healthier

Bready or Not Original: Slow Cooker Apple Steel Cut Oats

Posted by Beth on Aug 11, 2021 in apples, Blog, Bready or Not, breakfast, gluten-free, healthier, main dish, maple | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: Slow Cooker Apple Steel Cut Oats

These Slow Cooker Apple Steel Cut Oats are not the most photogenic of foods, but they are delicious, healthy, and good, and probably one of the most convenient meals in my cooking repertoire.

I’ve been cooking this recipe for over five years now, tweaking it here and there, making it better. What I present here is really a foundation. This recipe can be customized all kinds of ways–either when the food is being assembled, by adding in different spices or apples, or by tweaking it at serving time.

I love using Gala, Honeycrisp, or Pink Lady apples, but go for any good baking-type apple or a variety thereof. You don’t want the apples to go to mush. Or maybe you do? That might not be a terrible thing here.

I typically use unsweetened vanilla almond milk or cashew milk, but any plain or vanilla nut, soy, or oat milks would work, or you can opt for dairy milk.

This isn’t an overnight slow cooker oats recipe. I’ve tried that. Even on low and warm settings, the oats just plain overcooked for my preference. The consistency goes brick-like and the pot requires some intense scraping if you don’t use a removable liner. I prefer to make this during the day, and then portion out the oats to go in the fridge and freezer. They reheat beautifully.

Bready or Not Original: Roasted Lemon Garlic Shrimp

Posted by Beth on Jun 30, 2021 in Blog, Bready or Not, gluten-free, healthier, lemon, main dish | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: Roasted Lemon Garlic Shrimp

This Roasted Lemon Garlic Shrimp recipe makes for a delicious supper! It’s super-easy and healthy, too.

I’ve made this recipe for about, gosh, ten years now. I make it every month or so. I like to buy 2-pound bags of frozen shrimp of Costco and divide it to make this dish.

One of the great things about this dish is that you can pair it with different foods depending on your own individual needs. Eat it on rice or egg noodles, or go gluten-free and low-calorie with some zoodles or cauliflower rice. The seasoned oil in this recipe makes everything taste good!

On the side, I usually serve steamed broccoli or green beans. Whatever is in season and on sale!

In all the years I’ve made this, we’ve never had leftovers.

Bready or Not Original: Apple Butter Blueberry Muffins

Posted by Beth on Jul 8, 2020 in apples, Blog, blueberry, Bready or Not, breakfast, cupcakes, healthier, muffin | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: Apple Butter Blueberry Muffins

Apple Butter Blueberry Muffins! Fruity flavors combine in a delicious way in this original recipe.

I love apple butter. It’s delicious, versatile stuff. I’ve found it can work as a substitute in recipes that call for things like applesauce, bananas, and pumpkin puree.

Here, the inherent spiciness in apple butter adds a lot of flavor without the need to measure out extra spices–and the thick texture creates a cakey, moist crumb.

The fresh blueberries throughout are like flavor bombs, introducing a different kind of sweetness in contrast.

Do note that this recipe makes 24 muffins. It saves a lot of time if you have two pans, but this recipe could certainly be done with one. Make sure you have paper liners, though. There’s no sadness like my-muffin-is-stuck-in-the-pan sadness.

Bready or Not Original: Scottish Oatcakes

Posted by Beth on Jul 1, 2020 in Blog, Bready or Not, cheese galore, cracker, gluten-free, healthier | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: Scottish Oatcakes

These Scottish Oatcakes are like a thick, wholesome, chewy cracker, and they are the perfect platform for cheese and charcuterie.

When I was on my UK trip last year, I made a pilgrimage to the Victoria Street location of I.J. Mellis Cheesemongers. Oh, bliss! I bought stuff for a personal picnic: cheeses I could never find in America, plus port chutney and Scottish oatcakes.

I loved everything. The oatcakes, basic as they were, really impressed me. They were oaty and fresh with a tiny hint of salt, and were ideal platforms for the cheese and chutney.

Upon getting home, I found no acceptable imported options for oatcakes, so I resolved to make them myself. I didn’t want to use processed flour or sugar. In the end, I ended up finagling my own recipe.

These oatcakes are basic and wholesome, and delicious in their simplicity. Get the consistency right, and these oatcakes are durable enough to handle smears of a soft-ripened cheese or cream cheese, and won’t crumble when you bite in.

Store these oatcakes for days at room temperature, or freeze them for ages. By ages, I mean as long as six months. That’s right, I forget I had some tucked in my freezer, and lo and behold they were fine half a year later.

Pair oatcakes with cheese, sausage, and mayhap a nip of scotch.

Bready or Not Original: Cardamom Cashew-Walnut Butter

Posted by Beth on Jun 3, 2020 in Blog, Bready or Not, gluten-free, healthier, nutty | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: Cardamom Cashew-Walnut Butter

This is a two-for-one Bready or Not posts: recipes for Cardamom Cashew-Walnut Butter, for both small and large food processors.

For the past few years, I had an 8-cup Cuisinart food processor. The thing was great, but as I tried more recipes, I found that most were designed for a larger food processor. Darn.

So when Costco advertised a Cuisinart double the size, I circled the ad and shoved it toward my husband, saying, “This is what I want for Christmas.”

After overcoming my initial anxiety about operating the darn thing (blades and pieces galore! confusing!), I delighted in the increased capacity. Now I can make bigger batches of stuff like nut butter!

This recipe is a particular favorite of mine. I created the original small batch recipe for my old unit, and then modified it for the shiny new machine.

You can substitute other nuts in the recipe, but the mixing time may be different. Almonds are harder, and take longer to process.

Also check out my Maple Nut Butter recipe!

Bready or Not Original: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Granola Bars [Gluten Free]

Posted by Beth on May 20, 2020 in Blog, Bready or Not, breakfast, chocolate, gluten-free, healthier | Comments Off on Bready or Not Original: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Granola Bars [Gluten Free]

These delicious White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Granola Bars are perfect for breakfasts and snacks–and they are packed with protein and gluten-free, too!

I love making no-bake batch breakfast recipes in the summer. No need to turn on the oven and heat up my kitchen! Or to fuss with making something every day!

This recipe is even better because it is SO GOOD. I made it numerous times to experiment with ingredients and amounts. I prefer it with cashew butter and almond flour as it gives it a very cookie dough taste, but use what you have.

To make this gluten-free, be sure to use GF quick oats from a place like Bob’s Red Mill. Also, DON’T use old fashioned/rolled oats. They are too dense. The time I tried that kind, I had to add a lot more nut butter and honey to make the mixture stick together.

Make these on the weekend and your breakfasts are ready for the week! Just grab a bar from the fridge, eat, and enjoy!