Fruity Oatmeal Muffins

My goodness.  Forget everyone else, I might fall over from shock!  Two recipes in two days.  Amazing.

Anyway, I had a bunch of odds and ends fruit in the house - bananas, blueberries, oranges, apples, blackberries, and I needed to do something with it. I know I could always freeze it for smoothies, but that's not very creative, and truthfully, we are such avid smoothie people that we already have a ton of frozen ingredients on hand.  

I decided on muffins, because they make for a quick, easy, healthy breakfast or snack, and it's been awhile since we've had any.  I didn't want a dessert muffin though.  I wanted a lightly sweet, hearty breakfast muffin that was appropriate for both me and the toddler.  These are a goldmine of awesome, if I don't say so myself.  There is no added sugar or sweetener of any kind; they're sweetened soley by the fruit, and there's no added fat at all.  They're also vegan.  Win win win, right?  Lastly, I was able to mix up the whole thing in ONE bowl.  Minimal dishes!  I just doesn't get much better than that.

Skinny Cherry Almond Milkshake

Surprise! 

No one fall over from shock or anything, but I've got a recipe of sorts.  Also, don't get too excited, because I'll be the first to admit that I'm likely going to post and then disappear for months again.  Life has taken a busy busy, but joyous turn, these days.

Anyway, this takes a little bit of planning and preparation, but it couldn't possibly be easier, and it's certainly worth it.  You're going to need to freeze some cherries and some milk cubes.  I suppose you could use whatever milk you'd like, but I suggest unsweetened almond, since that's part of what makes this milkshake skinny.  It doesn't take long to get the cherries frozen enough.  I pitted a cup while feeding the babies dinner, and popped them into the freezer for about three hours.  You're going to have to plan ahead for the milk cubes though.  I generally always have some on hand, because I've got a huge passion for frozen coffee drinks, but less of a passion for the price and the calories.

Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Pizza

Pizza for breakfast.  This sounds like a winning idea to me!  When I saw Chocolate Covered Katie's Breakfast Pizzert, I knew I was going to have to try it out ASAP.  Because I'm me, however, I can't just let a recipe be.  I had to tweak it to suit my needs and tastes.  These days I do my best to use oat flour instead of any other, or at least a combination.  I'm all about the lactogenic foods!  With the exception of the chocolate chips, this is quite healthy, as well.  It's no added fat, refined sugar free, and made with oat flour and fruit.

You could probably make this into a healthy dessert actually, but you'd have to sweeten it up a bit.  It would be really good with maple syrup, I think.

Apple Nachos

There are recipes for apple nachos all over the internet.  I love apples, and I love them even more now that it's Honeycrisp season, so apple nachos seemed to be just the ticket, but so many of the recipes are soooo unhealthy. I mean come on! Marshmallows? An entire stick of butter? Caramel sauce? Commercial chocolate syrup? Do you have any idea what's even in that sticky, sweet, processed chocolate stuff? I'll give you a hint: high fructose corn syrup is the number one ingredient in the grand majority of them. This is a snack that has such potential to be healthy, so I decided to health it up. I had mine for dinner last night! This recipe is for a single serving, so feel free to up it and make more. Had I done that, I would have eaten the whole thing!

Single Ingredient Soft Serve

This recipe is ALL OVER the internet and has been for quite some time.  I've been wanting to try it, but things like a complicated pregnancy and then a newborn kept me from having the opportunity.  The newborn isn't quite so new anymore, and he's getting pretty good at amusing himself for a few minutes, especially if I put him in the kitchen with me, so I decided that I should try this out for breakfast this morning.

All you have to have is a frozen banana or two and a food processor.  I was amazed that a couple of frozen bananas whipped up into such a smooth, sweet, and creamy treat.  I was pretty excited.  Don't get TOO excited though, because while this does have the creamy consistency of soft serve, it doesn't exactly taste like soft serve.  This is good for me actually, because I don't particularly like soft serve, but my love for bananas has been pretty well established by now.

