Instant Oatmeal Packets

Not all of Fly guy's hotels serve breakfast.  With his cooler already packed to the max, muffins and the like are not an option for his long trips.  The last few weeks I've been tossing in homemade 'instant oatmeal' packets.

These are so customizable. Just add some hot water from the hotel coffee pot and you are set.  Apparently he said hot tap water worked fine also.  I don't know, maybe sleep deprivation makes tap water oatmeal seem tasty? 

We like the texture of whole rolled oats, but if you like a finer texture you may try instant oats.  My kids ate this exact recipe for breakfast leaving them begging for seconds.  Begging for oatmeal?  Oh yes, super mom moment. 

Instant Oatmeal Packets
serves 1

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup mix ins (I chose dates and pecans)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
optional: 1-2 tsp brown sugar

Right before serving add in approximately 2/3 cups almost boiling water.  Let sit a few moments to allow the water to absorb.

Oven Baked Apple Chips

So I was out in the rain doing a little photoshoot when Fly Guy wandered off and came back eating a large shiny red apple.  "Hey, where did that come from?  I thought you were just peeing in the bushes!"  Apparently several feet from a pecan tree we discovered there is also a tree loaded with delicious apples.  This is the best Fall ever!

Now what to do with all our apples?  And how to incorporate them in brown bag lunches?

Apple chips!  Crunchy, sweet, crinkly chips.  As a bonus they make your house smell like Christmas while baking.

Now there are several recipes for these chips but you just have to play with cooking times.  Different apples have different amounts of moisture.  I discovered this when I baked two kinds at once and one variety burned.  My final chips are almost identical to the Italian Dish's Apple Chips.  Check out how she gifted hers instead of just stuffing her face when she was done.

You don't have to add any flavor.  My apples were not sweet or tart when I baked them plain but still tasty.  The unflavored ones also seem to cook faster (or it could be my imagination).  My kids like the sugar spice variety best. 

Several cooks claim to cut these apples by hand.  Eh, not for me.  I use a mandoline slicer very similiar to this.  Easy peasy.
 

Oven Baked Apple Chips 

A few thinly sliced apples  (5 for me)
A handful of brown or white sugar (1/3 cup brown)
A few teaspoons of spices  (1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cloves)

Line your baking sheets with parchment paper (I baked 3 pans at once).  Mix you sugar and spices in a small bowl then lightly dip one side of each apple slice before laying then on prepared baking sheets.  You can lay them close, but don't overlap.

Bake between 200 and 225 for 2 to 2.5 hours flipping once after the first hour.  The chips will be a little crunchy when done and further harden as they cool.  If they do not seem to be crisping up as desired you can turn off the oven after the initial 2 hours and leave the pans in for the slices to dry out.

Lentil Salad with Roasted Carrots

Here is my beef with salads. I can't handle mass amounts of raw veggies.  It just makes me feel like a gross bloated cow.  Except cows have like 7 stomachs to deal with the digestion part.  I prefer my veggies roasted.  Smooth, sweet and rich.  Something that feels like a meal and less like a starving person feasting on grass and bark.

Yesterday I packed a few of these lentil salads for Fly Guy.  The lentils give it some 'meat' the carrots add depth, the dressing is sweet and the arugula fresh and peppery.  For a more savory version cut down on the honey and add in some onion.

Lentil Salad With Roasted Carrots
Fills two pint jars when layered as directed

2/3 cups brown lentils picked through and rinsed
3 large peeled carrots
2 tsp honey
3 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil  plus extra for drizzling carrots
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
salt and fresh ground pepper
a few handfuls of fresh aruguala

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Cut carrots in thin sticks or rounds of fairly even size.  Toss with a few teaspoons olive oil and a little salt.  Spread carrots evenly on a baking sheet and roast for approximately 8-15 minutes or until they start to caramelize a bit.

Meanwhile add the lentils to rapidly boiling pot of salted water or broth.  Cook 18-20 minutes or until soft yet still holding their shape.  Drain.

Whisk the honey, mustard, oil, and vinegar together and pour over cooked and drained lentils.Season with salt and pepper to taste.

If transporting for a lunch or picnic layer the lentils, then carrots followed by arugula on top in a pint size mason jar.  Serve room temperature or cold.

Three Bean Kale Salad

 

I've always been a fan of three bean salad but wanted to make it more of a... salad.  Unlike traditional salad greens, kale holds up very well to the moisture of dressing.  In fact, raw kale is tastier once it's been marinated in dressing and softens up a bit.  I had this in my fridge for three days and there was no slime factor going on.   This makes it a prime pick for travel.  Just toss together and transport it in a mason jar.

