Hard Steel Irish Oatmeal on a Cold Winter Morning

4 cups of water to 1 cup of dry oat meal

After the water boils add in the oats and turn heat down to med. stir constantly for 30 minutes uncovered until done.

You can add in just about anything you like. These are things I added in on this particular day.

You could even add a bit of milk, soy milk, goat milk or what have you!

2 bean soup with spinach

shallots, yellow onion and mushrooms with olive oil

chickpeas and white kidney beans

Rosemarychicken stock

1 can of tomato sauce

add fresh spinach the very last minute it is cooking

Been Stiry frying a lot lately

I am hooked on making a healthy versions of stir fry food...

I love the arrary of colors and the different textures. I use FRESH ginger, soy sauce,

garlic, whatever veggies I have on-hand, Chinese noodles (or Jananese are fine as well), then I pick either shrimp, as in this case (or I do a pork or beef one).

Hooked on Smoothies with the Vita-Mix

Since getting my Vita-mix in December there has not been a day that has gone by where I have not used it. From fresh peanut butter to sorbet or ice cream---but my one daily dose has been the smoothie! I gather any fresh and /or frozen fruits I have on-hand with Stonyfield organic yogurt, a dash of vit C powder...just sets the whole tone for day!

Thinking of Those in Haiti. God Bless.

http://hope-for-haiti.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome.html

Little Cooking 'n Baking Tonight

Great Lakes Salmon Chowder

Ingredients:


1 pound fresh skinless salmon fillets or one 15-ounce can salmon, rinsed, drained, flaked and skin and bones removed

1-1/2 cups water

2 14-ounce cans vegetable broth or 3-1/2 cups vegetable stock

2 cups frozen whole small onions or 1/2 cup frozen chopped onion

3 medium red-skinned potatoes, cubed (2-1/2 cups)

1 tablespoon snipped fresh dill or 1/2 teaspoon dried dillweed

1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2-1/2 cups whole milk, half-and-half or light cream

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 10-ounce package frozen cut asparagus, thawed and well-drained or 2 cups cut-up fresh trimmed asparagus

Fresh dill sprigs (optional)

Directions:

1. Rinse fresh salmon; pat dry. To poach fresh salmon, in a large skillet, bring water to boiling. Add salmon. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 6 to 8 minutes or until the salmon flakes easily with a fork. Remove salmon from skillet, discarding poaching liquid. Flake salmon into 1/2-inch pieces; set aside.

2. Meanwhile, in a 4-quart Dutch oven, combine vegetable broth, onions, potatoes, snipped fresh dill, lemon peel, salt and black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

3. In a large screw-top jar, combine milk and cornstarch. Cover and shake well; stir into soup. Stir in asparagus. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Gently stir in poached salmon or canned salmon; heat through. If you like, garnish with fresh dill sprigs. Makes 8 main-dish servings (11 cups).

Loving B&W with thinking of it with pops of Lime Green & Bright Yellow!

The art decals above can be found at Target

http://www.target.com/

The bedding & curtains can be found @ Target too!

Bedding below at Macy's

Desk by West Elm http://www.westelm.com/

Macy's Michael Kors "Tokyo" Bedding Collection:

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=345199&CategoryID=27869&LinkLoc=7495&LinkType=SiteAd&AdID=510537

PopCorn CupCakes

Description:

How can something so simple taste so good? This is a kid favorite, but don’t leave an adult alone with this cake either.





Ingredients:

Prep time: 25 minutes plus an hour’s cooling time

Serves: 8-10



8 cups cooked popcorn

1 1/2 cups salted peanuts

1/3 cup canola oil

1 stick butter (8TB)

1 package (10 oz) marshmallows

1 large package (19.2 oz) or 1 1/2 small (12.6 oz) packages M&Ms

chocolate syrup



Directions:

8 cups cooked popcorn

1 1/2 cups salted peanuts

1/3 cup canola oil

1 stick butter (8TB)

1 package (10 oz) marshmallows

1 large package (19.2 oz) or 1 1/2 small (12.6 oz) packages M&Ms

chocolate syrup



Line a muffin pan with muffin cups.



In a big mixing bowl, mix the peanuts, and popcorn. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the oil, heat for a minute, and then add the marshmallows. Stir for about 5 minutes or until the marshmallows melt into the butter and you have a thick sauce. Pour this over the popcorn mixture and stir to mix thoroughly. Lightly stir in the M&Ms, reserving 1/2 cup. Spoon the popcorn mixture into the muffin cups, stacking the mixture as high as you like for that muffin look. Top with remaining M&Ms to achieve that perfect color balance. Refrigerate for half an hour, and serve by lifting out those muffins and distributing to serving plates. If they stick to the muffin pan, run a little hot water over the bottom (the spray nozzle at the sink is good for this) for a few seconds.



Variation: Popcorn cake made in a cake pan is another great way to prepare this dish. Swap in your favorite candy and nuts. Chocolate chips work well, but they will melt when you mix the cake, giving everything a chocolate-y color.