Single Ingredient Soft Serve

Ingredients:

• 3 frozen bananas.  You want them to be pretty ripe, but not so ripe that they're all brown.

Directions:

1.  Place frozen bananas in bowl of food processor fitted with an S blade.

2.  Process until correct consistency, stopping to scrape sides of bowl.

How long this takes will depend on your food processor and on your personal definition of proper consistency.

There you go.  That's it.  Easy peasy, healthy, low calorie, low fat ice cream.  It is fantastic just the way it is, but you can add stuff, as well.  Of course that makes it no longer one ingredient, but still with a base this healthy you can splurge just a tiny bit too.  I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a very liberal shake of cinnamon to mine.  It would be good with a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter or with some fresh mint or even mint extract.  If you are the chocolaty type, you could add a bit of cocoa powder or chocolate chips. Then of course are the combinations...chocolate peanut butter, chocolate mint, etc. etc.  I think this would be good with some dried fruit as well.  You could go tropical and add a bit of shredded coconut and some pineapple, or you could go tart and add cherries and apricots.  I'd soak the fruit for a few hours first though. The possibilities are endless, and the base is only about 80 calories per serving and chock full of potassium! Also, you can totally eat ice cream for breakfast!  Doesn't get much better than that!

Enjoy!

Banana Balls

I love bananas so much.  In fact, I probably eat enough bananas to better qualify as Gorilla Beringei than Homo Sapien.  Draw your own conclusions! ;)  Seriously though, I found THIS recipe last night, and I just knew I had to try it out. 

What's better than a fresh, ripe banana right?  Well maybe some creamy home made peanut butter.  Or maybe oats!  Oh how I love oats.  The beauty of this recipe is that you don't have to pick between these three wonderful things.  You get to combine them all into a healthy, super yummy snack full of fiber and potassium and folic acid.  It's perfect, bite sized, raw snack.

Sadly I don't have any pictures.  I don't tend to step by step document unless the recipe is actually mine, or at least adapted.  These didn't need any adapting whatsoever though, and the real truth of the matter is that I didn't get much of a chance to take pictures, because by the time I thought that I should maybe snap a picture or two, they were gone!

I see this snack often in my future.  I also see a lot of different variations.  I already have some ideas rolling around in my head.  Expect to see some recipes soon!  In the meantime, head on over and check out this amazing little snack!

Banana Nut Bread Oatmeal Cookies

I thought about calling these "Super Healthy, Low Fat, Banana Nut Oatmeal, Stuffed Full of Omega 3s Cookies", but that's kinda long.  People would get tired of reading the title before they got to the super easy cookie recipe.  However, it's also all true.  The only added fat is from the nuts and the flax seeds, and that's the super healthy, full of essential Omega 3s kind of fat.  It's very important that you eat these cookies, actually, because you need those Omega 3s, and your body doesn't make them.  Cookies to the rescue!

Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids: They are necessary for human health but the body can' t make them; you have to get them through food.  Also known as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), Omega 3 fatty acids play a crucial role in brain function as well as normal growth and development. They have also become popular because they may reduce the risk of heart disease.

Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and may help lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. Omega-3 fatty acids are highly concentrated in the brain and appear to be important for cognitive (brain memory and performance) and behavioral function. In fact, infants who do not get enough omega-3 fatty acids from their mothers during pregnancy are at risk for developing vision and nerve problems. Symptoms of omega-3 fatty acid deficiency include fatigue, poor memory, dry skin, heart problems, mood swings or depression, and poor circulation.

