky, sandy, flavorful crust. Dense filling full of apple flavor and not a lot of sugar.

What I made:
The crust was made in a traditional way, with flour and butter as the base, with salt, sugar, cinnamon, for flavor, and ice cold water as the binding agent. However, instead of using all purpose flour only, I used a combination of cake flour and all purpose flour. Cake flour is less percent in protein, therefore it is usually lighter, which aided me in making a sandy/flaky crust.
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cups cake flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
4 tbsp white sugar
.5 cup water
16 tbsp butter

1. I combined the flour (already a mixture of the dry ingredients) and butter in a food processor and mixed them until there were pea sized crumbs.
2. I added tablespoon by tablespoon of ice cold water, until the flour mixture turned into a ball of dough.
3. The dough rested in the fridge for 45 minutes.

The filling was a combination of Granny Smith and Golden Delicious apples. I decided to add fresh ground ginger because I thought the spiciness of the ginger would bring out the apple flavor, which it did.
4 Golden Delicious
4 Granny Smith
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
.5 tsp ginger powder
.5 cup white sugar
.25 cup brown sugar (not packed)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp fresh ground ginger
1 tsp vanilla

The apples were half skinned and half not skinned and sliced. All ingredients were mixed in a dutch over and cooked on medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the sugar caramelized.
Set aside the filling.

The pie was assembled and prepared in a tinned dish for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.

Results:
Delicious! I was pleasantly surprised! To be honest, it wasn't groundbreaking, but it was exactly what I wanted. I think in the future, I will add 1/3 cup of apple cider to the filling, the pie was a little bit on the drier side. To me though, a more dense filling is more satisfactory than a runny one, but to each his own. The flavor was wonderful. The crust was flaky and buttery, I could really taste the apples which were wonderfully complemented by the spices and ginger.

Sorry no picture, I don't currently have a camera, but I will make this again, with more of my own variations and record it.

If you have pie secrets or advice, please, please post a comment. I would like this to be a learning lesson.

More to come for the holidays!

Pleasant eating,
Elena