I've used baby kale for this recipe.  I suspect that regular dinosaur kale (aka Lainato or Tuscan) would work well also but I recommend destemming slicing it in thin ribbons first.


 

Three Bean Kale Salad

Ingredients

1 can kidney beans
1 can white beans
1-2 cups green beans steamed tender crisp and cut in bite size pieces*
2.5 oz torn baby kale greens**
3 TB Dijon mustard
3 TB red wine vinegar
3 TB extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

* I used frozen green beans from Trader Joes and steamed just enough to thaw but not make soggy. 
** 2.5 ounces doesn't sound like much but it was half of the pictured kale package.  I'd say about 3 large handfuls.

Directions

Whisk the vinegar, mustard, and olive oil in a bowl.  Drain and rinse the canned beans then add all the remaining ingredients.  Toss together and refrigerate giving the flavors time to mingle.

No Bake Nuggets

Because you can't bring a jar of peanut butter on an airplane.

No Bake Nuggets
Makes 15-20 one inch balls

Ingredients

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/6 cup honey
1/6 cup molasses*
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
1 cup regular rolled oats
1 cup crushed peanuts

*I pour both the molasses and honey together in a 1/3 measuring cup.  It doesn't have to be super exact.

Directions

Mix the peanut butter, sweeteners, cocoa, and vanilla in a bowl until well incorporated.  Add in the oats and stir well.  The mixture will be tough to stir but still sticky.

Form 1 inch balls and roll in crushed peanuts.  Eat at room temperature or chilled.

Fair warning.  These are sweet!  It won't take more than a couple to knock out that sweet tooth.

Hotel Friendly Popcorn

 

I recently went to my kid's back to school night where teachers had placed cute little notes along with packages of microwavable popcorn on the desks.  "thanks for popping in" if I remember right.  But my kids knew they couldn't eat them due to being chocked full of lard and artificial flavors.  So I wrote "thanks for popping their bubble" on the backside and put it back on the desk.  Joking.  I graciously accepted.

No prob.  I now have my own microwavable popcorn.  It's cheaper, healthier, funner.  Funner when I start writing my own notes to Fly Guy for his overnight trips.  None of which I will be reprinting here...  Ahem.

Back to popcorn.  Oh you won't believe how easy.



 

Are you ready?
Pen and paper handy?
Ok!

Hotel Friendly Popcorn

• Take a paper lunch bag and place 1/4 cup kernels in it.
• Fold over the top twice about a 3/4 inch fold each time creasing it well
• Place the bag on it's side and make sure it's not touching the sides of the microwave
• Microwave for 2-3 minutes or until the popping slows to several second between pops.
• Spend your free time writing witty messages and laughing at your own jokes
• Not that I do that...

Hot or Cold Mujaddara with Sumac

Mujaddara!  I can hardly pronounce it.  Also known as mejadra, moujadara, mudardara, or megadarra.  "Hey Fly Guy you want me to make some (insert silly babble)?"  He always knows what I mean and mocks me accordingly.  For the record it's pronounced moo-jah-d'rah.

Mujaddara is known to appear in cookbooks as far back as 1226.  Though legend places it back much further.  Possibly the dish Jacob used to buy Esau's birthright.  It's that good.  Oh come on Esau, it's like 3 ingredients.  Your birthright?    Really?

We serve this hot, room temp, or cold making it a perfect pack along meal.  I've caught Fly Guy hiding behind the fridge door piling it cold on tortilla chips more than once.  "Tortilla chips, your are desecrating my food!"  I recommend Naan.


 
 

Mujaddara with Sumac

Ingredients

3 TB coconut or olive oil and 1 TB butter*
2-3 large yellow onions thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
1 cup brown or white jasmine rice (I've also used plain long grain brown or white)
1 cup brown or green lentils
salt and pepper to taste
serve with condiment bowls of sumac**, plain yogurt,  and possibly mint.  If you don't have sumac try lemon wedges and paprika.  Fresh chopped parsley also works if your fresh out of everything else.

*Vegan's can leave the butter out.  It just adds a slight richness to the dish.

**I found a bag of sumac in the middle eastern section of my grocery store for less than $3.  It's leaves a nice lemony vinegar taste on your tongue and is a nice alternative to a salt shaker on the table.  I think I will fill an old tic tac container with it next time I send this dish in Fly Guy's lunch.

Directions:

Cook rice according to package directions.