Alright.  That's enough lecturing on why you should eat these cookies.  I also made mine sugar free.  The kiddo doesn't react well when sugar is involved (in fact, his father once termed his behavior on sugar as that of "a spastic robot on speed"), and it's not good for you anyway, so I do my best to limit sugar consumption in this house.  I used a sugar free maple syrup.  Let's not have the artificial sweetener debate right now, okay?  I use the only one deemed pregnancy safe by the FDA and my doctor (who has 12 letters behind his name), so I feel safe enough.  If you don't want to use a sugar free version, then feel free to use pure maple syrup.

Banana Nut Bread Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp flax seeds, ground
• 2 TBSP cold water
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats, ground into flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped or crushed
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 large banana, mashed
• 1 heaping TBSP plain fat free soy yogurt

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375°.

2.  Grind 3/4 cups oats into flour using a food processor or blender.

It should look like this when you're finished.

3.  Mix ground flax (I grind mine in the Tribest Personal Blender with the grinder blade; you can use a coffee grinder, as well) with 2 TBSP cold water and set aside to thicken.

4.  Mix oats, oat flour, wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and walnuts in a large mixing bowl.

5.  To the flax mixture add syrup, vanilla, mashed banana (I just squish it around in the peel until it's mushy, and then drop it into the bowl), and soy yogurt, using a whisk to combine well.

6.  Pour wet mixture into dry mixture.

7.  Stir very well, until you've got a really thick batter.

8.  Drop by heaping TBSP onto a baking sheet that has been lined with lightly sprayed parchment paper.

9.  Flatten and smooth the tops with the back of the measuring spoon.

10.  Bake 10 minutes, or until the cookies are just slightly brown.

Enjoy!

Better Than Oatmeal?

Impossible you say?  That's what I said too, until I tried this oat, rye, barley, and wheat mixture. I bought it on a whim at Trader Joe's.  I went in for THREE items, and I came out with two bags stuffed full, and $54.00 poorer.  Somehow that always happens to me in Trader Joe's.  But I digress...  This bowl of hot grain goodness was creamy and chewy all at once.  It was just slightly sweet, and so amazing.

• 1/2 cup organic multi-grain cereal
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 cup water
• 1 large banana
• Extra dollop Greek yogurt for topping
• Few chocolate peanut butter chips

Directions:

1. Place multi-grain cereal, coconut milk, and Greek yogurt into container with lid.
2. Stir well, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
3. Next morning, slice banana into medium sauce pan and cook over medium heat until it begins to melt and caramelize.
4. Add soaked grains and 1 cup water to sauce pan, and cook until boiling.
5. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for three to five minutes more, until desired creaminess is achieved.
6. Let cereal sit in bowl for a minute before serving.
7. Top with a dollop of Greek yogurt and a few chocolate peanut butter chips.

 Enjoy!

Handheld Oatmeal to Go!

Yes really.  This is like the most brilliant thing ever!  I got the original idea from here, and then I changed a few little things tweaked the hell out of the recipe.  I've got no clue why I've never thought of this, but now that it's on my radar, there's just no looking back.  I have already thought of about four dozen different variations of this recipe that I want to try.

There are days when, despite my best intentions, I just don't make it out of bed in time in order to accomplish everything I need to before I have to be somewhere.  This recipe is perfect for those types of days.  In just a few short minutes I can turn my beloved bowl of oatmeal into a big ol' oatmeal "cookie" and take it with me.  Cookies.  For breakfast.  It just doesn't get much better than that!

Handheld Oatmeal to Go

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/8 cup Egg Beaters
• Liberal dash of cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• Splash vanilla
• 1 TBSP dried cranberries or blueberries
• 1 TBSP chopped walnuts
• 1 TBSP natural peanut butter
• 1/2 small banana, sliced thin
• 1 TBSP raw sugar
• 2 TBSP whole wheat flour

Directions:

1.  Put everything in a bowl and mix it up really well with a fork, mashing the banana pieces into the batter as you go.

2.  Pat firmly into bowl with the back of a spoon.

3.  Microwave on high for two minutes.

4.  Let cool for about a minute before removing from bowl.

Enjoy!

