Oats, Oats, Oats

I've always loved oats. In fact, if I had oats as a child they were a special treat. I wasn't raised eating oatmeal in the morning. My mom doesn't like oatmeal, thus we never tried oatmeal. I was probably 12 when I first tried oatmeal at my grandma's house. I really liked it there, so I went home and told my mom. She bought us a package and made it really thick and gross. I never ate oatmeal again at home.

After leaving home, I ate oatmeal occasionally. It was usually the pre-flavored oatmeal in the little packages. It was probably only 3 years ago that I first tried steel cut oats and realized I really like those also.

It amazes me that oats are so healthy and taste so good. I read an article on www.whfoods.com talking about all the health benefits below and much more.

• Good source of copper, biotin, vitamin B1, magnesium, dietary fiber, chromium, zinc, and protein.Lower Cholesterol Levels
• High Fiber
• Enhanced Immune Response to Infection
• Stabilize Blood Sugar
• Health promoting activity equal to or even higher than that of fruit and vegetables

Yes, it maybe a little boring, but I eat oats almost every day. If oats are on sale, I pick up 4lbs+ from the bulk food section.

Here's some ways I eat my oats:

• Steel Cut oats (cooked on stove or Instant Pot) with frozen fruit (usually blueberries)
• Cooked Old Fashioned oats with frozen blueberries, frozen mixed fruit or bananas (sometimes I add some vanilla)
• Homemade Granola
• Cooked Old Fashioned oats with baked apples (or applesauce), cinnamon and nutmeg
• Soaked Overnight oats with chia seeds and soymilk. In the morning, I add banana slices or frozen fruit.
• Chocolate Bird Seed P.D. Premium Recipe

Do you eat oats? How do you eat your oats?

Crispy, Oven Baked, Fat Free French Fries by BrandNew Vegan!

You have to try these healthy Oven Baked Fries by BrandNew Vegan! They are the best. I made them for me and my husband and we ate the whole pan.

Here's the link to his blog. http://www.brandnewvegan.com/recipes/crispy-oven-baked-fat-free-french-fries/

I cooked them on my silicon mat and they came out tasty and crispy. The whole process took less than 40 minutes. So it's definitely something you can manage on a week night. It's amazing that you can make crispy french fries without oil.I also believe that with the seasonings that these are better than any oil cooked french fries I've ever had.

I just whipped up a quick side salad and I had a complete meal. I encourage you to try these tasty fries.

I have brown rice, so what should I have for supper?

The nice thing about a Protective Diet Premium membership is that you can search recipes by ingredients. For example, tonight I  had a lot of brown rice made up ahead. I wanted to use for supper, so I searched for brown rice on the PD website to see what I could make.

I found that I had the ingredients for Roasted Squash Curry. This is actually a free recipe on the site so anyone can create a login and get the recipe. She has an option to use pumpkin puree, so I actually used that instead of squash.

It was a delicious, tasty and healthy rice dish. It makes a lot, so I will have leftovers for a couple days. Bonus!

If you are new to Protective Diet, you have to create a login to see her yummy recipes. She has two types of recipes on the site: free and premium. I invite you to create a free login on the Protective Diet site to try her free healthy recipes. I'm confident that you will love them like me.

Blueberry Muffins

My kids love blueberry muffins. So finding a healthy blueberry muffin that the kids like is a bonus.

This weekend I tried Protective Diet (PD) Blueberry Breakfast muffins. The recipe calls for fresh blueberries, but I was able to make it just fine with frozen berries. I used a regular muffin pan with silicon muffin liners. The recipe was real quick to whip up & cook. I've been adding these as a snack for my kids this week.

This is a free recipe at Protective Diet and I think everyone should try it. It's a tasty muffin that is oil free, egg free and sugar free. It's heart healthy

If you are new to Protective Diet, you have to create a login to see her yummy recipes. She has two types of recipes on the site: free and premium. I invite you to create a free login on the Protective Diet site to try her free healthy recipes. I'm confident that you will love them like me.

Traveling on a Protective Diet

I think one of the largest challenges I've had so far was traveling on a Protective Diet. I was traveling by airplane with other non protective diet family members, so I think that added complexity to my trip.

To prepare for m y plane ride, I made P.D. banana bread into muffins instead of bread. Also, I took peanut butter sandwiches for my son, peeled oranges and bananas. I loaded these up in my carry on so we didn't have to grab any fast food from the airport since we had one layover.

Once we landed, we had a rental car, so we could travel around the town. My sister and I made a visit to the nearest grocery store. I picked up lots of bottled water, fresh fruits, veggies, salsa and tortilla chips to snack on. My hotel room had a fridge, so I also bought some boxed soy milk and a box of old fashioned rolled oats. My breakfast each morning was a large bowl of soaked oats with banana and a banana bread muffin. During the day, I snacked on a lettuce salad w/ salsa and the fruits/veggies. In the evenings we either went out to eat at a restaurant or ordered in. I just tried to make the best decisions I could off the menu available.

I'm happy with sticking pretty closely to a protective diet on my trip. It was a challenge, but I feel good about how it turned out.

It's the first day of March

Finally, we are getting closer to Spring. Here in Michigan it's 28 degrees today. That's actually very warm. Last week, we had days that didn't get above zero. I'm happy the days are longer and that Spring is not far now.

This type of Michigan weather makes for perfect days to stay in and cook healthy delicious food. I don't feel guilty staying in my kitchen and not going outside. Plus, with having the oven on, it warms up the house. It's eleven am and I've started on a couple things I can eat this week.

Here's what I am working on in my kitchen:

• Protective Diet Chia Jam (I'll use for my oatmeal this week)
• Veggie Broth (cooking a very basic broth in my Instant Pot- onions, leeks, carrots and celery)
• Dried Chick Peas are soaking (I'll cook these up in my Instant Pot when my broth is done.)
• Protective Diet Chocolate Bird Seed

I think I'll make P.D. Chickpea Cucumber Salad later today. I'll look to see what other recipes look good, so I can make up my lunch for tomorrow. Hope you are staying warm and enjoying March 1st wherever you are.

If you are new to Protective Diet, you have to create a login to see her yummy recipes. She has two types of recipes on the site: free and premium. I invite you to create a free login on the Protective Diet site to try her free healthy recipes. I'm confident that you will love them like me.

What's your plan for your day off?

Saturday and Sunday are my day off. I realize that some people have to work weekends, but I Iove my job where I get two days off in the row with the kids.

Today, I plan on cooking and reading/skimming two cookbooks I got from the library. I belong to a couple plant based FaceBook groups that I love to follow. Some folks have been raving about a book by Isa Chandra Moskowitz called 'Isa Does It!", so I HAD to check it out.

I found that my library was able to get me two cookbooks by Isa:  'Isa Does It!' and Veganomicon, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook. I'm excited to see what recipes in her cookbooks qualify/fall under a Protective Diet (no oils, sugar or white flour) or if they can be modified to qualify.

At first glance, Isa Does It! looks like a wonderful book; it's 311 pages with beautiful pictures on almost every page. I have to admit, I'm a bit of a recipe hoarder. I love collecting healthy recipes that taste great. I'm always on a search to add something else to my binder or a new cookbook to my shelf. I try at least 4 new recipes each week. Some I like, others I don't. The ones that work, I keep; the others I'm ok with cutting ties with. Happy reading. . .