If you aren’t aware (my sister sure is!), I am in love with oatmeal. I ate it for breakfast almost every day for a year. It’s so delicious and there are so many things you can do with it, however… if you are looking to cut back on carbs, for whatever reason, it’s not the best option for obsessive consumption. I still eat oatmeal, but when I realized how many carbs I was getting a day, I decided to switch up  my breakfast a couple times a week. And this is how I came up with the best breakfast ever (excluding awesome oatmeal of course). Here’s the yummyness I just finished stuffing in my face a few seconds ago!

There are two versions. The vegan version, which uses tofu instead of eggs, and the non-vegan version, which uses eggs. If you want to use tofu, use a firm type and make sure you press/squeeze as much of the liquid out as possible before you cook it. This makes it taste so much better, trust me. Using however much you like, crumble it up into a pan. Season it well and let it cook. I use a little olive oil spray. I let it cook til it starts to get a little color and then I add my veggies. If you are going to use eggs, just cook the veggies up a bit first (about halfway) and then add your eggs. The tofu takes a little longer to get cooked just right. Now for the veggies, add whatever you want. Really! I normally do mushrooms, spinach and cherry tomatoes, but pick what you like best, even if it’s just one veggie. Simple, but so delicious. Just remember to add some seasoning (I normally just use a little salt, pepper, garlic and parsley). This is especially for tofu. Without anything, it’s bland and boring, but it’s like a blank canvas. It absorbs flavors very well so spice that baby up. It’s a nice break from oatmeal – did I really just say that!? lol – and it’s packed full of good stuff for you.

And remember, breakfast is the most important meal of the day… Never skip it! Your body will thank you

What did you make this Labor Day?! We had a family get-together Sunday afternoon and we all chowed down. I ended up making way more than I probably needed to, but I enjoyed it! Besides what I made, there was some rice dressing, corn casserole, yummy cookies (that were made using my simple cake batter cookie idea!) and of course, fried turkey! I figured I’d share the recipes I used for making my dishes and let you know which were the biggest hit.

So I think my lemon bundt cake was actually the favorite. Tough call, but wow was it delicious. It came out SUPER moist. I also think it was better because I used fresh lemons. It really does make a difference. Best of all, it was vegan! My picture isn’t that great, I took it with my phone and the lighting was meh. So to see some beautiful pictures, make sure you stop by Meet The Shannons for her Tuscan Lemon Cake recipe! Yummmmm.

A close second would have to be my potatoes au gratin. The sauce came out soooo perfect. This recipe was also vegan and was the easiest thing I made. I literally put sliced potatoes in the dish and poured the sauce over it. I topped it with a little daiya cheese and bam, deeeeelicious! Obviously my picture does it no justice since I waited until there was only one serving left to take it! This thing got devoured. You can find the recipe over at MyVegan Cookbook. His recipe is intended to be microwaved so if you wanna bake it, just toss it in at like 350-375 for around an hour. It depends on the shape of your dish and how crispy you want the top.

I also made some vegan cole slaw that was suggested by Kathy, the wonderful blogger at Healthy. Happy. Life. It was super simple and I think it was a nice change from how I’ve normally had cole slaw. My Dad said this stuff would be awesome on top of a sandwich. I loved it! It just looks so elegant in the dish.

If that wasn’t enough, I also made a vegan pumpkin cheesecake. This is a recipe I sort of made up myself after looking at a few other ideas out there. I originally made this recipe over at VegWeb.com. It was beyond delicious, but it was more pumpkin pie than cheesecake. The next time I made it, I added more cream cheese and little less pumpkin. It came out the right consistancy, but I think it still needed some more cheesecake flavor. More cream cheese next time again!

Of course I made a green bean casserole as well. This was the only thing I made that wasn’t vegan. I didn’t get any pictures, but if you want the recipe… lemme share! I have two green bean recipes on my site, my original and my healthier version. What I did for this one was a combination of the two. I used my healthier canned cream of mushroom, but also added some chopped onions and mushrooms to the mix. I did make the ritz topping, but I used only a small amount and made sure it was much less buttery. So it was healthier, but still had all the yummy flavors that I think everyone loved! 

I also cooked some biscuits, but they didn’t come out as great as I had hoped. They were a little dry and needed… something. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I will work on that one and hopefully post the awesome re-done recipe!

Did you have a Labor Day get-together? If so, what yummy food did you eat?

So this weekend I had a couple awesome things that I wanted to share! These pictures were all taken with my phone so they aren’t th best!

First, we went out to this awesome Thai restaurant. Of course, I didn’t take a picture, but trust me, the food was AMAZING! Afterwards, we decided to try this new yogurt place. I am so happy we did. They had dairy free goodies and tonsssss of fresh fruit. My husband got excited because they had these little cheesecake squares so he loaded up on those. Check out my yummy treat!

The place is called The Yogurt Spot. If you have one near you, check em out!

