Happy Monday!

Last night Zesty Junior approached me and asked if we could make a special dessert.  Of course I said sure buddy tell me what you are thinking.  Well Dad, remember those butterscotch chips I found in the pantry?  I was thinking we could make a cookie using those because nobody has ever done that before.  Sounds good, I said – let’s get at it.

Before getting right into the batter, I took a spin around the blogsphere for some interesting butterscotch chip cookie recipes.  I came up with a few but none that really blew my mind.  The I stopped over at The Pioneer Woman to see what she had in the cookie department.  Needless to say this was my last stop on the tour.  I stumbled onto her Monster Cookie and fell in love.  I altered it quite a bit from some of the add-ons as I didnt have them on hand and of course we had to use the main star ” butterscotch chips”  but other than that followed her recipe to a “T”.  As they were baking in the oven the whole gang was wondering when they would be ready.

The smell was amazing.  After about 11 minutes I removed them from the oven and let them rest for a minute and then moved them to a cooling rack.  Let’s be honest here….. they did not sit on the cooling rack for more than a minute.  We tossed some on a plate poured 4 glasses of milk and devoured the cookies.  Consensus in the room were 4 thumbs up!  I tested 4 cookies just to make sure they were all good..

Ingredients

• 2 sticks (1/2 Pound) Butter (salted) Softened
• 1/2 Cup White Sugar
• 1-1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 Tbsp.Vanilla Extract
• 1-1/2 Cup All-purpose Flour
• 1/2 Tsp. Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp. Baking Powder
• 2 Tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1-1/2 Cup Oats (either Quick Or Regular)
• 1/2 Cup Smarties
• 1/2 Cup Butterscotch chips
• 3/4 Cups Chocolate Chips (milk Or Semi-sweet)
• 2-1/4 Cups Rice Krispies

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cream butter with sugars until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat.
3. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and kosher salt. Add to mixing bowl and mix till combined.
4. After that, add in remaining ingredients in whatever quantity you prefer. The chocolate butterscotch additions can be added to your liking.
5. Add Rice Krispies at the very end, mixing until just combined. Do not overmix!
6. Use a spoon to drop balls of dough onto a cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown, then allow to cool on a rack.

Zesty Tip: Don’t overcook this fellas.  One batch I left in a little longer and they crisp up on the bottom pretty quickly.  Unless you like a crunchy cookie – watch out  for these in the oven.  I would go 11 minutes tops.

Alright, well I am a bit behind schedule today.  I have a tonne of things to wrap up before I leave for California tomorrow.  I will see you on Wednesday from sunny Anaheim with another update.  Have a great start to the week and keep smiling.

Take care

zesty

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Happy Monday to you!  Did you watch the Scotties Tournament of Hearts Curling Final last night?  It was a great game for sure and came right down to the very end.  Leading up to the game we had both Saturday and Sunday breakfasts.  On Saturday morning, I whipped up a batch of Oatmeal flax pancakes that were so goooooooooooood.  I could not wait for Sunday morning to arrive so we could eat them again.  See we didn’t finish all the batter on Saturday so I just wrapped it up and covered it in the fridge for yesterday.  DELICIOUS!

Pancakes are so simple yet very powerful.  You can do traditional white pancakes with butter and syrup, you could try a whole wheat version, you could whip up a potato pancake or you could try these.

All of the above are good but these oat flax pancakes with a hint of maple syrup will honestly make you smile… I promise.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 2 Cups milk or soy milk
• 1 Cup Whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp. ground flax seed
• 1 Tbsp. Agave syrup
• 1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp. salt
• 1/2 Tsp. cinnamon
• 1 1/2 Tsp. Vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. Plain Yogurt
• 1/3 Cup Chocolate chips ( optional )

Method

1. In a large bowl, blend together oats and milk and let stand 5 minutes.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together whole wheat flour, baking powder, flax, salt and cinnamon.
3. To the oat mixture, add the yogurt, agave syrup, chocolate chips and the large bowl of dry ingredients.
4. To make pancakes, use approximately ¼ cup batter per pancake. Cook over medium-high heat on a grill or lightly-oiled frying pan.
5. Serve with maple syrup.
6. ENJOY!
   
   

Zesty Tip: While it’s still hot, spread each pancake with natural peanut butter and let it melt and get oozy. Top with sliced bananas and a drizzle of real maple syrup.

OK another week is about to start so keep your chin up (or down if you are walking so you don’t trip) and have a great day.  I am getting some products in the mail this week to give a try so I should be back Wednesday with some fun information on what the mailman delivered to Zesty.  Enjoy the pancakes if you have time to make them for supper and if not try them when you can.