While rice is cooking warm oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Toss in the sliced onions and a tsp salt.  While it looks like a lot of onion it cooks way down and gets quite sweet.

Cook onions for 20-30 minutes until they start to turn golden and sweet.  If they begin to burn turn down the heat.  My stove doesn't get very hot...

Meanwhile cook lentils in a separate pan according to package directions.

When onions are finished add the drained cooked lentils and cooked rice to the pan.  Salt, pepper, and incorporate.

Keep your birthright, you earned it.

Black Bean Cumin Lime Salad

I discovered I didn't have any bread Sunday night and was not about to go to the store before school on Monday. Fortunately I have a tried and true lunch staple that takes about 5 minutes to pull together.

There was a time when my kids came undone over green items in their lunch but we are slowly breaking them in.  Fresh spinach is a great starter green because it's virtually tasteless. 

On non picnic days I'm a big fan of Naturally Ella's 5 ingredient Black Beans and Rice.  Almost the same ingredients and just as easy to pull together.

I'm not sure if it compliments the beans but I also packed this raw Summer Corn Salad.  It's just what worked from my pantry at the moment. The Organic Tortilla Chips came from Target.  My new favorite.

Black Bean Cumin Lime Salad
Adapted from The Kitchn
Serves two small or one big appetite.

1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh spinach
Juice of half lime
drizzle of oil, I use olive
1 tsp cumin powder
salt and pepper to taste

Mix it.  That's it.

Optional additions:  Fly Guy takes an avocado in his bag and dices it right before eating..  Red pepper flakes are another of his favorites.  The boys love to put a huge dollop of plain whole yogurt on top.  Now that I think of it I could have put yogurt mixed with salsa in place of the corn in their containers.

Food Prep– Frozen Muffin Batter

If you give a moose a muffin... You know the story . Some mornings I feel like I have a herd of moose in my house. I couldn't keep up on the muffin front. I wanted leftover muffins for snacks and lunches without having to bake 100 muffins and then gag on the leftover banana smell in the pantry.

And then I came across a golden tidbit while reading Money Saving Mom.  You can freeze muffin batter raw!  It works, we've tried it.  

Just whip up your favorite muffin recipe and fill your greased or lined muffin tins as usual.  Place the whole pan in the freezer until the muffins are frozen solid.  Then pop them out and place in a freezer bag up to three months.  When you are ready to bake just add another 5 minutes or so.  Alternately you could place them in the pan to defrost in the fridge overnight and bake as usual in the morning.

We made a double batch of Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins (minus some sugar) this morning. Baked one pan and froze the other for later.

Fly Guy has 1.5 hours to get to the airport when he's called on reserve.  As soon as that phone rings one of us can pop in some muffins which will be waiting fresh when he heads out the door.  Oh my meese are going to love me! 

Happy Peanut Rice Bowls

I still don't own a cheese grater or a handmixer but I did acquire a wok and mandoline slicer from Goodwill Outlet recently. So I was getting ready to make Gweneth Paltrow's Fried Kale Rice and my mandolin is just hanging out and a spare piece of ginger is on the counter. I'm awful at chopping ginger. I own a boning knife and a bread knife. Not really ginger compatible. But a mandoline, oh yes! Yes, yes, yes! Some ginger, a carrot, a broccoli stem later... Mandoline's are amazing!

My kids shoveled rice in their faces while I made promises to put some in their lunch thermoses.  I then made the mistake of leaving the dinner table for a moment only to hear the ensuing giggles  "I made Vincent swallow peanuts whole like pills and it really improved his attitude! Would you like to try one mom?"   Oh boys!

About the ingredients:

Rice: Brown or white rice will do.  I went with brown rice for it's wholesomeness.   My family was never a big fan the brown rice taste until I switched over to Jasmine Brown Rice (easy to find at Trader Joe's).  They now look forward to it as soon as the scent fills the air.  I also use a rice cooker and love not having to watch for boil overs.

Ginger:  Did you know you can just scrub ginger root and leave the skin on?  Our friends from China sometimes would, sometimes wouldn't.  And their food was always phenomenal either way.

Kale:  I only had pre-chopped kale on hand.  This dish is much easier if have whole kale so you can control the chopping.  I chop it small for the kids, but it tastes just as great with larger pieces.

Garnish:  We do peanuts and Sriracha sauce.  Another option might be sesame seeds.  My friend swears by sesame oil. Her recipe.

