Strawberry Vanilla Protein Oats (Slow Cooker Style)

So is it Spring or isn't it?! Mother Nature is seeming a little confused these days. One day it's warm and sunny and the next it's gray and frigid. We had some glimpses of Springtime weather on Tuesday morning and since then have pretty much been experiencing a monsoon.....okay, so maybe I'm being a wee bit dramatic, but we've had some crazy thunder, rainy downpours and the weatherman is calling for a chance of wet snow or freezing rain today today. AWESOME {enter sarcasm here} I think we can all agree that we are done with winter and want the snow to take a hike, but it just doesn't seem to want to let us go. I bought a couple {read: five} new pairs of flats that I'm dying to wear, but I made an attempt with them yesterday and my feet received a royal soaking. Today, I'm back to boots.

My cravings have been all over the board because of this weather too. One day I'm craving fresh green salads with lots of veggies and my favourite honey dijon dressing and the next day I'm thinking about making a crockpot full of veggie stew.

Last night, I decided that I needed to make a crockpot full of steel cut oatmeal for breakfast. I decided to try a new strawberry vanilla combo, so I could get a little Springtime with the berries while at the same time getting the warm and cozy comfort of the oatmeal. This combo turned out to be delicious!

I also decided to add some protein powder to my oats, which is something I've never done before. I recently became a member of Team Vega {an entire post dedicated to this amazing company and their equally amazing products will be coming very soon} and they provided me with a sample pack of products to try - I decided that their Vega One French Vanilla Nutritional Shake powder would be a perfect compliment to my strawberry oats. This flavour is the bomb-digity of protein powders!!!!!

What I ended up with was an amazing new oatmeal that I insist you've got to try. It's Springtime meets comfort food and it is SO.GOOD!!!!!

Strawberry Vanilla Slow Cooker Protein Oats

Serves 2

1/2 c steel cut oats

1 c unsweetened original almond milk (or milk of your choice)

3/4 c water

1 package vanilla-flavoured protein powder

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 c frozen sliced strawberries (fresh would probably work)

Optional Toppings: favourite nut butter, maple syrup, coconut or chopped pecans

Note: I used my small hot dip slow cooker for this recipe. It works perfectly or you could use Janetha's instructions here for using a larger sized slow cooker.

Grease your slow cooker with coconut oil or non-stick spray.

Add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker and stir well to combine.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

Serve and enjoy. Sometimes I like to add a spoonful of plain non-fat Greek yogourt to my oats and sometimes I eat them topped with chopped fruit, a drizzle of syrup (perfect way to add more sweetness for all you sweet lovers out there) or a big glob of melty nut butter. Either way will rock your socks off!

I prepare my oatmeal in the evening and let the slow cooker simmer away all night long. When I get up in the morning, I open my bedroom door to the mouthwatering aroma of freshly made oatmeal. It's such a nice way to start your day!

Are you craving fresh produce and all foods associated with Spring or are you still enjoy all the comfort foods of winter?

Have a great day!!

Andrea

xoxo

Pumpkin Love + an Oatmeal Recipe

Hiya!

I know that we are completely flooded with all things pumpkin this time of year, but I hope you aren't quite sick of it yet!

I bought a sugar pumpkin a few weeks ago with the intention of making my own pumpkin puree and finally got around to doing just that on Sunday afternoon. For a great photo tutorial on how to roast a sugar pumpkin and make your own homemade pumpkin puree, check our Ange's post here. I spent $1 on the pumpkin and it ended up making about 2 1/2 cups of puree....not too shabby considering a can of pumpkin puree can cost up to $3.99 around here!

Not only do I luuuurrvvvee the flavour of pumpkin spice anything, I absolutely adore pumpkin for all of it's health benefits too:

 * 1 cup of pure pumpkin puree has over 200% of the recommended daily intake of Vitamin A
 * pumpkin is rich in carotenoids, including beta carotene (antioxidant!!)
 * pumpkin in a good source of fibre, packing 7g into each cup
 * pumpkin is packed with potassium (move over bananas)
 * pumpkin aids your pooch if he/she is having some trouble with *ahem* the scoots
 * the seeds are rich in calcium & zinc
 * pumpkin is low in fat and calories
 * every part of the pumpkin can be used in some form, so there is absolutely NO waste

- check out Gina's tips on how to use an entire pumpkin from seeds to skin here

As soon as the pumpkin puree was made, I gave each of my poochies a big ol' scoop with their dinners and got to work making myself a breakfast for Monday morning.

Um....I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but there is seriously no better way to start your morning than with this oatmeal. It takes 5 minutes to make and is absolutely delicious!

Pumpkin Pie Slow Cooked Steel Cut Oats
Serves 2

1/2 c steel cut oats
1 c unsweetened almond milk (or regular milk)
3/4 c water
1/2 c pumpkin puree
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp Earth Balance (or butter)

Place everything into your crockpot and cook on low for 8 hours.

I used my little dipper crockpot again, which is the perfect size for this oatmeal recipe.

I topped my bowl of oatmeal with chopped walnuts.

Hands down the best oatmeal recipe that I have ever made.

If you love pumpkin as much as I do, I'm pretty sure you're going to love these recipes too:

 - Jenna's Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
 - Angela's Vegan Pumpkin Mac N Cheeze
 - Jessica's Roasted Pecan Pumpkin Butter
 - Sommer's Southwest Spicy Pumpkin Soup
 - Sarah's Pumpkin Streusel Swirl Loaf

What's your favourite Fall flavour?