Take care

zesty

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Help The Students Event: Day 22

Welcome to the finale of Help The Students Event.  For the final post, I wanted to share with you a little treat.  Nothing over the top, but one of my all time favorite type of cookie – Oatmeal Raisin.  Who loves oatmeal raisin cookies?  My hand is way up in the air right now and I bouncing in my chair for you to see me.  These cookies go down the hatch like water on a hot summer day.  I normally eat 5-6 in a sitting with frequent sittings until the batch is gone.

Do you bake cookies and store them in the freezer?  I attempted that game plan but failed miserably as all I had left after they cooled were 4 cookies.  Whether you are home, in an apartment or a dorm room on campus, this cookies are quick, simple and fun to make.  You will not be disappointed with the results.  Give them a try.

Ingredients

• 3 Eggs, well beaten
• 1 Cup Raisins
• 1 Tsp.  Vanilla extract
• 1 Cup White sugar
• 2 1/2 Cup  flour
• 1/2 Tsp. Salt
• 1 Cup Butter
• 1 Cup Brown sugar
• 2 Tsp. Baking soda
• 1 1/2 Cup Oatmeal

Method

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
2. Combine eggs, raisins, & vanilla and let stand for 1 hour, covered w/ plastic wrap.
3. Cream together butter and sugars and then add flour, salt, and baking soda to sugar mixture; mix well.
4. Blend in egg-raisin mixture, oatmeal.
5. Drop by using a teaspoon  onto ungreased cookie sheet.
6. Bake at 350 for 9 – 10 minutes.  Let cool on a rack for 10-15 minutes.
7. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: There really are two tricks to creating this amazing cookie.  Do not over bake and to ensure the soaking of the raisins. If you do not have time to soak the raisins – that is OK and the recipe will still be fine. By soaking you plump up the raisins and make them much juicier thus a moister cookie.

HELP THE STUDENTS EVENT: WRAP-UP

I first want to thank everyone who participated in the event by talking to me and sending me their tips, recipes to share with everyone.  I think it was a resounding success from my side of the fence and I will definitely doing something similar in the future.  Before we wrap up today I thought it would be fun to give you a little recap of where you can find all the recipes that made up this successful event.

For all the recipes and ideas you can go to the Help The Students Event category and thumb through the recipes.  Have a super Thursday and I will see you tomorrow for a wrap up of a fun week.

Take care

zesty

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Help The Students Event: Day 14

A special guest post today that will enable you to make anything you ever wanted in a jar!  A very fun post – I hope you enjoy!  Thanks Heather.

Heather here from Heather Eats Almond Butter, or HEAB for short. When Zesty told me he was putting together some guest posts for fun, healthy and cost saving meal ideas for college students, I knew right away that I wanted to participate. Back when I was in college, healthy food was not a priority for me, but that’s only because I had no idea how simple and tasty it could be! Now that I’m a bit older and wiser, I try and eat as well as I can. However, like many people think, that does not require spending a ton of money on boring tasteless food. With just a few simple ingredients and minimal kitchen equipment, you can make some great meals…you simply have to get creative and think outside the box…or in my case, the jar.

As you’ve probably already figured out from the name of my blog, I love almond butter. Actually, I’ve never met a nut butter that I was not completely infatuated with, and you know what else I love about my nut butters? They come in reusable dishware. That’s right, see that peanut butter jar you have sitting in your dorm room? Did you know that it makes the best bowl ever???

For instance, you can make Oats In A Jar…

1/2 cup quick cooking oats made with water and served in a waning Naturally Nutty Vanilla Almond Butter jar with dark chocolate.

Simply cook some oatmeal or any hot cereal in the microwave and then after it’s cooled a bit, pour it into an almost empty nut butter jar along with your favorite toppings. The best part of Oats In A Jar is getting to all that ooey gooey warm nut butter waiting for you at the bottom. Trust me, you’ll never again be sad when that peanut butter is almost all gone.

Then, after cleaning your jar, you can reuse it as a bowl. How about heating up some soup or chili?

Almond Butter Chili in a nut butter jar bowl.

Or, another favorite snack/meal of mine is mashed sweet potato in a jar…

Sweet potato in the waning almond butter jar.

All you need is a microwave and a sweet potato. Heat and mash away, and in my opinion, this is the best way to get in your daily veggies!

There are so many possibilities when it comes to meals in a jar. You could fill them with yogurt and fruit, mashed winter squash, cooked grains, or perhaps even some ice-cream?

Again, be creative. Just because you’re living in a small room with little to no kitchen appliances doesn’t mean you have to live on bagels and ramen noodles. I hope this post inspires you to try something a bit different and that you enjoy your time at school. I also hope that a big jar of almond butter makes your next grocery list!

