Country Corner Cafe

We got brunch with my mom in Saratoga today. We went to Country Corner Cafe, which is amazing. They have delicious homemade food, and tons of healthy options. I was also pleased to see multiple oatmeal items on the menu. They had oatmeal pancakes, granola pancakes, plain oatmeal, and even fried oatmeal! I got the special: cherry almond fried oatmeal. It was amazing, dense and chewy and filling. They give you two squares of it, and I was full after the first one. I have got to try to replicate this at some point.

Buy local

Today I made a spiced oatmeal with almond meal, pure vanilla extract, and organic raisins. I topped it off with some local cream from Battenkill Valley Creamery. Their dairy products come in old fashioned glass bottles, that you can return at the store. I swear you can taste the difference; there's nothing quite like fresh local dairy that's never had to sit in a plastic container.

Yellow curry

Sera and I just got back to New York, and it looks like we need to grocery shopping. Despite the nearly empty fridge, I was able to pull together a yellow curry oatmeal for dinner tonight.

Here's the recipe:

1 small onion -- diced
1 carrot -- diced
1 cup water
1/2 cup steel cut oatmeal
1/2 cup white cooking wine
1 T coconut oil
1 T dried shredded coconut
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 dash adobo
1 dash nutmeg
1 dash ginger
1 dash Italian seasoning

Combine spices and coconut oil in a sauce pan on medium heat. Add the veggies and oats. Heat while stirring constantly to prevent the oats from sticking to the pan. Add the cooking wine and stir. Finally stir in the water. Turn the flame to high, and bring to a boil. Then cover and reduce the heat to low for 30 minutes. Makes 2 servings.

Rice cooker oats

We're still in Brattleboro today, and Josh made some wicked awesome chili. To go with it he made oat groats in a rice cooker. Oat groats can be cooked just like brown rice in most recipes. Generally, you want to use two parts water to one part oats, and a pinch of salt.

Toasted Muesli

Back in Brattleboro today. My brother had a package of muesli, which was mostly oats with flax seeds, dates, raisins, and other tasty things. I decided to toast the muesli in a little brown butter and then serve it with milk. It was quite a delicious breakfast.

Miss Portland Diner

Today we were in Portland, ME for the day, and we went to the Miss Portland Diner for breakfast. They had pretty good oatmeal that came with milk, and optional additions of banana and raisins. I also got a side of poached eggs and mixed those into the bowl. It was a very filling and nutritious breakfast.

Oatmeal to go!

Seraphine and I were on the road all day today. Having a baby in the car makes a 4 hour drive take about 8 hours.

We drove from Schenectady to Portland, and drove through Vermont and New Hampshire. En route, we stopped for to meet Josh for lunch at the Vermont Country Deli in Brattleboro. While we were there I found a locally made granola bar for the road that had oats as the first ingredient.

I got a Monkey Chew Granola Bar, that had peanut butter and dried fruit and chocolate. I broke my no-sugar rule,it's hard to follow a diet on the road. Aside from having sugar, it was pretty healthy, and quite tasty.