New Post, New Year

I'm not particularly mushy, I don't think bad luck comes in threes, and I tend to implement my resolutions when I think of them, rather than on a day set by the calendar so, really, what is the significance of the "New Year" to someone like me? I spent some time thinking about this after reading a couple of op ed pieces cheering the arrival of a new decade after the horrible decade that just passed. I found the concept confusing at first - a lot of really bad crap occurred during this decade both for us as a nation and for my family personally - but do you write off an entire decade? Seems extreme. Some good must have happened as well. But, when I thought back over the past ten years, I finally concluded that this era was more heavily weighted with sadness, drama and stress than my prior adult years. So I'll join the others and hope that this year marks the beginning of a calmer, healthier, and more peaceful decade than the last.


One of my holiday gifts was the new 16 cup Cuisinart with three different sized bowls! I'm very much looking forward to using it for just about everything. Although my trusty old Cuisinart which I received as an engagement gift in 1988 is mostly still working, it leaks a bit, particularly when I make pesto, leaving a trail of green oil around the base. I am also without the stem used to attach the other blades for shredding and slicing. I did check on a replacement web site a few years ago and found the missing part but didn't purchase it as it was $40.00, plus shipping, which seemed like too much of an investment in what was then an almost twenty year old appliance. At the time I figured I'd replace the whole machine the next time they went on sale. Due to a combination of laziness and then a bad economy, that didn't happen until this past December. Recipes will follow shortly!!


Despite this being one of the coldest weeks I remember in DC, I had an urge for Bircher Muesli. I've written before about how much I like oatmeal and muesli is simply another way to eat it. However, it is traditionally served cold, which seems like the last thing I'd want this week. Somehow, it worked. The beauty of this dish is you make several servings at once, so you can serve your family or friends at once, or have your breakfast ready made for a few days in a row. You start this dish the night before by mixing the oats, milk, yogurt and sweetener and then refrigerating the mixture overnight, and adding the fruit and nuts in the morning before serving. So, after 5 minutes of effort in the evening and 5 more the following morning, you have a healthy and filling breakfast. Fiber, people, fiber!


I first had Bircher Muesli at the home of a friend who, rumor has it, wheedled it out of the chef at a local Swiss coffee shop. I've since experimented with several versions and this is what I've come up with. I find that it's creamy enough with the skim milk as I use the Greek yogurt which is thicker and creamier, even in its non-fat variety.



Bircher Muesli


(serves 4)

~1-1/4 cups old fashioned oats (not quick cooking)
~2/3 cup skim milk
~2/3 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
~1 apple, peeled and grated or finely chopped
~1/4 cup organic cane sugar or honey (or 3 tablespoons agave nectar) - the honey or agave will create a slightly stickier consistency than the sugar
~raisins or other dried fruit (optional)
~toasted slivered or sliced almonds, about 1 -2 tablespoons per serving, 1/2 cup for whole batch. Lazy girl that I am, I buy mine pre-toasted at Trader Joes, but you can toast yours by putting them in a single layer on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.
~cut up fresh fruit (whatever fruit you like - I like bananas, strawberries, blueberries, and pear, depending on the season)

1. Evening before you want to serve the muesli: In medium to large bowl, mix together the oats, milk, yogurt, sweetener, grated apple, and dried fruit if using. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

2. In the morning, remove bowl from refrigerator and add the fresh fruit and sprinkle the nuts on top.

3. If you like, you can also sprinkle some wheat germ on top for extra fiber and flavor.

Cranberry Oat Bars

For the first time, I am enjoying some experimentation with fresh cranberries. After a few unsuccessful attempts at homemade cranberry sauce that just didn't surpass the guilty pleasure of the canned jell, I gave up trying a few years ago. I mean, who doesn't love ridges that let you know precisely where to cut the jiggling goo into perfect slices? Trader Joe's has a pretty good cranberry chutney that I liked for a while, but this year, a very simple recipe that I linked to last week revived my interest in the bags of fresh cranberries that are piled high in all the stores these days. I've made that recipe several times now, and expect that I will continue making it through the winter. Cranberries freeze well, so you can stock up now and have some available until next Thanksgiving.

Recently, I came across a recipe for cranberry oat bars that looked appealing and seemed easily adaptable to qualify as a "healthier" dessert with a one-to-one switch of whole wheat pastry flour for the specified white flour. Unfortunately, I had completely missed the last line of the ingredient list which called for 1 and 1/2 sticks of butter. By the time I noticed this little deal breaker, I had already preheated the oven, put the cranberries, sugar and orange zest into a saucepan, and, most importantly, had already started craving the taste of one of these bars. I guess that's why it's better to prep the whole dish before starting the recipe.

What to do? I kept one half stick of butter in the recipe as I thought the crust would require some. I substituted one half cup of canola oil for another half stick. Lastly, as there was already orange zest in the filling, I used 4 tablespoons of frozen orange juice concentrate that I had in my freezer, instead of the third half stick.

Though more butter might have produced a crisper crust, we loved the tart flavor and texture of these cranberry bars. The oats, which I really like, come through loud and clear. This is still a dessert, though it is probably not any worse than some of the granola bars and lunchbox snacks floating around.

