Tag: in the kitchen

Breakfast Basics: Whipped Banana Oatmeal

Lauren3 Comments

Joey’s breakfast repertoire consists of two things.  1) Cereal — which he then complains about hating and 2) An egg sandwich — which is delicious but also a rarity because it takes longer to make than just pouring cereal into a bowl.  That’s all, folks!  So when he offered to make me breakfast the other day and I asked, “you know how to make oatmeal??” the answer was a sad sad “oh…no…”  Wah, wah.

So this “recipe” is for Joey mainly, but also for you if you need to up your oatmeal game or just need to get into the oatmeal game (Mom).  This is your go-to.  Your base.  Your fall back.  It’s the one, the only, whipped banana oatmeal.

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Whipped Banana Oatmeal (serves 1)

  • 1 cup water
  • 1/3 cup rolled oats
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1/2 banana, sliced thin
  1. In a small pot, bring water to a boil.
  2. Add oats, salt and banana slices, then turn heat to medium and cook until thickened, stirring occasionally to break up banana slices.

That’s it?  That’s it.  K, cool.  I feel pretty accomplished after writing that lengthy recipe.  I’ll just sit back and wait for my cookbook deal to come through.  But seriously, I hope this helped someone somewhere.  Especially you, Joey 🙂

P.S. Do not forget to jazz it up with some killer toppings.  My always and forever favorite toppings are granola and peanut butter.   Yeah, I guess that’s oats on top of oats, but it’s also totally texturally different and delicious.  Just do it!

What is your go to weekday breakfast?

On Cooking Without Recipes

Lauren2 Comments

Last week, I was listening to the Bon Appétit podcast — the one and only podcast I listen to, lest I should become one of those people who begins every sentence with “I was listening to this podcast and…” — and they got to talking about cooking without a recipe.  Though I know there are plenty of people who have the skills/confidence to cook without directions, every time I come in contact with these people, my head kind of explodes.  I always always always cook with a recipe, whether it’s the first or the 100th time I’ve made a dish.

For some reason, it wasn’t until I listened to this podcast that I realized I’m probably a far better cook than I give myself credit for and I probably have enough experience that I don’t need to abide by the rules of the recipe, down to the exact teaspoon.  So Monday night, I quickly glanced over the recipe we’d picked for Taco Tuesday (something we don’t always celebrate, but we should always celebrate), and decided that was the only time I needed to look at that recipe.  I know how to make guacamole.  I know how to sauté veggies.  I know how to season by taste and hell yeah, I know how to assemble a taco.

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Outcome: TACO SUCCESS!

I’m so over corn tortillas, but that aside, these turned out so good!  I think Joey’s immediate response after the first bite was “UMMM YUM!” and it takes a lot to get that kind of comment from him — not that he’s hard to please, but quite the opposite and thinks everything is good, so it goes without saying — so I was really really excited.  This isn’t to say I’m going to start guessing how to roast large cuts of meat or attempt to bake cakes without knowing the specifics, but I think this dinner was a huge confidence booster and extra encouragement to trust myself in the kitchen more.  I got this 🙂