baked pumpkin oatmeal

One lovely Life
I  put in a greased 9x13 pan

For the dry ingredients:

4 cups rolled oats (sometimes called old-fashioned). – Use gluten free as needed!
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cardamom

Or 1&1/2t pumpkin pie spice
2 cup toasted pecans or almonds

protein powder optional

For the wet ingredients:

3 cups milk (I use unsweetened almond milk)
2 cups pumpkin or 15oz can
1/2 cup pure maple syrup or brown sugar (plus more, for drizzling)
3 eggs or 2 Tbsp chia seeds + 3 Tbsp water (or 1 egg, if not vegan)
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Can serve caramel chips or choco chips

Optional Crumb Topping-

• 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Add 1/2-3/4 cup of the pecans (and save the rest for sprinkling on top).

In a medium bow, whisk together the wet ingredients–milk, pumpkin, syrup, chia egg/egg, and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry oatmeal mixture. Stir to combine well. Pour into a greased 8×8 (or 2 quart) baking dish. Sprinkle with additional pecans if you like.

Bake at 350 degrees 25-30 minutes, or until the liquid has soaked in, the center is just set, and the edges are starting to turn golden.

Serve with a drizzle of milk and a little syrup if you like.

Oatmeal will keep 5-7 days in the refrigerator. To reheat, simply add a little extra milk and warm in the oven or microwave.

Can serve with whipped up coconut milk on top.

Chunky Spaghetti Sauce

Jamie brought some most delicious spaghetti sauce, spaghetti squash, and noodles to us after Luke was born.  It was so extremely delicious. I CRAZY loved this sauce. A couple reasons why it was successful: 1.  It was the first time I used sausage in spaghetti sauce and 2. the first time i roasted the tomatoes and onions. I think those things made it awesome!!!

1 lb Turkey or beef
1 lb of any type of sausage (no spicy, I took off the outter thin skin)
1 T basil, 1 T oregano, salt and pepper
garlic
2 sliced onions
chopped mushroooms (saute)
Zucchini
Butternut squash (peel and roast in oil, garlic, salt and pepper)
spaghetti squash for the noodles instead of pasta (cook whole squash, uncut at 400 degrees for one hour)
2 options for spaghetti sauce:
    1.  Sauce- garden combination Ragu or Prego
    2.  4 cans of diced tomatoes 
Pasta noodles


1. Cook ground turkey/beef and sausage with chopped mushrooms.  While I'm cooking the meat, In the past I have chopped it up so small b/c thats what my mom did growing up.  But this time I left the meat in bigger chunks and I really liked the texture in the final product. 
2. Roast onions and tomatoes  in oven at 400 for 45-60 min till browned. Then I pureed 2 cans of the tomatoes in the blender and left 2 cans in their diced chunks.  roasting is suppose to help give a more full flavor 
3. Peel and cube butternut squash, toss with oil, salt, and pepper 400 for 20-30 min. I put it in the sauce and i loved it but logan didn't love it.
4. cook whole spaghetti squash, uncut at 400 degrees for one hour. I liked this squash instead of pasta noodles but the rest of the family liked the pasta.


This fed 2 families of 10 people with still having leftovers. I thought it'd be good to freeze in smaller portions in sandwich ziplock bags for quick meals.

21 Make ahead breakfasts

Sweet pea and saffron

1.Peach Baked Oatmeal from Sweet Peas & Saffron
2. Egg and Quinoa Breakfast Muffins 
3. Make-Ahead Mason Jar Breakfast Parfaits 
4. Healthy Zucchini Oat Breakfast Cookies
5. Hash Brown Egg Nests with Avocado 
6. Ginger Peach Oatmeal Bake with Whipped Coconut Cream
7. Raspberry Nutella Overnight Oats
8. Pancake Mini Muffins 
9.  Spinach, Feta & Red Pepper Breakfast Quesadillas 
10. Make Ahead Smoothies 
11. Banana Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins
12. Perfect Breakfast Burritos 
13. Double Chocolate Quinoa Granola
14. Customizable Protein-Packed Oatmeal Cups 
15. Sweet Potato, Black Bean & Egg White Breakfast Burritos 
16. Apple Pecan Baked Oatmeal
17.  Cinnamon Apple Breakfast Quinoa 
18.  Sweet Potato Pancakes 
19. Spinach and Red Pepper Mini Frittatas
20. Blueberry Chia Overnight Oats
21.  Tofu Scramble with Breakfast Sweet Potatoes 
22. Blueberry Overnight French Toast Bake 
23. Overnight Breakfast Casserole with Bacon & Sweet Potatoes from Sweet Peas & Saffron

Pasta with Kale Pesto and butternut squash

NY Times Cooking

1 ½ pounds butternut squash

½ cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling

¾ teaspoon kosher salt, more for squash

 Freshly ground black pepper

1 small bunch (about 1/2 pound) lacinato kale, center ribs removed

8 ounces pasta (penne rigate works well)

⅓ cup toasted pine nuts

2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped

 Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

 Freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste

 Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use a vegetable peeler to peel squash, then halve it lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Dice squash flesh into 1-inch pieces, place on a baking sheet, and toss with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread pieces into an even layer, making sure there is space between them. Roast, stirring squash pieces once or twice, until golden brown and tender, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; have ready a bowl of ice water. Drop kale into boiling water and cook for 45 seconds. Use tongs or slotted spoon to transfer kale to ice water. Bring water in pot back to a boil, adding more if necessary so there is enough to cook pasta.

Drain kale well, then wrap tightly in a dry kitchen towel and squeeze thoroughly to remove any excess moisture. Roughly chop leaves. When water in pot comes back to a boil, cook pasta according to package directions.

In a food processor, pulse together kale, nuts, garlic, salt and lemon zest until mixture is smooth and salt has dissolved. With motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil until fully incorporated. Taste and add more salt dissolved in a little lemon juice, if necessary.
Drain pasta, reserving a little cooking water. Toss pasta with kale pesto and some pasta cooking water if necessary to help it coat pasta. Add cheese, lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve topped with squash and more cheese.

Sushi and Soup

Sea weed sheets
Rice
Cucumber- cut thin slices to fit in sushi
Avocado
Crunchy fried onions
Tuna or crab
Sriracha and mayo

Can also serve with 

Miso Soup or 

pad thai or 

Oyakodon or 

Pot stickers or dumplings

Stir fry

Great Talks/Sermons

Elder Holland, Lessons from Liberty Jail, 9/2008
Elder Bednar, Social Media & the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Elder Ballard, Be Still, take time to meditate and communicate in person- not texting or social media
Bruce C Hafen- On Dealing with Uncertainty- very thorough and descriptive, sharing many examples of situations we mortals experience. He states, "some uncertainty is characteristic of mortal experience. Our encounters with reality and disappointment are, in fact, vital stages in the development of our maturity and understanding.

Uchtdorf-

Mistakes are events on the timeline of MY life. But they don’t define MY life.

What I do about MY mistakes will go a long way in defining the person I will yet become.

one thing i'm going to finish, that I previously quit

why did you pick this one

why did you quit

what is my plan to finish

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/dieter-f-uchtdorf_can-you-hear-the-music/