Thursday’s “Meatless Monday” Inspired Breakfast Treat

As you may know I’m in love with blueberries, lately. I know once blackberry season starts back up then I’ll be “in love” with blackberries, and forgot about my blueberries till I go into my freezer around Fall.

I got this lovely post in my email about “meatless Monday” from Prevention RD. I bookmarked the link to make this delicious breakfast food as soon as I got home but I couldn’t move.

Over the weekend I got a sunburn, I felt weak, and hot, and my legs were on fire, and I couldn’t even do my daily pilates routine before dinner. I was craving anything but homemade baked goods. Instead, I really wanted frozen pizza.

Luckily, I didn’t have that, and as I’m feeling much better (thanks to time, and aloe vera), Thursday will have to be the day to make this Monday dish.

Lemon Blueberry Baked Oatmeal

• 1 Meyer lemon, zested and juiced (or whatever lemon you have handy)
• 2 cups nonfat milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
• 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (FRESH! for me)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick spray.

Zest lemon; set zest aside. In a bowl, combine milk and juice from the zested lemon to make “buttermilk”.

In a medium bowl, combine the oats, baking powder, salt, spices, and lemon zest. In a small bowl, whisk together the “buttermilk”, butter, egg, and sugar.

Spoon half of the oat mixture into the baking dish, and then half of the blueberries. Add the remaining oat mixture and scatter the remaining blueberries on to the top, pressing them in slightly. Pour in the milk mixture and place in oven.

as you can see the milk mixture doesn’t cover both layers of the oatmeal. That’s completely fine.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the mixture is a light golden brown along the edges, and the center has set up.

The blog was nice enough to provide some nutrional information… though mine came out to be 200 calories because I used the almond milk.

 

 

original from site:

Nutrition Information (per serving): 399 calories; 10.5 g. fat; 49 mg. cholesterol; 486 mg. sodium; 67 g. carbohydrate; 7 g. fiber; 12.3 g. protein

Blueberry Orange Muffins on Weekends

So it’s not the weekend. It’s 3 (or 4, depending on which part of the world you live in) days from it, actually. And I’ve been a lazy bum, eating, hanging out with friends, and swimming so sadly this post and delicious recipe didn’t make it to you in time.

Basically, these are the most amazing blueberry muffins I’ve had. I’m a little obsessed with blueberries lately (as if you hadn’t noticed), and I think all the latest muffin recipes I try are the #1 best. But I’m saving these in my “favorite recipes” folder in my laptop. That’s a big deal.

I think I only have 5 recipes in there. And only 1 other dessert.

the blurriness is due to my inability to stay patient

Lovely Muffins

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup rolled oats, plus more for sprinkling
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup blueberries
• Zest of 1 orange
• Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees F and lining a muffin pan with some liners.

Then go ahead and combine the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients – butter, yogurt, egg and vanilla.

Combine the wet to dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula so you’re not overworking the dough. Overworked muffin dough gets really tough, and that’s not a lovely muffin at all!

Stir in the blueberries and orange zest. Fresh blueberries are always best because they can pop in the batter in the oven and create a lovely and juicy center. Scoop  into the muffin tray and sprinkle some raw sugar.

I find nothing more soothing than zesting citrus

…and nothing prettier than ripe blueberries

Place in oven for about 15 minutes. Mine took exactly 15 minutes, but up to 19 is OK depending on how hot your oven gets.

Blueberry Banana Muffins

Since I went blueberry picking I’ve been thinking of two things: that I have to go back, and I need to bake everything with blueberries! I ran across this Strawberry Banana Muffin recipe from Sweet Peas Kitchen and I thought it would sound so much better with a few tweaks, mainly adding blueberries.

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Position rack in center of oven.  Line 12 muffin cups with muffin liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.In a small saucepan melt the butter. Set aside.

In a medium bowl whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.

the banana, egg, and butter concoction

In another large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Fold in the berries, making sure they are coated with flour.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 20 to 24 minutes, rotating halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Look at the blueberry juices coming out of those suckers!