So I also cooked a lot this weekend. Tons of yummy things, but I wanted to share this easy vegan recipe I got from one of my favorite blogs, Healthy. Happy. Life.

My pictures doesn’t do this delicious meal justice, so make sure you check out her blog to see her super awesome and droolworthy pics!

Last, but not least, we stopped by a cute little Mexican place Sunday afternoon (after we went bowling!). It was delicious. I forgot to say no cheese on my burrito, but that’s my bad. Mmmmmmm.

I like going out to eat at Mexican places because it seems to much easier to get things without meat or even dairy products. Most times I just get rice, beans and guac, which seems so boring… that’s why I try to find places that have REAL beans, not stuff that seems like they poured it out of a can directly onto my plate!

Anywho, did you guys eat anything awesome this weekend? Please share!!

Because salmon is so good for you, with all its omega-3 healthiness, I’ve been on a mission lately to feed more of it to my family. But the complaint I always get when I dish up a moist, hot, pink salmon fillet is that some people get put off by the fact that it can taste too oily. I devised this oriental dressing that cuts through the oiliness of the fish and gives it an oriental taste. For the minced chilli, garlic and ginger I use squeezy tubes that come already made. You can buy them in the fruit and veg section of many large supermarkets. And feel free to adjust the ingredients for the dressing to suit personal taste – like it spicy? Add more chilli. Want more pungency? Add more garlic.

Serve with boiled or steamed rice or dressed, cooked noodles: the peas were an addition for the children, to ensure they were getting their vegetables, but feel free to substitute some stir-fried Chinese vegetables alongside, if you wish.

Pan-fried Salmon with Oriental Dressing

Serves 4

Ingredients

• Splash of olive oil (not Extra Virgin)
• 4 x salmon fillets, boneless, skin on

For the dressing:

• 8 tablespoons mirin (Japanese rice wine)
• ½ teaspoon minced ginger
• ½ teaspoon minced red chilli
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or puréed
• 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar

Method

1. Drizzle the olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) into a non-stick pan and place on a medium heat. Carefully add the salmon fillets, skin side down, and sizzle for a few minutes. You will start to see the heat penetrate through the salmon as it starts to turn a light pink towards the middle of the fillet. Keep the salmon on the heat, keeping an eye on it while you make the dressing.
2. Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small serving bowl and put to one side.
3. Turn over the salmon – the skin will now be nice and crisp – to finish cooking through the rest of the fillet.
4. Serve the salmon in a bowl over some boiled rice or noodles and spoon the dressing over while the salmon is still hot.

Jo Romero is a freelance writer and food blogger of Comfort Bites blog.

So I worked at my job for about 3 months and this recipe is by far the best thing I got from it! Well, besides the money of course : ) Seriously though, this recipe is SO simple and totally delicious. After working for a bit, I realized what a lot of people were saying was true – some of my recipes just took too much time. I get it now. The last thing you want to do after a long day at work is come home and cook for 2 hours. I hope that from now on, I can come up with easier, quicker recipes… like this one! The only way cookies are easier is if you buy those tubes of dough, and those are yucky so make these instead!!

Ingredients:

• 1 box cake mix
• Eggs
• Oil
• NO WATER
• Mixins of your choice!

You can use any flavor of cake mix. Vanilla, Chocolate, White… even those little confetti ones! It doesn’t really matter, it will come out awesome no matter what. You just want to make sure you get a cake mix that requires eggs, oil and water. As far as mixins go, add whatever sounds good for cookies OR cake. Anything works, really. I had some with shredded coconut and nuts and I made this batch with chocolate chips. Both rocked. I think I might try shredded coconut and pineapple next time! Get creative! 

This is so simple. All you need to do is prepare the cake mix as directed, just DO NOT add the WATER. It will be very thick, just stir stir stir! Once everything is combined well, mix in your yummies.

I baked mine at 350 for about 15 minutes. You want the edges to start to brown a little. For this batch I have pictured, I wanted them to be a little softer. The first ones I had were a little crunchy, which is cool, but for a cake cookie I felt softer was better.

And that’s it! This one box of cake mix made about 3 dozen cookies. YUM. Sooooo very simple and totally delicious. I prefer mine the next day after sitting in the fridge overnight. I don’t know why, I just love em that way. My husband prefers them heated up a little. Either way, you’ll love em!

I’ve been away from my blog for a while now and I am happy to say that I am officially back! It seems that living in the real world, read: having a ‘real’ job, put too much on my plate. I cut back on blogging so that I could do other things I wanted/needed to do. Luckily for you guys, I was laid off – and I couldn’t be happier! Now I get to post more delicious recipes to share. YEY!!

