No-Cook Overnight Oatmeal with Chia

I love oatmeal but I'm not very fond of the instant packs so I find that I don't have it as often as I'd like since the mornings are always so rushed and usually involve me yelling at one child or another at some point (or many points).  So when I came across this recipe on the Betty Crocker website and saw that it was a make ahead, I HAD to try it. Plus, it  contained my then-new obsession, chia seeds AND was no cook! Practically perfect in every way!

I was a little leery of the no-cook part in all honesty...I thought, "How could uncooked oatmeal taste good? And not be all chewy and hard and gross?".  Well, it works.

The possibilities for this small but mighty recipe are ENDLESS...I tried out a few versions and I'll list them within the recipe but truly it can go as far as your imagination, and palate will take you. If you try some of your own variations, please share in the comments. We'd love to hear them!

~Leah

No-Cook Overnight Oatmeal with Chia

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Author: Leah (adapted from Betty Crocker)

Prep time: 8 mins

Cook time: 8 hours

Total time: 8 hours 8 mins

Serves: 1

Ingredients

• Base Recipe


• 1/4 c old fashioned oats


• 1 tsp chia seeds


• 6 oz. yogurt (any flavor, see below for suggestions)


• Cranberry Almond


• vanilla yogurt


• 1/2 tsp. pure almond extract


• dried cranberries


• slivered almonds


• Apple Crisp


• vanilla or apple pie/apple crisp yogurt


• chopped Granny Smith apples


• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon


• chopped walnuts


• Pina Colada


• vanilla, coconut, or pineapple yogurt


• pineapple tidbits


• shaved coconut

Instructions

1. Stir oats and chia together then yogurt (or yogurt and milk if using Greek yogurt -- see notes) in half-pint canning jar (or other resealable container).


2. Cover; refrigerate about 8 hours. When ready to serve, sprinkle with toppings.

Notes

Feel free to use greek yogurt also, but bear in mind that it makes it a lot thicker... so use 1/4 cup greek yogurt and 1/3 cup milk or almond or coconut milk to thin it.

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Ham and Cheese Biscuits

I LOVE THESE!!! Love, love, love them! I found this recipe on Pinterest one day when I was looking for heavy appetizers or "finger foods" for a party I was having. They come from a website called Plain Chicken. I'm not sure why I haven't thought of this before. Put ham and shredded cheese inside biscuit dough- before you bake it!! I'm trying to use as many exclamation points and italics and bold fonts as possible to help convey how excited I am about these little biscuit sandwiches. They would be perfect for a party, a baby shower or even the Superbowl. These reheat very well if you put them back in the oven for 3-5 minutes.

A few tips. Definitely take the time to shred the swiss cheese, it just tastes better. I made my own honey mustard but you can use store bought of course. You absolutely HAVE TO drizzle the honey on top at the end. It may sound weird but it was so good! Print this recipe out and put it aside for Superbowl Sunday. Everyone will love it!

~Wendy

Ham and Cheese Biscuits

Author: Plain Chicken

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 12 mins

Total time: 22 mins

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 1 can Grands Jr Butter Tasting Biscuits (10 count)


• 1/2 lb deli ham, shaved


• 1 c. shredded swiss cheese


• 1/4 c. honey mustard dressing


• 1 Tbsp butter, melted


• 2 Tbsp honey

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400.


2. Lightly spray a 9-inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside.


3. Separate each biscuits into two layers. Spread each layer with honey mustard and top with swiss cheese.


4. Place half of the biscuits, cheese side up, in the bottom of prepared pan. Top with ham. Top ham with remaining biscuits, cheese side down.


5. Brush biscuit tops with melted butter.


6. Bake 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.


7. Heat honey in microwave for 20 seconds. Brush biscuit tops with warm honey. Serve immediately.

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Greek Yogurt Pancakes

I've been a little obsessed with Greek yogurt lately. I started buying it to mix into my morning smoothie with frozen fruit, almond milk, and kale. Then I discovered it was pretty handy to have on hand for use in recipes that called for sour cream or mayonnaise. I cleaned out the fridge the other day and had four containers in varying degrees of fullness.

Perhaps this speaks more to me being a total space cadet at the grocery store than having a yogurt obsession.