Have a great day!

Andrea
xoxo

Creamy Corn Chowder

Well here we are at Wednesday and you may notice something's missing here on my lovely little site. I decided to skip a What I Ate Wednesday post this week because I've had lots of repeat meals lately and yesterday I had a poopy ol' day and my heart and my head just weren't in the mood for putting together a post. Do you ever have those days??? It was for no particular reason ~ just a funky day.

Today however things are lookin' up and I am feeling pretty much back to normal. I have a delicious corn chowder recipe to share and I am super excited because it's vegan and Derek LOVED it!!! He claims he doesn't like "that kind" of food, but he told me over and over how good it was. SCORE 1 for me :-D

This soup was really easy to make. I made it the night before and let it simmer all day long in the slow cooker. It was SOOOOO nice to come home to an already made supper!!! 

Creamy Corn Chowder in the Slow Cooker
Serves 4

This is a delicious soup that eats like a meal! It's full of lots of hearty veggies and there is virtually no fat. We served ours with cornbread muffins. It was delicious!

1 sweet onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled & chopped
4 small yellow potatoes, chopped
2 14 oz cans of cream corn
2 c frozen or fresh corn kernels
2 c vegetable broth
1 tbsp Spicy Mrs. Dash
salt & pepper to taste
2 c original unsweetened almond milk (regular milk would work)
2 tbsp cornstarch

I prepared the soup the night before, refrigerated overnight and then transferred to my slow cooker in the morning before work, but you can make it and slow cook it right away if that works better for your schedule.

Combine the first 8 ingredients. Stir to make sure everything is well combined.

When you are ready, place the soup into the crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours.

About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat, turn the crockpot to high heat. Add one cup of milk to the soup. Whisk the other cup together with the cornstarch and then add it to the soup too. Cook for approximately 20 minutes or or maybe even a little more. The soup should thicken slightly and become a creamier consistency.

Chop those veggies & add them to a bowl....

....add your corn 

...followed by your broth and spices 

At this point I covered and refrigerated overnight.

Before I went to work the next day, I transferred my soup mixture to the slow cooker.

Right before you're ready to eat, add your almond milk. 

The soup is ready to eat once it's reached  your desired consistency.

Turn on the fireplace, curl up on the couch and enjoy your soup!! (Can you tell we have no children --- we never, ever sit at a table to eat our meals! We like a more comfy cozy location in front of the fireplace and the TV)

What is your favourite type of chowder?
Do you have a slow cooker? How often do you use it and for what?

Have a great night!

Andrea

The Perfect Friday Night Dinner: Vegetarian Chili in the Slower Cooker

Whew, it certainly has been busy in our household this week. I must say that I am utterly exhausted! Work has been really busy and I've been working away at a bunch of chores around the house each night. My exhaustion might also have something to do with the fact that I stayed up past my bedtime to catch the latest episode of Jersey Shore. I don't know what it is about these 8 people that keep me so enthralled, but I love watching their antics week after week. Derek used to make fun of me everytime he caught me watching it, but last night I caught him watching a rerun of it in bed and he was giggling away to himself throughout the entire episode ~ he also keeps stealing my favourite sunglasses so he can channel the Snooks <sigh> we are a sad pair and we have no excuse for ourselves, but please don't judge :-)

I am super excited to finish this workday and get home because my mom is coming for a visit and she arrives tonight! My family lives 12 hours away, so I don't get to see them often and I very rarely ever get to wow them with my "culinary talents." My mom is my best guest because she always likes everything I make even if I end up serving a disaster...last time she came I decided to try a butternut squash and rice casserole. We didn't end up eating until after 9 p.m. and the meal was dry and not very good at all. She never admitted it wasn't good (Derek was vocal enough for the 3 of us because he was starving by this point) and she ate it like it was my best meal ever - what a great mom!

This visit, I have a bunch of recipes that I am planning to whip up, most of them have been tested and tweaked, so I am not anticipating any flops. Tonight I decided to cook up a vegetarian chili in the crockpot. That way we will have a delicious dinner ready to eat regardless of what time she arrives. I have been working on this recipe for a while and I think I am close to perfecting it. You'll have to try it out and let me know what you think!

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 orange pepper, chopped
1 c. sliced mushrooms (I used crimini)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 19 oz cans of black beans, drained & rinsed
1 19 oz can of white kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 19 oz can of red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 14 oz can of vegetarian baked beans in tomato sauce
1 28 oz can of tomatoes
2 tsp salt (I used spicy Herbamare)
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cumin
4 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp crushed chili peppers
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add onions. Cook the onions for 5 minutes until they are starting to soften. Add the peppers, garlic and mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes.

Pour the beans and tomatoes into the slow cooker and mix well.

Add the vegetables and mix well.

Add all of the spices, chili peppers and vinegar and mix well.

Cook on low in slow cooker for 6 - 8 hours.

Just before you're ready to eat, add the brown sugar and stir it in so that it dissolves into the chili. I did this once when I made the chili too hot and I loved the subtle change it made to the flavours. For me, the brown sugar mellows out the flavours and I love the end result!

And when you get home, you'll have a delicious home-cooked meal ready to eat!

Serve & enjoy!

Do you have any guilty pleasures like our Jersey Shore addiction??

What is your favourite slow cooker recipe??

Wishing all my Canadian peeps a fabulous start to your long Family Day weekend,

Andrea