Ingredients

2 TB coconut or canola oil
2 inch piece of ginger, julienne cut
1 large carrot, julienne cut
2 inch stalk of peeled broccoli (without the floret) julienne cut.  Or just add another carrot.
2 green onions, white and green parts sliced thin
2 garlic cloves chopped
4 cups thinly sliced fresh kale
1 TB soy sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 eggs slightly beaten
2.5 cups Jasmine Brown Rice cooked and slightly cooled

Directions

In a large pan or wok heat the oil over medium high heat.  Toss in the carrot, broccoli,  onion, and garlic.  Stir for just a few minutes until the vegetables are tender crisp being careful not to burn the garlic.  Throw the chopped kale, soy sauce, and rice vinegar over the vegetables, turn heat down to medium and put on a lid to catch the steam.  Cook just a couple more minutes, stirring periodically, until the kale has wilted down a bit.

Push the vegetables to the side of the pan making a well in the middle.  Pour beaten eggs in the center and let cook until slightly set., 1 or 2 minutes.  Throw prepared rice on top of everything and stir gently to incorporate.  Adjust soy sauce and oil to taste.

Garnish and serve.

When we picnic:  I really did picnic with this and brought it along in a thermos with the garnishes already on.  For Fly Guy I will put cold in a jar and let him warm it up at his hotel.

By the way, has anyone read either of Gweneth Paltrow's books ?   I just reserved one at my library!

Mason Jar Salad with Moonshine Dressing

Fly guy is way better about eating raw veggies than I am.  For his first few flight trips he packed bags and jars of cut up raw veggies.  I got a stomach ache just looking at them.  After eating carrot sticks and loads of bells peppers for four days his stomach joined me.  What a love story right?  Two stomachs become one....

Well you have to add some protein silly!  Maybe some jazzy dressing, peppery arugula, and cheese if you must.

Fast forward to a week later and he's sitting in the pilot lounge scarfing his jazzy salad thinking jazzy thoughts about his jazzy wife.  Jazzy:  Bright, colorful, showy.  Ok, maybe I'm a little showy. Another pilot (probably enviously) laid eyes on his salad.

"Whatcha eatin there boy?  Mighty colorful"

'Uhh... salad'

"And that some moonshine dressing to go with it?"

Thank you Mr. Smart Aleck Pilot.  The name has stuck and now my children will be telling strangers that their mama makes moonshine for their daddy to fly with.



Moonshine Dressing aka Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 TB red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove minced or finely grated
1 tsp dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a small jar with lid tightly screwed on and give it a good shake.

Mason Jar Salad

These are straight forward but there is a method that will keep everything fresh longer.  These jars should last refrigerated for several days.

• Dressing goes on bottom. We use 2 TB.
• Then choose some firm veggies you don't mind soaking in dressing.  This is a great place to tame your raw onions.
• Then a layer of grains or protein.  Beans, meat, eggs, quinoa, ect.
• Last comes the greens.  It is important these are dry or your salad will break down quickly.

Store upright and then give a few good shakes before digging in.

Two Ingredient Carry On Cookies

I've been hooked on different variations of these two ingredient cookies ever since they made their debut on The Burlap Bag. 

It's just ripe bananas, oats, and if you want a handful of a mix-ins.  When I say ripe I mean there should be a few brown spots on the skins of those nanners.

Ingredients

2 bananas
1 cup regular oats
Optional: 1/2 cup add-ins such as nuts or dried fruit

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 and spray a cookie sheet with oil.

Mash the bannans and oats together however you please but I choose to use a pastry cutter .  Add a few tablespoons applesauce if it's too dry or more oats if it's too wet.

Stir in your optional mix ins.  Not much more than 1/2 cup or things start to fall apart.I used chopped walnuts and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon.

Drop by small spoonfuls on your greased cookie sheet and slightly flatten.  They come out of the oven in the same shape they went in.

Bake for 12-18 minutes.

I'm packing for Fly Guy's four day trip that starts tomorrow and his cooler is going to be tight.  Not to worry, I've found space in his flight bag.  If you see an unusually good looking pilot carrying a bag with a 'fly' sticker in an airport near you.  He has cookies.  I bet he'd share.

White Bean Tuna Salad

I was getting the kids off to school this morning when Fly Guy got a call for a day trip to Chicago. I had just torn out a recipe from Better Homes and Garden magazine the day before. In part because it was easy but mostly because we rarely eat meat so I expect my kids to throw a party in my honor once they find tuna in the fridge.

Here is the original White Bean Tuna Salad recipe.  But I will have you know I cut the tuna down to one can then added some grape tomatoes to protect the arugula from the vinaigrette soaked beans.