Anyway, in an effort to use up some of my collection I went searching on Pinterest for Greek yogurt recipes. And with my husband traveling on business, I was already halfway to breakfast-for-dinner for me and the kids.

Enter THE pancake.

The gorgeous pictures grabbed me right away, but the delicious recipe is the reason I can't stop thinking about these pancakes. You must try. And if you are a pancake connoisseur like me, you'll be wanting to make room in the fridge for some yogurt.

~Erin

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

Author: Erin (adapted from Julia's Album)

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c. flour


• 1/4 t. salt


• 2 t. baking powder


• 1 t. baking soda


• 1/4 c. sugar


• 3 T. butter, melted and slightly cooled


• 3 eggs


• 1 1/2 c. plain, non-fat Greek yogurt


• 1/2 c. milk

Instructions

1. Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.


2. Stir together sugar, butter, eggs, and yogurt.


3. Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients and mix until combined.


4. Spray or butter the pan or griddle.


5. Spoon batter onto pre-heated surface. Allow to cook until bubbles burst on the surface of the pancake, leaving small holes. Flip and cook till golden brown.


6. Serve.

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The Best Chicken Salad Ever

I debated posting this recipe today. It doesn't seem timely for the season to me...more like a spring/summer recipe? But Erin texted me a few days ago asking for the recipe and made it for dinner so I thought, why not? It still tastes delicious every season and it's a great, easy dinner for this busy time of year with homework, sports, scouts, parties and the like filling up the calendar.

My mom got this recipe from a friend of hers and made it for my sister's wedding shower 15 years ago. When I asked her to send me the recipe, she took a pic of her 15 year-old recipe card and emailed it to me and it literally did say "The Best Chicken Salad EVER" on the top of the card so I stuck with the title. :)

It was a huge hit then and when I made it recently and Erin and her mom tried it, it was a huge hit again. If you use a rotisserie chicken, it really is silly easy to throw together.

~Leah

The Best Chicken Salad Ever

Recipe Type: Main

Author: Leah

Prep time: 1 hour 15 mins

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 (20 oz) can pineapple tidbits in 100% juice


• 1 c mayonnaise


• 1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon mustard


• 1 tsp curry powder


• 1/2 c celery, thinly sliced


• 2 green onions, thinly sliced (use ALL of the onion...including the green)


• 1/8 tsp salt


• 1 whole rotisserie chicken OR 5-6 chicken breasts, cooked


• small (about 2.5 oz) bag slivered almonds


• small pat of butter


• 1/2-3/4 c raisins, optional


• green grapes, lettuce, pineapple for serving, optional

Instructions

1. Remove all the skin from your chicken and carve and cut into chunks. (great way to cut chicken breasts here...she starts on the breast at 4:36 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ys7dyV97FXw). Set aside.


2. Put a small amount of butter (tsp?) in a small saute pan and brown the almonds over low to medium heat. Set aside.


3. Combine 3-4 Tbsp of the juice from the canned pineapple, mayonnaise, mustard, curry, and salt. Set aside.


4. Mix chicken, celery, onion, almonds and raisins (optional) in a medium to large bowl.


5. Add dressing and blend well.


6. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.


7. Serve with pineapple and/or grapes over lettuce or with lettuce on a bun (sinfully delicious on a croissant).

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90-Minute Cinnamon Rolls

I just hit the one year anniversary of the day I left "Corporate America" to stay home with my little munchkins. What a year it has been! Trading in meetings, hotel stays and business dinners for potty training, play dates, and peanut butter & jelly three times a day has been an adjustment. I've been so grateful for the time I've gotten to spend with my kids, but it has not always been easy. This stay-at-home-mom business is tough!! One of the biggest lessons learned is that other stay-at-home-moms really do help you keep your sanity!

I've been blessed to meet some GREAT moms in my new community. Our daily/weekly play dates not only give me a chance to talk about something other than Team Umizoomi, they also remind me that I'm not the only one who struggles with kids who won't listen, who always seem to do the EXACT opposite of what you say, who melt down no matter how many warnings they get that its almost time to leave the park. They make me feel almost normal! And I love, love, love them for that. Last year when we moved to a new town, I decided to join an online moms group. One of the first moms I met had newly moved to Illinois from Canada with her family. Over the past year we've had a lot of play dates and every time she brings a dish to share I recipe stalk her. I swear, everything Bridget makes is AWESOME. She brought these cinnamon rolls to several of the groups get-togethers before I asked for the recipe. Not because they weren't awesome, only because I can't drool over every recipe- it would get a little weird. Sorry Bridget! :)



 

These are DELICIOUS and relatively FAST and have CREAM CHEESE FROSTING! That's really all I should have written. What else do you need to know? They're great for a group get together or for your family. You could easily freeze half of them for serving later. Or eat them all at once...like I would do! Thank you Bridget for the recipe! Wait til you guys get her chocolate chip cookie recipe...SO good....