The Best Bowl of Oatmeal Ever!

Alright so this bowl of oatmeal was a complete accident.  It's something of a mash-up of Kath's overnight oats and my own tropical oatmeal, though with fresh fruit instead of dried.  I was making regular overnight oats, except I used coconut milk instead of soy milk.  I figured I'd have a coconutty tropical bowl this morning and just eat a banana on the side.

Two things happened.  First of all, I used steel cut oats.  I love them!  They are way better than rolled oats--firmer, chewier, heartier.  That's the problem here.  They don't really make good overnight oats.  They don't completely absorb the liquid and get all soft like rolled oats do.  The second thing that happened was that it's cold.  Yes, I know it's almost May.  Don't tell me; tell Mother Nature. 

Since my oats had been soaking in coconut milk and yogurt all night, I thought about scrapping them and just starting over.  I had no idea how cooking them would go with all that yogurt.  I am loathe to waste food, however, so I decided to give cooking them a shot.  What's the worst thing that could happen, right?  What resulted was the best bowl of oatmeal I've ever had!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup steel cut oats
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/4 cup plain soy yogurt
• Liberal amount of cinnamon
• Dash of allspice
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 mango

Directions:

1. Place oats, coconut milk, yogurt, cinnamon, and allspice in a container with a lid.
2. Stir well and allow to soak overnight in the refrigerator.
3. The next morning, cut up half of a banana and half of a mango into chunks.
4. Place fruit in medium sized sauce pan, and cook it over medium heat.  The fruit will start to get soft, melty, and caramelized.
5. Add soaked oats and one cup of water to the pan and stir well.
6. Let cook until it begins to softly bubble, about three minutes.
7. Once it begins to bubble, cook, stirring continuously for three to five minutes more.
8. Let sit for a minute before serving.

I garnished mine with a few fruit slices (that I didn't eat while waiting for the oatmeal to cook!) and a few spoons of the cream from the top of the coconut milk.  If you don't shake the milk before using, the cream rises to the top, with the milk underneath.  Just spoon off the top.

Enjoy!

Banana Nut Bread Oatmeal

It's like having dessert.  For breakfast!  This bowl of oats was once again inspired by kath, who is the reigning queen of oatmeal.  I used her whipped banana oatmeal recipe and added some toppings, and suddenly I had banana bread in a bowl.  I felt guilty for eating it for breakfast, because it tasted like it should have been forbidden.

Banana Nut Bread Oatmeal

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk
• 1/2 large banana (I LOVE banana!) cut into chunks
• Scant pinch sea salt
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla

Toppings:

• 3 TBSP chopped walnuts
• Healthy sprinkle cinnamon
• Few banana slices

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° and toast walnuts while you're preparing your oats.
2. Put oats, salt, water, soy milk, and banana into medium sauce pan and bring to boil over medium heat.
3. Once oats are boiling nicely, begin to stir continuously to melt the banana into the oatmeal.
4. When most of the liquid is absorbed and the banana chunks are melted, stir in vanilla, and turn off heat.
5. Top with hot roasted walnuts and a liberal sprinkle of cinnamon.

Enjoy!

Laura's Healthy No-Bake Breakfast Energy Bars

Whew.  That's a long name.  I didn't think it would be kosher to just call them Laura Bars, though, because that's kinda taken, even if they do spell it wrong!  Anyway, my mother recently sent some Rice Krispy Treats, and I was immediately reminded that they were my favorite childhood treat.  I never wanted a birthday cake; I wanted Rice Krispy Treats.  I'm much wiser now, and I realize that they are nutritionally devoid of ... well, everything.  There's not a single redeeming quality in a Rice Krispy Treat.  Not one.

This got my mind whirring.  Surely I could make some sort of comparable treat that was much much better for me.  What I ended up with didn't resemble the original inspiration in the least.  In fact, the only thing in common ended up being cereal, and it wasn't even the same cereal.  However, my bar is full of healthy yummy things, and it makes a great breakfast on the go or pre-gym snack.  Now all it needs is a shorter name!

