Protein Oatmeal

I 100% stole this recipe from Larisa Reis, but it has become one of my all time favorite breakfast recipes. It is super SUPER easy and thus convenient when you need to eat fast. Personally I whip it up and then carry it around with me as I continue my morning routine; talk about two birds one stone! Anyhow, this is how the recipe goes:

• 1/2 cup of oatmeal
• 1/2-1 scoop of vanilla flavored protein powder
• 1/2-1 cup of water
• 1 tsp honey (optional)
• raisins (optional)

Start with a microwave safe bowl, mix oatmeal and protein powder together. Add desired amount of water; I generally use between 1/2 and 3/4 cup (the more water you add, the longer you'll have to cook it). As you add water, mix oatmeal and protein powder together so you don't end up with uncooked lumps. Place bowl in microwave and cook for about a minute. I like to wait for the mix to rise before I take it out. (CAUTION: The mixture will spill over the sides if you don't watch it diligently.) Remove from microwave and add the optional ingredients if so desired.

Let me know how you enjoy this! Larissa & I might be on our own in our appreciation of this dish.

Because I Am a Foodie at Heart

I wanted to share with you this SUPER AMAZING recipe I discovered/ finally tried. Of course it is a clean recipe, though I am unsure just how clean it is seeing as I used sour cream. Anyways, I got the original recipe from cleaneatingmag.com, but because I am who I am I made a few tweaks here and there. I've shown my tweaks with brackets and I'll go over them at the end. The recipe was for Portebello Mushroom Stroganoff and it looked like this:

Serves: 8
Hands-on time: 30 minutes.
Total time: 30 minutes.

CATEGORY:
Under 45 Minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 oz whole-wheat egg noodles (Negative Commander. I did make brown rice!)
•  Olive oil cooking spray
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced (1/2 onion, if that)
•  4 oz white mushrooms, thinly sliced (8 oz roughly chopped. Think chunky.)
• 8 oz portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced (In this economy? Please. See above.)
•  1 clove garlic, minced (2.5 cloves, sliced. MUCH better flavoring!)
• 14 oz medium-firm tofu, pureed in blender or food processor
• 8 oz low-fat sour cream
• 8 oz low-sodium beef stock (8oz homemade chicken stock & 1 beef bouillon cube)
• 1 tbsp unsalted tomato paste (forgot it)
• 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning (Don't own it.)
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste (I don't cook with salt)
• 1 tsp dried dill (forgot it too. Also unsure if I own it.)
• (1/4 jalepeno pepper chopped minced)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over high for 1 minute.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, mist with cooking spray and add onion. Sauté for about 8 minutes or until caramelized. Add white and portobello mushrooms and garlic. Mist with cooking spray, if needed, and saute until cooked, about 5 more minutes.
4. Add tofu, sour cream, stock and tomato paste, and stir until smooth. Stir in seasoning, salt and pepper.
5. Pour mushroom sauce over cooked noodles. Serve topped with dill.

Nutrients per 1-cup serving: Calories: 140, Total Fat: 3.5 g, Sat. Fat: 0.5 g, Carbs: 18 g, Fiber: 1 g, Sugars: 3 g, Protein: 9 g, Sodium: 140 mg, Cholesterol: 15 mg

So clearly I made quite a few tweaks. Half are self-explanatory, I think, but I'll go over them all. The dill and tomato paste were items I would have added, but I simply forgot. I don't think the dish missed the dill, but it was a bit watery so the tomato paste may have helped thicken it. Maybe. Though I cannot image a single tablespoon going very far. While we're on seasoning, I would have added Cajun seasoning but I do not own it and as a replacement I would have added cayenne pepper (maybe chili powder or paprika), but that didn't occur to me as I was cooking. The next time I make the dish, I definitely will. I did add that 1/4 jalapeño because I had some sitting around; I think that was an excellent addition and I'll probably use 1/2 next time, in tandem with noted spices above.

As far as broth, I 100% was going to use beef...but it was old, and smelled/looked suspect. And I made chicken stock last night (because I'm cool like that), so I figured if I mixed the chicken broth with a beef bouillon cube...that would be about the same, no? The garlic I didn't mince b/c I am lazy, but I am glad I didn't because the flavoring was much bolder and much better, to me. I used less onion b/c I never use the called for amount. I never like that much onion in anything. I didn't use portebello mushrooms b/c those high prices aren't currently in my budget. So I used a whole packaged of pre-sliced white mushrooms, the basic kind found in the produce section, of which I roughly cut up. I like mushrooms and I like them to be in chunky,  noticeable pieces. In terms of pasta, I generally try to stay away from it; I think it's generally more carbs than my body needs to handle at once.

Overall, I think the dish turned out wonderfully. Like I said, it was really watery, so I'll probably end up eating it as a soup. I like eating food in liquid form as is, so not a problem for this girl! But in the future, I will definitely add that tomato paste and make it spicier. What can I say, I like spicy. Any who, if you do decide to make it, let me know what you think/how it turns out.