~Wendy

Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Author: Wendy

Prep time: 60 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 1 hour 25 mins

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 3/4 c milk


• 1/4 c margarine, softened


• 3 1/4 c all-purpose flour


• 1 pckg instant yeast


• 1/4 c white sugar


• 1/2 tsp salt


• 1/4 c water


• 1 egg


• 1 c brown sugar, packed


• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon


• 1/2 c margarine, softened


• Cream Cheese Frosting


• 4 ounces unsalted butter, softened


• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened


• 2 cups powdered sugar


• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).


2. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in margarine; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.


3. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add water, egg and the milk mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.


4. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.


5. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes.


6. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, softened margarine.


7. Roll out dough into a 12x9 inch rectangle. Spread dough with margarine/sugar mixture.


8. Roll up dough and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place cut side up in 9x13 greased pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.


9. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and cooked through the center.

For the frosting-

1. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar a cup at a time until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla extract. Spread on the cinnamon rolls once cooled to slightly-warm.

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Streusel Coffee Cake

I have managed (so far) to keep it out of the blog, but my life has been recently turned upside down. A few months ago we put our house on the market, in preparation for a move to a home with a little more space for our family of 5. 

The catch was we hadn't exactly FOUND that home yet.

So here was the plan.....get our house on the market and hopefully under contract, so we'd ready to jump on the perfect new place when it came along. Buyers in our neck of the woods have been in huge competition with each other over relatively low inventory. So houses go fast and are most likely to go to buyers who don't require a home sale contingency. Long story short? Our house sold in less then 18 hours, and we found ourselves living with my mom and dad.

And we are in a great spot, really. My parents have been so awesome opening their home to me, my husband, 3 kids, 2 dogs, and a whole lot of stuff. My dad reads Hardy Boy books to my oldest son, and gets my little guy out of bed when he awakes pre-dawn. My mom does countless crafts and marathon coloring sessions with my daughter. As I keep reminding them when things do get a little chaotic, "we are making memories here, people!"

The other huge bonus to living here has been a chance to collaborate in the kitchen with my mom. It's way more fun to experiment with new recipes (and revisit childhood favorites) with a partner. Last weekend she made this coffee cake and I knew I had to share. Hands down, THE BEST after school snack I ever remember coming home to. It comes together very easily in a (larger sized) food processor. It's perfect for a breakfast or brunch....and a mid-afternoon snack.

~Erin

Streusel Coffee Cake

 

Author: Erin

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Ingredients

• Cake


• 3 c. flour


• 4 tsp. baking powder


• 1/2 tsp. salt


• 1 c. sugar


• 1 c. butter


• 2 eggs, lightly beaten


• 1 c. milk


• 2 tsp. vanilla


• Topping


• 1 c. brown sugar


• 4 T. flour


• 4 T. butter


• 4 tsp. cinnamon


• 1 c. chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are great, but could be optional)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan.


2. For topping, in food processor, pulse together brown sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon, and nuts until crumbly. Transfer to another bowl.


3. Add to food processor flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Pulse 2-3 times. Cut in butter and pulse until you have a corn meal consistancy (2-4 times).


4. In a small mixing bowl, mix eggs, milk, and vanilla together well. Add to flour mixture in processor and pulse 2-3 times just to mix.


5. Put half of batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of topping. Add rest of batter and sprinkle with remaining topping.