Cranberry Oat Bars

(greatly adapted from the Washington Post, which says it adapted it from Rick Rodgers' Christmas 101: 100 Festive Recipes With Menus and Timetables for Stress-Free Holiday Entertaining. At this point, who knows?)

makes 16 bars

for the filling:

2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
zest of 1 large orange (get out the Microplane!)
3 tablespoons water

for the crust:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (not the quick cooking or instant kind)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter (1/2 stick) cut into small cubes
1/2 cup canola oil
3 - 4 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray.

2. Place cranberries, sugar, orange zest and water into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Lower heat to medium and let the mixture simmer for about 5 - 10 more minutes, stirring often, until the mixture has thickened and reduced a bit. Take off the heat and let cool.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the butter cubes and with your fingers, begin to work it into the dry ingredients. Once partly combined, add the oil and 3 tablespoons of the orange juice concentrate and continue using fingertips until wet ingredients are well incorporated. If it feels too dry to be able to mold a little, add another tablespoon of the orange juice concentrate and incorporate.

4. Press half the flour/oat mixture into the greased pan so that the bottom of the pan is entirely covered. Spread the cooled cranberry filling on top. Sprinkle the rest of the flour/oat mixture over top of the cranberry filling and tap it down gently so that the top is even and all the cranberry mixture is covered.

5. Bake on the middle rack for about 45 minutes, until the top is nicely browned. Take pan out of oven and let cool completely.

6. Cut into 16 bars. Once bars are removed from pan, let bars cool further. Store in a container with a tight fitting lid.

Oats - Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

I did not grow up eating oatmeal, and, frankly, I have no idea when I first tried it, though I know it was as an adult. As a young child, I thought cereal came in three varieties: Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes and Wheaties. All cold. Those, along with Pop-Tarts, Blueberry or Brown Sugar Cinnamon, never frosted, and a completely weird, mitt-like toaster pastry called "Cinnamon Sticks" were the full extent of our weekday breakfast offerings. For many years, I imagined that I didn't like hot cereals (in four years of college in the South, I never once tried grits!).

I vividly remember eating oatmeal in Ireland several years ago, and though I'm sure I'd tried it before that, it was the steel cut oats at Ballymaloe House that really turned me into an oatmeal eater. Creamy from slow cooking on the stove for an hour or so, and served with an assortment of brown sugar, fresh fruit and nut toppings as well as cream from the cows that lived behind the hotel, this was an oatmeal that anyone could love. I still love Irish steel cut oats, though I rarely take the time to make them. There is a local restaurant at which I sometimes meet friends for breakfast that serves steel cut oats. I look forward to that steamy bowl topped with brown sugar and dried fruit and nuts all week. When the server announces that they are out of oatmeal, which has happened all too often lately, I am so disappointed that if I didn't like the company, I might just walk right out of the restaurant.

At home, I am happy with run of the mill (no pun intended) Old Fashioned Oats which cook up in the microwave in only 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. If you're really in a rush, Quick Cooking Oats take about a minute less. I follow the directions on the package, using just water and oats. Once heated, I top the bowl with a little skim milk, a sprinkle of brown sugar or real maple syrup, and an ever-changing mix of dried or fresh fruit depending on the season and what I have around. I try to add a small handful of chopped walnuts, as they are said to be full of Omega - 3 fatty acid.

What's newer to me is the use of oatmeal beyond the breakfast table and the occasional cookie. I have recently seen several recipes for meatloaf which call for oats instead of bread crumbs. I'll write about that soon, once I've had a chance to play with that idea a bit.

I rarely bake, partly because I'm not a huge sweet eater and partly because I feel too limited by the need to measure ingredients precisely. But, I have had success with banana bread. I was inspired by a friend who brought slices of an oaty one to a picnic last summer. It was delicious and when she told me the basic ingredients, I realized it was significantly healthier than the standard from my childhood (Cookie's Steakpub!). She never got around to sending me the recipe, but I played around with the idea of using oats as she did. I also tried using white whole wheat flour instead of refined white flour. White whole wheat flour is milled from white whole wheat, rather than red. It has the same the fiber and nutrition of traditional whole wheat, but has a milder flavor and lighter color that more resembles white flour. In a bread like this, you can simply substitute white whole wheat flour in a direct one-to-one ratio for regular white flour. And I reduced the fat and by adding non-fat yogurt to lighten it up.

The result is a great compromise between the sinfully moist and oily banana bread of my youth and the uber-healthy cardboard that sometimes tries to pass itself off as a treat. This banana bread is something your kids might eat after school or even in a lunchbox.

Banana - Oat Bread
(makes one loaf)

1-1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 medium ripe bananas
1 jumbo egg plus one extra egg white
1/3 cup brown sugar
scant 1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup non-fat Greek style yogurt
1 cup quick cooking oats (you can use old fashioned oats in a pinch)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray - either an 8 x 4 x 2-1/2 inch pan or a 9 x 5 x 3 inch pan. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, mix the oil, sugar and eggs. Add the yogurt and then the mashed bananas into the oil mixture and stir until well blended. Add the flour mixture and stir until moistened. Stir in the oats and nuts or chips if you're using them. Pour into the loaf pan. Place loaf pan onto a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 55 minutes or until a knife or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.