Laura's Healthy No-Bake Breakfast Energy Bars

Ingredients:

• 7 cups puffed whole wheat cereal.  This does not have to be an expensive endeavor.  I used the super cheap store brand in a bag.  It cost me 98¢, had no added salt or sugar, and it had no preservatives.  Win!
• 1 cup dried fruit.  I used bananas, apples, and blueberries simply because that's what was hot off the dehydrator this week.  Use any combination you'd like.
• 1/2 cup nuts.  I used a mix.
• 2 TBSP ground flax seeds
• 2 TBSP wheat germ
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 cup almond butter.  I made my own from raw almonds.  I suppose you could roast them first if you wanted.  I suppose you could even buy the kind in the jar; though you know I don't recommend that!
• 3 TBSP unsweetened apple sauce

Directions:

1.  Mix the cereal, fruit, nuts, cinnamon, wheat germ, and ground flax in a large bowl.

2.  Put the honey, almond butter, and apple sauce into a microwave safe bowl, and heat for a minute and a half.

3.  Mix very well, until almond butter is melted and incorporated and pour over cereal/fruit mixture.

4.  Stir very well, making sure all of the cereal mixture is coated.

5.  Press cereal firmly into a 9 x 13 glass baking dish.  I tried using a spatula, but it just didn't work.  I ended up getting my hands wet and pressing it into the dish with my hands.

6.  Stick in freezer for 30 minutes, and then cut into 15 bars.  Store refrigerated.

Enjoy!

Eating Healthfully when Exhaustion Wins

There are days when I'm so bone-weary that I don't have the energy to prepare and cook anything for lunch.  I think I've mentioned before that I've got stage IV endometriosis, so I'm not talking your general run of the mill tired here.  I'm talking about the kind of tired where it's an effort to move my eyes in their sockets!  It would be so easy to grab some pre-packaged convenience foods on days like that, but it's those days when it's most important to eat well.  Eating poorly only makes me more tired and sluggish, and it's obviously not at all good for my health.

Today is one of those days.  I'm clawing my way through the fog today, after a mostly sleepless night.  I walked into the kitchen and actually semi-seriously considered  eating a bag of pretzels for lunch.  It would have been so easy.  And I'm so tired.  Thankfully my good sense won out.

A meal doesn't have to be lavish, or require much preparation, or have multiple ingredients to be a healthy meal.  It can be quick and simple and relatively preparation free.  Lunch for me today was a banana with a smear of Nutella, a pear, a serving of whole grain crackers, and an ounce of Monterey Jack cheese.  No cooking.  No real prep.  Healthy.  And I can congratulate myself for nourishing my tired body instead of feeding it a bag of salt and carbs!

Quinoa Breakfast Porridge

I love quinoa.  It's one of those things I ate before I knew it was good for me.  Once upon a time, a long time ago, I spent a year living in the third world.  We didn't have a lot of food, and the food we did have was rice.  I grew rapidly sick of rice, and I couldn't eat it for a VERY long time after returning to the states.  Even now, 19 years later, while I can eat it again, I don't ever really want to eat it.  I love stir fries and other Asian dishes though, so I was thrilled when I discovered quinoa.  It makes a wonderful stand in for rice.  It's super easy to cook and so versatile.  It's good hot or cold, sweet or savory.

Quinoa also happens to be fantastic for you.  It's an ancient grain (though it's not technically a grain either), and it was a staple of the South American indigenous diet.  It was called the gold of the Incas.  Quinoa is high in protein.  Not only that, but it's a complete protein, which means it supplies all nine essential amino acids.  It's got a whole slew of health benefits.  I'll spare you the continued rhapsodizing about the wonders of quinoa, but if you'd like, you can read more about it HERE.

