Blueberry Walnut Spinach Salad

I want to share a new salad I had for dinner the other night. I was inspired by my friend Amber, she was telling me how she's been eating more and more salads lately, all with great ingredients.

I bought some walnuts with this salad in mind, wanted something sweet and spicy to go on top of the salad.

So I made healthy version of candied walnuts. I did about 2-3 Tbs. walnuts in a dry skillet with a big drizzle of honey, dashes of Cinnamon and red pepper flakes. Shake or stir until the nuts smell fragrant, careful so the sugar in the honey doesn't burn. I used half on this salad and will eat the rest soon!

Then I combined what I had on hand to make a filling and tasty dinner!

I started with 2 big handfuls of spinach, chopped up some carrots and celery, added a handful of blueberries and some cooked chicken that was leftover from making white chicken chili the day before.  I added the spiced nuts and 1Tbs. of balsamic dressing (Newman's Own!)  If I had some feta or brie, I think that would of been a good addition too.

mmm..Enjoy!

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Steel Cut Oats

Well Howdy!

I want to share a recipe I tried this weekend.  I've had a bag of steel cut oats in my pantry for a while now, though I was going to make something and I never did..oh well!  I eat quick cooking almost every morning and wanted to try something different, and I thought I'd save some time in the morning by having a big batch all ready for me.  I read some recipes here and there and learned that steel cut oats are more nutritious than instant oats with more fiber and  complex carbs, but also take longer to cook.

I adapted the recipe seen here on Nutritious Eats to fit my taste and things I had in my fridge.  If you make this, feel free to mix it up!

Into your crock-pot add:

1 cup uncooked steel cut oats, also called Irish oats-do not substitute quick or instant oats!
3 1/3 cups water
1 cup soy milk (or regular or almond milk would be nice)
1/3 cup half n half (I used light coconut milk I had left over from a curry chicken recipe)

Basically any combination of liquid that you like to get you to 4 and 2/3 cups.

Add a dash of salt and 1/3 cup golden raisins and 1/3 cup dried cranberries, or any other dried fruit that you like.

Stir all together and place on WARM setting of crock-pot, and cook 6-10 hours. LOW setting is too hot, make sure to put on WARM setting!! I lifted the lid a couple times and think that is why mine took almost 10 hours, but if you're patient and depending on how mushy or soupy you like your oats, time can vary.  Also, if you like your oats dry, just add 1/2 cup less water/milk in the beginning.

When done, stir in 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.  Top with optional brown sugar or maple syrup if you like things sweeter.  I found this sweet enough with no added sugar, or I add some chopped fresh apples or banana.

I loved eating this when it was done, the fruit is very plump and the texture was chewy and delicious!  I've had it as leftovers and reheated in the microwave and also very good.

Here's to a warm and filling breakfast! Pin It Now!