DIY Instant Breakfast

Last week of classes!!!

And not a scrap of food in my house. Well, there is food, but most of it is stuff like spaghetti sauce, and thai green curry, and chicken tortilla soup, and red beans all packaged in handy meal-sized portions in the freezer. Not much in the way of blog posts.

So, with finals looming and a mostly bare pantry, I thought I'd share one of my ongoing experiments with you: Instant Oatmeal.

You know those little packets of sugary powder that you just dump into a mug at work? Well, I'm determined to make some kind of home version of them that doesn't include preservatives and dehydrating chemicals.

I've made a few attempts now, and I think I'm getting closer. Here's what I've done so far:

Home Made Instant Oatmeal:

• 1 c quick cooking rolled oats
• 1/2 c dried fruit
• 1/3 c powdered milk
• 1/4 c cinnamon sugar
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed

I used my handy dandy jar of cinnamon sugar, but if you don't have one (why don't you have a jar of cinnamon sugar??) you can use whatever sugar you like best in your oatmeal and add a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. 

Dump all the stuff into a container.

If you're using raisins in your oatmeal (you're weird, they're gross) you can just dump them in. I had som dried pears so I diced them into tiny chunks first. Dried apricots, cherries, or blueberries would also be awesome.

Mix everything up.

This is so much work.

Scoop about 1/2 a cup of the mixture into a bowl. (I only made 1/3 c but it really didn't seem like enough. 1/2 is probably just about right for a single serving; 3/4 if you're really hungry)

Pour in about 1/2 c of boiled water. This is one of the those times that a microwave is really handy. You can nuke the water in less time than it takes to put the coffee together.

At first, the mixture will seem pretty soupy, but if you leave it alone for 5 minutes while you go get dressed, do your hair, make the bed, whatever you have to do in the morning, it will thicken up by the time you're done.

If you do this in a go-mug instead of a bowl, you will have perfect oatmeal when you get to work.

Pour on a bit of milk or cream, or, if you're at work, a couple of those little creamer containers.

Sliced almonds are a nice bit of texture and protein.

It's not the prettiest breakfast, and I think I still need to work on my proportions a bit, but it actually kinda works!!

Home made convenience food!

What's your favourite convenience food? I wonder if I could make it at home...

Side Salad

Tabouli is not what most people think of when they hear "side salad" but really, they should.

It's a great salad to go with grilled meat, as part of a tapas-style meal, or for a quick lunch all on its own.

(It also makes for a quick blog post when you've already done 5 hours of school and 6 hours of work)

Tabouli

What you need

• 1/2 c bulgar wheat (aka "cracked wheat")
• 1/2 c water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon (or lime) juice
• 1 c parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• 1-2 tbsp minced onion (I like red for the colour)
• other stuff...
  • mint
  • dill
  • oregano
  • tomato
  • sundried tomato
  • red or green pepper
  • cucumber
  • pine nuts or walnuts

What you gotta do:

Put the bulgar wheat into a heatproof bowl and add a bit of salt and pepper. Nuke the 1/2 c water until it's just boiling. If you have a tiny student-sized microwave it should take about 2 minjutes.

Pour the water over the bulgar and cover the bowl. If your bowl doesn't have a lid, a plate works fine. Leave this for about 10 minutes or so, while you chop some stuff.

So, really, the only things tabouli desperately needs (in my opinion anyway) is parsley and onion. If that's all you have, that's just fine. But a lot of the time it comes with a bunch of other things in it.

I happened to have some garlic (always have garlic), sundried tomatos, and some pine nuts so that's what I used.

After 10 minutes or so, your bulgar will be nice and fluffy and the kernels will have busted open. Fluff it up with a fork, and leave the lid off so it can cool a bit. I like my tabouli to be at about room temp, and by the time I've done everything, it's pretty much there. Transferring it to a cool bowl helps too.

If you're using nuts of any sort in your salad, they're much better if you've toasted them a bit. Heat a dry pan over medium heat for a couple minutes, then add the nuts. They only need about 3-5 minutes in the pan, but make sure you roll them around every minute or two so they don't burn.

Dump all your chopped stuff (parsley, onion, and whatever else you decided you wanted) into the bowl with the bulgar, and toss it all together. Herbs like mint and dill really work well in this salad, but they need to be fresh. If you feel like adding a dried herb, I suggest oregano.

Pour in the olive oil.

And lemon juice. Yup, I totally measured both. Didn't eyeball anything. Totally did.

Have a taste and add more lemon juice, olive oil, salt, or whatever it needs. If it needs anything.

Sprinkle the nuts on top.

I had this for dinner with some pickles, and then for lunch the next day. It'd a lot more filling than your typical iceburg lettuce side salad, and a lot more flavourful. Seriously, this and a bit of grilled chicken breast (man, what I wouldn't give for an apartment with a balcony so I could grill again) makes a perfect spring meal.

What kind of side salad do you usually make?