Full Shellfish Festival Recap

Stay tuned tomorrow for a full recap of the Judgment day as well as other sights.  I had a lot of fun and had some amazing bowls of chowder.  I will share some details tomorrow.  Let’s start another week with a smile.

Take care

zesty

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Help The Students Event: Day 6

OK OK, I know you are going to read the title and be like” what the heck”!  Why is zesty posting oatmeal?  Well despite my lack of posting oatmeal recipe(s) per se – I do eat my fair share of the wonderful grain.  Now you have likely seen many oatmeal creations especially if you read food blogs but you have never seen a zesty oatmeal creation.

Now in no way shape or form is my creation any better/different than the next person’s oatmeal, however oatmeal offers such a blank canvas and a fun texture to add flavors.

Ingredients

• Oats
• Skim Milk
• Banana
• Sliced Almonds
• Raisins
• Drizzle of Honey
• Ground Flax seed

Method

1. Follow the oatmeal instructions… lately I have been using the microwave method and adding milk.
2. Once finished, stir in the extras.
3. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: I like to make it a little thinner and let it thicken as you add in the extras.  It all depends on the consistency you enjoy.  Experiment and let me know how you get along.

What are your favorite Oatmeal toppings?

Some of mine include:

1. Maple Granola
2. Fresh fruit
3. Broken muffins
4. Chocolate Almond Fudge Clif bars
5. Any kind of nut
6. Raisins
7. Cranberries
8. Butterscotch chips
9. Chia seeds
10. Honey

Below is a series of some oatmeal creations from other bloggers that you must try.

Katheats – and her tribute to oatmeal.  She calls herself the Oatmeal QUEEN.  When you visit this page you will see why.

CarrotsNCake – Wait until you see this… baked banana oatmeal!!!  I am trying this one.

Danica Daily – Crock pot oats with peaches and blueberries…. WOW

Heather Eats Almond Butter – Some really fun oatmeal creations over here.  I spotted a recent one with chocolate!  YUM

Can you believe it is Wednesday already? Hard to believe for sure. I only have 2 more days of work and then I am off to Toronto to watch some Blue jays. Have a great day and talk to you tomorrow…. you just never know what fun recipe idea you will see.

Take care

zesty

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Yes – you heard it right!  Remember the cookies you used to eat as a child, I called them spider cookies.  You didn’t have to bake them you just whipped them up and devoured them.  Well, on the weekend Zesty Jr. and I played a little spin on and created a similar cookie with a slightly different ingredient – OATMEAL.

Now don’t kid yourself or get me wrong here, I didn’t invent this cookie by any stretch however I have never made this cookie before Sunday.  Oh and I do have a huge tip to share with you regarding this later on down the post that I hope you follow.

So I guess we should talk cookie here for a second!  These literally take longer to eat than they do to make.  I am not kidding – you will see when I roll out the instructions.  These have great potential as a weight gain product if anyone is looking to go that route.  They also can become extremely addictive.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups White sugar
• 1/2 Cup cocoa
• 1/4 Cup butter
• 1/2 Cup milk
• 1 Tsp. Vanilla
• 3 Cups Quick-cooking oatmeal

Method

1. Combine sugar, cocoa, butter and milk in a saucepan.



2. On medium heat, bring to a boil for one minute.



3. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and oatmeal.







4. Drop by spoonful onto parchment paper.



5. Let cool for at least 30 minutes ( I was a bit premature on the timing )



6. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: I strongly suggest using parchment paper on the baking sheet.  I opted for wax paper… not sure why but it was not a pretty scene when I went to remove the cookies (perhaps a little to early)

I guess one piece of advice I can give you with this cookie is too chill it before eating but that is just personal preference.  The consistency is superb while chilled and they do come off the parchment paper even easier.  For storage I just put them in a plastic container for maybe 2 hours until they were gone   I may have dropped too large of dollop for some but really, can you ever have a cookie that is too big?  And these are healthy – they have oatmeal in them!

Alright, just because I am all about speed as of late – do you remember when I made the 90 second Macaroon.  It was a pretty big success but I think these bad boys today may even top em.  Later on in the week, I may have some pretty exciting news to share with you but until then – I will keep it zipped.

Take care

zesty

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Ok, so I have to confess a little bit here. I totally forgot to post yesterday being Monday and all do to the holiday. My apologies for that. To make it up to you I think I have a pretty tasty recipe that you can try at home and I think you even may be impressed at the fact it is “HEALTHY“. Whole grain oatmeal raisin cookies with a couple of unique ingredients that I have been dying to try for a while now.  Agave nectar and apple juice in cookies really keeps them on the healthy and lighter side by avoiding the heaviness of the oil and the sugar.