Anyway, this breakfast porridge was my first attempt at making quinoa as a main dish instead of a side dish and sweet instead of savory.  Not surprisingly, I loved it, and I've been eating it ever since.  You can, of course, change the liquids and the dried fruits to suit your own particular taste.

Quinoa Breakfast Porridge

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (uncooked) quinoa
• 1 cup lite apple juice
• 1 cup lite soy milk
• Splash vanilla
• Dash cinnamon
• ¼ cup dried cranberries
• ¼ cup dried blueberries

 Topping Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (If additional sweetener is desired.  I don't sweeten mine; I think the apple juice and dried fruit provide plenty of sweetness.)
• ¼ cup plain soy yogurt
• 1 tablespoon slivered almonds
• 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts

 Directions:

1. Rinse and drain quinoa well.
2. Add quinoa, apple juice, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla to medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.
3. Cover and reduce heat to simmer.
4. Simmer for ten minutes.
5. Stir in cranberries and blueberries, cover.
6. Continue simmering for ten more minutes, until all water is absorbed and quinoa is firm.
7. While quinoa is simmering, toast nuts in oven at 350°, shaking every two minutes until evenly golden brown.  Time will depend on your oven and on how done you like the nuts.  I leave them in for about ten minutes.
8. Spoon portion into bowl (recipe should make approximately four servings).
9. Stir in maple syrup, if desired.
10.   Top with yogurt and then nuts.

Enjoy!

Pinch Your Pennies - Home Dehydration

We use a lot of dried fruit around here (apples, bananas, pineapple, mango, guava, pears).  I use it in my oatmeal, in my granola, in my granola bars, just as a snack, etc.  I use a fair amount of dehydrated vegetables, as well (sweet potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, red pepper).  They crisp up into nice "chips" for dipping into hummus or salsa.  It's convenient; it's healthy; it's easy, and it's really quite good for you.

I'll spare you a repeat of my rant on why you shouldn't buy dehydrated fruits in the grocery stores, and just link to it instead.  That way, if you've seen it once, you don't have to see it again.  Along with all of the health reasons you shouldn't buy pre-packaged dehydrated fruits, there's the cost reason as well.  One pound of  banana chips costs $2.70 at my local grocery store.  I can buy 22 pounds of baby bananas at the local Hispanic market for $5.00!  At the same grocery store, a ten ounce bag of dehydrated apple slices costs almost $3.00.  I just paid 59¢ a pound for red delicious apples.  I don't suppose I need to point out that the savings here is HUGE!

You don't need special equipment to dehydrate; you can do it in your oven at a very low temperature.  I even know one guy who dehydrates his fruit in a cardboard box on the dash of his car during the summer months.  I, however, use a simple, no frills, food dehydrator.  It was $40.00 at Target, and it's paid for itself many many times over since I bought it.

The prep can be a tiny bit time consuming, but the end result is more than worth it, and it's not like it's hard or anything.  You just wash up the produce you want to dehydrate, and you cut it into uniform slices.  The thinner they are, the quicker they dehydrate.  If they're thicker, they take longer, but they're also crispier.

My mother-in-law gave me this handy dandy apple slicer and corer gizmo, and it's turned out to be invaluable!  I slice my apples much thinner after the initial cut, but having it already cored is great!

Then you just load up the dehydrator trays and turn it on.  Piece of cake!

In about two days, I'll have a nice big bowlful of dehydrated apple chips.  Then I'll start on the bananas.  I've discovered that there's just no such thing as too many dehydrated banana chips!  Yum.

Store them in an airtight container, and they'll keep pretty much indefinitely.

Tropical Oats

You've got to plan ahead a little for this, because the oats need to be soaked over night.  The soaking aids in digestion, and it really ups the creaminess factor.  And who doesn't want a decadent creamy breakfast that tastes sinful but is actually good for you?

