Busy Weekend & a Blueberry Oat Crumble

I apologize for the lack of posts in the last week, but it’s been a busy weekend!  But don’t worry, this does not mean we have not been cooking or baking.

As you might have noticed, due to the craziness, there was no Food Matters Project post this week.  This weeks host was Margarita, from Let’s Cook and Be Friends, and she chose the Chocolate-Cherry Panini.  She’s wonderful about commenting on all posts- I always love hearing from her!  Although we didn’t make Mark Bittman’s recipe, definitely check out what the other bloggers did!

So this last weekend Sam and I were dog-sitting and cat-sitting!  It was a lot of fun hanging out with our furry friends:

Wayne was hanging out with us for almost 2 weeks while his parents were having fun at weddings.  He was trying to do some yoga moves with me, the Downward-Facing Dog was giving him some problems!

We also enjoyed a lovely weekend with Mia, her parents were also at a wedding!  (wedding season is upon us!) Can you tell she was eying something delicious on the table? (chips & salsa)

Our plan on Saturday was to make burgers and enjoy our friends porch in the lovely Capitol Hill neighborhood.  The weather was absolutely amazing, and I wanted something easy for dessert.  We still had leftover blueberries from my visit to Butler’s Orchard, and a crumble just had to be made!

I have very fond memories of blueberry picking with my parents.  I spent a couple of summers at Cedar Lodge, a horseback riding camp, eating s’mores.  The camp is located in Michigan, which is definitely a blueberry state!  At the end of every summer, when my parents picked me up, our next stop was one of the blueberry farms which you can find right off of I-94.  We always drove back with a couple of buckets of blueberries that we snacked on as we sat through the Chicago traffic!

Blueberry Oat Crumble
Adapted from: Bake Your Day

This dessert is also perfect for breakfast- especially when it’s a little cold!  It’s not just a summer dessert, but can always be made from frozen fruit (defrosted) throughout the year.  If you don’t have blueberries, definitely give this a try with any fruit that’s in season!

2 1/2 cup oats
2 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup canola oil
3 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Meanwhile, grease a 9’x13′ baking dish.

In a large bowl, combine and stir oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.

In a small pan, over medium heat, melt the butter.  Once it’s melted, add the almond extract and vanilla, stir well.  Next, add the melted butter and canola oil into the large bowl of dry ingredients, stir well.  Lastly, gently fold in the blueberries.

Transfer the mixture into the greased baking pan.  Bake for 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.  Allow to cool completely before cutting.  It’s wonderful with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Breakfast: Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins with Cranberries

Are you a breakfast eater?  If not, you should definitely start, it’s a healthy habit to have.  I am definitely a breakfast eater, more or less within 30 minutes of waking up.  Although, I’m not the pancake-bacon-sausage-toast kind of girl.

We tend to make small, but savory dishes for breakfast.  And by “we”, I actually mean Sam.  Unless it involves mixing-up yogurt and granola at 6 am, you will not see me in the kitchen.

Sam is the egg master- and I’m not just saying that because we’re getting married!  Next time you stay over, just ask nicely- you’ll not be disappointed!

So to pull my weight in with breakfast dishes- I decided to make some muffins.  And they turned out delicious.

If you have some extra pumpkin puree or cranberries in your kitchen (post-Thanksgiving leftovers) this is a great recipe to use up the extras.  I don’t like muffins that are too sweet- so this was perfect- tart and savory.  The muffin was soft with a crunchy top!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins with Cranberries
Adapted the idea from: Back to the Cutting Board
makes about 6 big muffins

**Pumpkin Granola Topping:
2 1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup flaxseed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 tbsp applesauce
2 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp maple (vanilla also works great)

Muffin:
4 oz (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin puree (rest of the can)
3 tbsp honey
1 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat the oven to 325°F.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, mix all of the pumpkin granola toppings together.  Make sure all of the oats are coated with the other ingredients.  Spread the oat mixture evenly on the parchment paper.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  The granola should be slightly stiff, feel free to mix it around before pulling it out of the oven.  Let the oats cool.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a stand mixer, cream the butter.  Slowly add the sugar, until the mixture is light and fluffy.  Then add the eggs, continue beating the mixture.  Slowly add the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Once that is mixed, add the pumpkin puree and honey.  Once all of the ingredients are mixed well, fold in the cranberries.

Divide the batter into muffin cups (I used the big 6-muffin tin).  Fill the cups 3/4 full, and sprinkle the oats on top.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until the toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 10-15 minutes before trying them out.

**This makes significantly more oat granola.  I used the extra with yogurt.  If you keep it in an air-tight container or ziplock bag, it’ll last for about 4-5 days.

Mexican Meatballs with Rice

When I was making our grocery list over a week ago, I mentioned to Sam that I was planning to make meatballs.  To his surprise, they were Mexican-flavored meatballs.

These were a great alternative to enchiladas or tacos.  Something a little different, but still having the spicy, Mexican flavors.  Rather than using breadcrumbs, I used oats (the same one’s we use of oatmeal)- and it was still just as tasty.  Feel free to play around with the heat items (jalapeño, habañero or red pepper flakes) to your preferences.  We didn’t have fresh cilantro, which definitely would have made this dish better, but I used some dried cilantro and it worked out fine.

Mexican Meatballs with Rice
Adapted from: Branny Boils Over
Serving: 5 (5 meatballs; 1 1/2 cups of rice)

1 cup of dried rice
1 lb ground turkey
2 eggs
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup oates
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
6 tbsp olive oil
14 oz can of chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp dried cilantro
1 habañero, chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped
1 can of 12 oz black beans
juice of 1/2 lime

In a small pan, heat up water and add rice.  Heat up the rice until it is soft.

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, eggs, onion, garlic and oates.  Then add 1/4 tsp of each: chili powder, cumin, cayenne and red pepper flakes.  Then add 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper.  Mix all of the ingredients well, and shape them into individual meatballs.  I had made about 25 of them, each were the size of golf balls (or smaller).

In a cast iron skillet or large saucepan, heat up about 4 tbsp of olive oil.  Add about 10 meatballs at a time (if you have smaller pan, don’t add as many meatballs).  Let them sit on each side until they brown, for about 3 minutes.  Cook it on all sides until they feel firm.  When you take them out of the pan, place them on a plate with a paper towel (soaks in the extra olive oil).

In a separate saucepan, heat up about 2 tbsp of olive oil.  Add the tomatoes, cilantro,  habañero, jalapeño, black beans and rice.  To give it some flavor, add 1/4 tsp of each: chili powder, cumin, cayenne and red pepper flakes.  Then add 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper.  Heat it up for about 3-5 minutes, until most of the tomato juice is absorbed.  At the end, add the lime juice and stir it into the mixture.

Finally, serve the rice mixture on a place, and add some meatballs on top.  Feel free to add cheese if you’d like, although we enjoyed it without.