Let me know what you think of the recipe but I think they turned out quite good. They are chewy in texture as well as being soft. They are nice right out of the oven or slightly warmed in the microwave.  I like 18 seconds of warming time depending on your microwave of course.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 3/4 Cup organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 Cup organic unbleached white flour
• 2 Tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 Tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 Tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 Cup raisins
• 1/4 Cup flax seeds
• 1/2 Cup low Fat Plain Yogurt
• 1/2 Cup Apple Juice
• 1/4 Cup maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar
• 1 Tsp. pure vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400°.  Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, raisins and nuts.
3. In another bowl or blender combine remaining liquid ingredients.
4. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients.
5. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons, about two inches apart, on to the baking sheets.
6. Press each cookie with moisten fingers or a spoon to flatten.
7. Bake 17 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.
8. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.



9. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: For an even softer cookie, I like to slightly under cook the cookie as it will continue to cook internally after you take them out.  The apple juice and yogurt will also aide in the moisture department.

So there you have it, a fun healthy recipe you can try at home.  I had to test the cookies out of course as I watched the Olympics.  They turned out just as I hoped.  Is anybody else following the Olympics closely?

Stay tuned for a post that you will not want to miss tomorrow.  It is all about Zesty and Opensky giving back to all of you.  Have a fantastic Monday Tuesday and I will talk to you bright and early in the morning.

Take care

zesty

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Happy Thursday everybody!  Today’s post (like the rest of the week) is dedicated to super easy to prepare food that tastes great.  I was talking to my great friend yesterday and I asked him what I should make and post about for Thursday.  He said “Zesty, why don’t you make a killer loaf of homemade whole wheat bread that is super simple to make”.  I said “JT, that is an awesome idea!”  So here I am, getting ready to share with you a quick and easy version of whole wheat homemade bread.

This is a great and versatile recipe that is open for variations and additives of your favorite flavors.

Ingredients

• 2 Tsp. honey
• 2 2/3 Cup lukewarm water
• 4 Tsp. dry yeast
• 3 Tbsp. Molasses
• 5 Cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 Tsp. salt
• 1/4 Cup wheat germ
• 1 Tbsp. Oatmeal (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F.
2. Stir 2 teaspoons honey into 2/3 cup lukewarm water.



3. Sprinkle yeast over the mixture. Set aside for 10 minutes.
4. Combine 3 tablespoons molasses with 2/3 cup warm water and combine with yeast mixture.
5. Stir into flour. Add salt, wheat germ and 1 1/3 cups warm water. Dough will be sticky.



6. Pour dough into a non-stick loaf pan.



7. Smooth top with wet spatula.



8. Sprinkle Oatmeal over top of loaf, if desired.



9. Allow to raise to top of pan.
10. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.



11. Cool 10 minutes on a rack, then turn out of pan.
12. Cool before slicing.



13. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When working with Yeast – it is very important that the yeast is still active (therefore not expired) so be sure to check your labels.  Also make sure to dissolve all the yeast in the liquid before adding dry ingredients.

Wow, I must say I really do love homemade bread and it really does not get any easier than this recipe.  As well, look at the ingredients… so healthy and natural - it really is that simple.  Give this loaf a try and let me know how you do.  Would you suggest any ingredient substitutions or additions?

Have yourself a great Thursday!

zesty

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So I have been blogging for about 6 weeks now and loving it. Along the way I have come across some very interesting foodie blogs and one in particular that I read everyday. While reading Megan’s Munchie’s blog a while back I realized she had a love for oatmeal.

I too love oatmeal but I do not think I love it quite as much as her. After seeing her twists on warm oatmeal in the morning – I thought to myseld that I should incorpoate oatmeal into more of my cooking. And I did…. I added an oatmeal twist to a very traditional biscuit. I must say it turned out well and they tasted pretty darn good.

 I was a little unsure as too how much oatmeal to add to this particular recipe.  I just dumped ina cup and seem to work out fine. 

Ingredients

• 125g softened butter
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup Oatmeal
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons honey
• a pinch of salt
• 2 cups self raising flour
• 1/3 cup raspberry jam, warmed
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 15g softened butter, extra
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2-3 tablespoons milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Line a biscuit tray with baking paper.
3. Cream butter and sugar until well blended. Add egg, honey and a pinch of salt.
4. Fold through sifted flour and oatmeal.
5. Roll mixture into a log. Cover with plastic and allow to rest for about 20 minutes.
6. Uncover and slice into ½ cm slices. Place on tray and bake for 15minutes or until golden.
7. While still warm brush ½ the biscuits with the jam. Set aside to cool.
8. Sift icing sugar into a bowl. Add butter, and vanilla essence. Mix in enough milk to form a thick icing.
9. Spread other half of the biscuits with the icing and sandwich together.

Let me know your thoughts on this recipe and for all your oatmeal needs and ideas, be sure to check out Megan’s Munchies.

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