I used to be afraid of coconut milk.  It's high in fat, and it's caloric.  I started doing a lot of research, and I discovered that the fat is the good kind of fat, and that not only is coconut milk not bad for you, it's actually really pretty healthy.

 If you are concerned about the saturated fat content in coconut milk, know that this saturated fat has been shown in many independent studies to be a good saturated fat, easily metabolized to give your body quick energy. Contrary to popular myth, it does not transform into bad cholesterol to clog up arteries. In fact, cultures around the world that depend on coconut as their main source of fat have been found to be free of heart disease. The principle fatty acid in coconut milk is lauric acid, which is the same fat found in abundance in mother's milk and is known to promote normal brain development and contribute to healthy bones. It also has important anti-carcinogenic and anti-pathogenic properties and is less likely to cause weight gain than polyunsaturated oils.

The potent anti-viral, anti-fungal and anti-microbial effects of coconut oil have implicated it in the treatment of both AIDS and Candida. Whatever bad things you may have heard or read about coconut milk have not stood up to scrutiny by unbiased food scientists; however, the goodness of coconut milk has not been given equal press because of intensive lobbying against it by the powerful vegetable oil industry. Southeast Asians, meanwhile, have been staying healthy for generations with coconut an integral part of their diet. 

Now, a word about dried fruit:  for heaven's sake dehydrate it yourself!  If you're not going to do that, at least go on a hunt for fruit dried WITHOUT sulfur dioxide.  It's more expensive, and it's also worth it.  Sulfur dioxide is found in pretty much all commercially packed dried fruits, and it's TERRIBLE for you.  It's been known to cause asthma and other breathing difficulties in children, and in rare cases, even death.  It's produced by volcanoes, for goodness sake.  Volcanoes don't tend to be very good for our health!

[Sulfur Dioxide] is produced industrially as a bleach alternative, a reducing agent, and for sulfites (preservation). As it has no role in humans or mammalian biology, when introduced it inhibits specific nerve signals, restricts lung performance, and is a direct allergen - over 65% of asthmatic children sensitive to SO2 (World Health Organization, 1999), and negatively affects over 70% of children with behavioral problems.

...

Sulphur dioxide is still being used as a food preservative in many common snack foods despite being one of the top two air pollutants in urban areas, a corrosive gas, a primary cause of haze and acid rain, and a cause of respiration problems, lung disease, early death (due to a thiamine deficiency), documented water and plant damage, cardiovascular disease, blood toxication, developmetal toxication, gastro-intestinal and liver disease, neurological disturbances, irritable bowel syndrom, behavior disturbances, skin rashes, asthma, folic acid deficiency, as well as a nose and ear irritant. During the 1970's and 1980's over one hundred deaths were attributed to the addition of sulphur dioxide in foods including meat with twelve deaths occurring as a result of restaurants spraying salad bars with this poisonous gas.

The entire article is HERE at the Raw Guru.  It's worth the read.  Educating yourself about what you put into your body is always a good thing!

Tropical Oats

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats OR 1/4 cup steel cut oats
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave nectar
• 1/4 cup mixed tropical dried fruit (I used banana, mango, and guava that I dehydrated myself.)

Directions:

1. The night before, soak the oats and the fruit in the coconut milk.
2. In the morning, place the oats in a saucepan, adding water to reach desired consistency.  If you used steel cut oats, you will need to use enough water to thin it out substantially, as they must simmer longer than rolled oats.
3. Bring to a simmer, stirring frequently.
4. Add the vanilla and sweetener.
5. Cook for about 3 minutes for rolled oats or about ten minutes for steel cut oats, stirring often, until oats are gently bubbling.  Add water as needed.
6. Pour into a bowl and top however you would like.  Roasted almonds or walnuts are good.  A dollop of yogurt works.  You can drizzle with a bit more coconut milk, if you'd like.  Most of the time I just eat mine with no topping.  It's already a sweet, creamy, rich breakfast.

Enjoy!