6. Bake 35-45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

 

Notes

The batter will be thick so spread it to corners of the pan with a scraper. I end up dolluping the second layer of batter into the pan, so as not to totally destroy that first sprinkle of topping. And I wouldn't judge if you decided to make double the streusel topping...I MAY have experimented pretty successfully with those proportions. :)

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Banana Nutella Muffins

I didn't discover Nutella until about 3 years ago. Sad, isn't it? To go 31 years without Nutella? I LOVE the stuff. I also really appreciate that Nutella commercial running lately that tries to convince you its actually a healthy way for kids to start their day. I'm not buying it, but I do appreciate it. If you like Nutella, I hope you've had the chance to try some of its healthier "cousins". There is a brand called Justins that I like a lot. They sell almond chocolate butter, peanut butter, hazelnut chocolate butter and a bunch of other all-natural forms of nut butters. You can buy it at most grocery stores. I'm not sure where I originally ran across this recipe, but it comes from another food blogger called Tastefully Julie. It calls for Nutella which I didn't have that day so I substituted Justin's almond chocolate butter in for regular Nutella and had spectacular results, so feel free to be creative!

These are very easy to make. So easy that you should add them to your Mother's Day brunch plan next Sunday. She is sure to love them! If you have other plans, save this recipe for the next time you have over-ripe bananas sitting on your counter. I actually have 3 sitting across the counter from me right now. Its a good thing that I have the perfect place to use them. :)

Happy Mothers Day to all of the moms out there! Its a crazy, wonderful, maddening, unbelievable, amazing journey we're all on. I would vote for celebrating moms more than once "officially" each year...but what do I know? I hope you enjoy!

~Wendy

Banana Nutella Muffins

Recipe Type: Breakfast

Author: Wendy

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 1 c. all-purpose flour


• ½ c. whole wheat flour (or another ½ cup all-purpose flour)


• 1 tsp baking soda


• 1 tsp baking powder


• ½ tsp salt


• 2 over-ripe bananas, mashed


• ¾ c. white sugar


• 1 egg, lightly beaten


• ⅓ cup oil


• 10 teaspoons Nutella

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or spray 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.


2. In a large bowl, combine flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt.


3. In a smaller bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and oil.


4. Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.


5. Spoon a dollop of Nutella onto each muffin and swirl together well.


6. Bake in preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

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Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake

When I think of the most memorable things my mom has baked over the years, this one lands solidly in the top 5. And the term "coffee cake" be damned, she made it most recently to top off my sister's 33rd birthday dinner. It's pretty and tastes amazing so what else is there?

The addition of a little nutmeg adds a little somthing extra to the common paring of blueberry and lemon. If you hate nutmeg, the cake will still be great without it. If you are nutmeg indifferent, I'd encourage you to give it a try. And I'm including a picture here of what my batter looks like after spreading it up the sides of the pan a bit....for all you visual people out there. The batter is thick, and I find an offset spatula to be the best tool for the job. Just be patient and work it out to the sides a little at a time.

 

Wanting to give credit where credit is due, I just texted my mom to find out where this gem originally came from. My mom has a master's degree in library science, and for that reason I have pretty specific information to include. Thank goodness.

Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake

Author: Erin (adapted from Chicago Tribune 2/90)

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• Cake


• 2/3 c. sugar


• 2 t. lemon zest


• 1 1/2 c. flour


• 1/2 t. baking soda


• 1/2 c. sour cream


• 1/2 c. butter, softened


• 1 egg


• 2 T. poppy seeds


• 1/4 t. salt


• Filling


• 1/4 c. sugar


• 1/4 t. nutmeg


• 1 T. flour


• 2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed and drained


• Glaze


• 1/3 c. powdered sugar


• 1-2 t. milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.


2. Grease and flour the bottom and sides of a 9" spring form pan.


3. Beat 2/3 cup of sugar and softened butter in a mixer until light and fluffy.


4. Add lemon zest and egg, beat 2 minutes at medium speed.


5. Whisk together flour, poppy seeds, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.


6. Add 1/3 of dry ingredients to butter mixture, followed by 1/2 of sour cream, alternating until all are just combined.


7. Spread butter over bottom and 1" up sides of pan, making sure batter on sides is 1/4" thick.


8. For filling, combine all ingredients, then spoon over batter.


9. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool slightly and remove side of pan.


10. For glaze, combine ingredients, then drizzle over top of cake.

Notes

The original recipe says to bake this cake for 45-55 minutes. I have found that to be way too long especially using a dark, non-stick pan. Closer to 40 minutes is right for my pan and oven combination. Definitely start checking at 40 minutes but yours might need a bit more time with a lighter pan.

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