So here is my first post back and I’d LOVE for your input. I cook a lot of food and I am always willing to try anything (if I won’t eat it, my husband will!) so I want to know: What recipes would you like to see me post? Anything at all, I promise I’ll put it on my list of things to make! Maybe there’s a recipe you’ve been looking for, but haven’t found the right thing yet. Send it my way and maybe I can help you out! Or maybe there’s a recipe you like, but you’ve always thought about tweaking it a bit. I’d love to throw some ideas at you! So leave me some comments and look forward to lots of yummy posts to come : )

My computer has been ‘broken’ for over a month now and I didn’t want anyone to think I fell off the face of the earth! I am waiting on a new video card, which I hope will be in this week or next. Once I get everything set up, I will be back to posting delicious recipes for you guys. PLUS I will have a giveaway very soon after I am back to posting. Hope you haven’t missed me too much : )

I have a snazzy giveaway planned very soon, but first I wanted to show off a couple yummy recipes I have made so far with this not-so-secret giveaway item! This is the first recipe I whipped up when I received the product and wow, it rocked my socks off. I love green beans, but sauteeing them up with tomatoes and other yummyness just put em over the top. Honestly though, I don’t think I had ever cooked fresh green beans until this recipe. Crazy, I know, but I’ll be making them much more often now! Try this recipe, it won’t dissapoint!

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 – 3 cups fresh green beans, ends trimmed and cut in half if very long
• virgin coconut oil
• 2/3 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt
• pepper

Here is a link to the original recipe. Technically I didn’t change too  much! I just left off the cheese, added in a little onion and used a mixture of sweet tomatoes. This recipe is so very simple and absolutely delicious!

Sauté the green beans in a few tablespoons of oil. I started with just a little bit of oil and added more as it was needed.

Before the green beans are fully cooked, add in the tomatoes and garlic. If you think you need more oil, add it! The coconut flavor is fairly subtle, but goes so perfectly in this dish.

Saute a little longer and then remove the pan from the heat once everything is to your desired done-ness! Add the salt and pepper, to taste.

The recipe suggests that it could work well with other veggies, but I am hooked just the way it is. I hope you make this recipe – it’s delicious, quick and easy!

Thank you to everyone who entered my latest giveaway! The winner is Stephanie! Here is the winning comment:

Congratulations and enjoy your gift code at the CSN stores!

And everyone be sure to check back – I should have another giveaway up soon! Have a great weekend : )

(Serves 2)

Prep time: about 5 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1. 1 package of top round steak (one which has 2 steaks)
2. ½ a medium sized yellow onion
3. Goya brand Adobo (1 tablespoon)
4. ½ packet of Goya brand Sazón
5. Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
6. Tablespoon of minced or crushed garlic
7. Tablespoon of Goya brand Recaito
8. 2 tablespoons of olive oil
9. 4 stems of fresh cilantro
10. (optional) your favorite Latin song to set the mood : )

Place the non frozen meat in a bowl.

Sprinkle both sides of each meat evenly using your tablespoon of Adobo. Don’t worry if there is extra left in the spoon as long as you sprinkled the meat evenly. If you put too much Adobo, your meat will turn out salty. This is why we measured it out on a spoon so that you don’t go overboard if this is your first time.

Sprinkle both sides of each meat with the Sazón. Sazón contains Achote, which will turn your fingers yellow so if you get it on your hand wash it off or you will be meeting your guests with yellow hands : )

Add the tablespoon of vinegar to the bowl of meat and mix with a large spoon.

In a 12 inch sauce pan with a cover heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil on a medium heat setting. When oil starts to crinkle, add 1 tablespoon of sugar to the oil. When sugar browns add 1 tablespoon of minced or crushed garlic, the 4 stems of cilantro and the tablespoon of Recaito to the pan.

When garlic, cilantro and Recaito have slightly browned add the meat and its juices from the bowl into the pan.

Lower the heat to a low medium setting; since this is a top cut of meat and we want it to come out tender, we need to cook it slowly. Cover the pan with a properly fitting lid and after 10 minutes check the meat to see that the juices are not evaporating too fast, if the juices are evaporating too fast you have your stove set too high and will need to lower the heat. If your juices have completely evaporated, don’t worry, just add 4 oz of water to the pan and cover. If your meat is still full of juice then your heat settings are good and you just need to replace the cover. Let meat cook for another 10 minutes.

While the meat is cooking cut your onion a long it’s length so you get rings. See picture so you get the idea. Set onion aside.

After cooking your meat for 20 minutes flip over, check the juices and adjust heat setting as needed. If your juices have evaporated add 2 oz of water and cover. If your juices are still there, you are doing fine and just need to replace the cover. Cook for another 20 minutes.

Your meat has been cooking for about 40 minutes now and should be tender; it is now time to add the onions. Add the onions and cover pan, cook for about 5 minutes until onions are tender.

Once onions are tender, serve and enjoy!

This is a guest recipe by Karla Campos. Karla Campos is the owner of Gig Logo, a web site for guest blogging. Karla enjoys cooking and trying new foods with her family and friends as a hobby.