Peanut butter oatmeal

The leaves have just started turning up here in Western MA. Driving down the road there are orange leaves here and there and on occasional tree that I could have sworn was totally green last week, is now completely in the throes of autumn colors. I know that by January, I will miss the color green and the sound of leaves in the wind, and I will be left looking at the blank grey canvas that is a New England winter. But for now, I am anticipating all things fall. Sure I will miss my summer staples; flip flops (my feet really aren't ready for those big girl shoes I have to wear to work), macaroni salad and frequenting the local ice cream stand (which honestly we haven't done for quite some time). But I am ready for all those things that mean Autumn is here; sweatshirts, scarves, apple picking and pumpkin carving. I am ready for J to buy me those Mums he promised...hopefully he remembers he promised. And I am ready for some good old Comfort Food! My Dutch Oven is itching to be used, and I have been stock piling apple crisp recipes.

With slightly cooler weather I have developed an obsession with oatmeal. I have never been a huge oatmeal eater, and if I did eat it, it was the kind in the little pouches. The variety pack boxes where I favored the peaches and cream, apples and cinnamon, and the other fruity flavors to the maple sugar flavor..yuck.

Because J( not an oatmeal eater..more of a scrambled eggs guy..EVERY Morning!) is now a 3rd shifter, he is not awake when I am eating breakfast and a giant container of oats is far less expensive than boxes of itty bitty packets. So I started searching oatmeal recipes...3 have been attempted, 1 was a struggle to finish eating, 1 was pretty darn yummy and 1 was quite delicious!! (found at http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-peanut-butter-oatmeal/)  So I will share with you my quite delicious recipe which I just finished eating!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal

Cook the Oatmeal according to the container. For today I did 2 servings which was :
1 cup oatmeal

1 1/2 cups water
Bring the water to a boil then add the oats
Reduce heat to Medium and cook for 5 minutes
Remove from Heat and cover for 3ish minutes

Now for the Deliciousness....
Add to the oatmeal;

• 2 TBS Good peanut butter ( I used Smuckers Creamy All Natural PB)
• 1 TBS Honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Now because I like to add a little something to the softer oatmeal texture, I reverted to childhood, when I loved peanut butter and banana sandwiches..hmm...

I went ahead and sliced half of a banana and added it right in. I am now fighting the urge to go finish off the pot instead of putting it in the fridge for tomorrow.

So I am ready for those fall flavors, cooler days and warm dishes!

Easy Flour Tortillas- Who Knew?

I've never been a "summer person". I enjoy those warm days that say that summer is coming when I can go outside without a sweatshirt or walk to the mailbox barefoot, but now that August has arrived so has my humidity induced crankiness and unwillingness to move above a snails pace. This being said, the prospect of firing up the stove seems like cruel and unusual punishment, especially when I will have to take the third "just to cool off" shower of the day because I opened the oven door to check the progress of some hot meal. No Thank You!  But today, with the fans blowing and a nice little breeze ringing the wind chimes outside the door, I attempted to make my own tortillas. I had seem this on a blog  ( http://smells-like-home.com/2012/07/diy-soft-flour-tortillas/) while cruising through new Do It Yourself Projects on my favorite website.

Hmm making my own tortillas sounded interesting. I have made bread before, but along with the rest of the country, I am trying to eat healthier and hey-- if the bread is thinner and I shed a few calories while mixing and rolling, and sweating I say it's a healthier way to go..But that's just my way of thinking. It also helped kick up the heart rate when the pan started burning with left over flour between batches and I had to desperatly fan out the kitchen before the smoke alarm went off and I had a very grumpy boyfriend on my hands!

I also altered the recipe just a smidge because when a recipe calls for lard, it's just a turn off. And really, I can't justify making a recipe to lead a healthier life when it calls for lard, seems counterproductive right? So instead of Lard I used I Can't Believe It's Not Butter, again one of our healthy changes...since J came home one day and insisted we change because some guy in really good shape told him about it in training... Please, nobody tell him about anymore strange diets or eating fads because I guarantee we will be trying it the next day, and I really can't live without bread or pasta or dressing on my salad or..the list goes on... In fact, why doesn't somebody tell him the best way to stay in shape is to buy me flowers or wash dishes..hmm I think I am onto something. Anyways, back to flat bread! I was just doing a trial run so I halved the recipe and made smaller rounds but the actual measurements are as follows...

3 cups four
5 TBS butter- They said unsalted, I used I Can't Believe it's Not Butter and it came out fine
1 tsp salt- I used sea salt because that's all this house carries
2 tsp baking POWDER
3/4 cups warm water

Super easy right?? Literally took 2 minutes once I dug out the baking powder

• First mix the dry ingredients
• Cut in the butter ( I used my hands because I can't afford one of those fancy pants kitchen aid mixers, and the knife trick takes too long for this impatient girl) 
• Divide into 12 equal portions
• Let rise for 10 minutes (mine looked no different but they still turned out okay) 
• Roll out with a well floured rolling pin to about 8 inches- or in my case I used a handy wine bottle :)
• In a dry skillet turned to Medium high, cook one tortilla at a time for 20 to 40 seconds on each side. They really will start to bubble and turn slightly golden brown
• The recipe said not to roll them all out at once because they will dry out, I would take this advice even though I can't vouch for it--I only made 6

That's It Folks, yummy warm tortillas for your eating pleasure! So many options!

I can personally say they are great with salsa as a chip as well as a great wrap for a tuna melt! I am thinking of making J a breakfast burrito when he wakes up! All I can say is next time I am going for the all out recipe and dishing up some carne asada burritos or enchiladas for supper!

That there is my rendition of a tuna melt, then I folded it in half taco style.