Mares Eat Oats and Does Eat Oats (a recipe for Blueberry Baked Overnight Oats)

This week started out with a lovely day in Bodega Bay, collecting rocks, trying delicious homemade Russian Food and playing music at Russian House #1, and enjoying fresh air and a bit of light exercise. The rest of the week continued as usual with teaching, a few good workouts, and a sauna sesh. All normal things, but I’ve been extra moody this week (hello, hormones!). That’s ok, though. I like being aware because it gives me power over what I think are “my emotions”, and it also helps me to remember to have a bit of grace with myself.

Health-wise, I started seed cycling a couple weeks ago! For those of you who don’t know, seed cycling is a holistic method of balancing hormones by rotating consumption of seeds throughout your cycle. I started in the middle of my cycle with Sesame and Sunflower seeds that I made into snacks, following Natural Fit Foodie’s recipe. When I do my meal prep this week, I’m going to make the same recipe again, but with Pumpkin seeds and ground Flaxseed for the start of my next cycle. They’re great as snacks, and I love having extra superfoods in my diet!

There’s tons of information out there about seed cycling and eating for your cycle, but I love this post from Natural Fit Foodie.

How to Cycle Sync Your Diet (with recipes)

I could geek out on this stuff for days, but for now, on to the main event – this delicious Blueberry Baked Overnight Oats recipe (where’s the heart eyes emoji?!)

I’m back home visiting family for the weekend, and because they have NO food in the house (although there’s generally an abundance of farm fresh eggs and meyer lemons, I seriously feel like I’m foraging every time I come home! haha) I decided I needed to make a couple family sized meals so we could eat healthy meals together, and so they could have some leftovers for the start of the week. I made Fed & Fit (Cassy Joy Garcia’s) recipe for Taco Beef Casserole last night, which was a huge hit, and my own recipe for Blueberry Baked Overnight Oats for breakfast this morning. I have been loving oats this winter because they make my stomach feel settled and satisfied. They don’t always work for everyone (this recipe is not Paleo, or Keto, or Vegan, or Grain-Free), but I’m eating to feel good, and over the food fear!

There are lots of recipes out there for baked oats, but what is special about my recipe is that I used the traditional method of soaking the oats overnight to break down the phytic acid and make the oats more easily digestible. Soaking oats overnight makes them tender, which makes this recipe a bit chewy (al dente), soothing and warm, and kind of like a breakfast pudding. It can feed a family of 6 in one pan. You can tweak it to your liking. You can eat it plain, or with all the add-ons. You can have it fresh out of the oven, or make it on a Sunday and have breakfasts on-the-go for a week!

Blueberry Baked Overnight Oats:

Ingredients:

2 c. Gluten-Free Organic Rolled Oats

1 3/4 c. Water

1/4 c. Plain Kefir

A couple scoops of collagen (optional)

1 T. Ground Cinnamon

1 t. Baking Powder

1/2 t. Sea Salt

1/4 c. (or less) Raw Maple Syrup or Honey

1 t. Vanilla

2 Farm Fresh Eggs

3 T. Melted Butter

1 Pint Fresh Blueberries (or Berry of your choice!)

Instructions:

The night before, soak the oats in the water and kefir in a sealed glass dish.

In the morning, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F on the bake setting. Mix in the remaining ingredients with the soaked oats, and pour the mixture into a 9 x 5-inch buttered baking dish. Sprinkle cinnamon on the top, and bake for 35-45 minutes until set, but a little wobbly. Serve plain, or with your choice of toppings – milk or cream, toasted nuts, nut butter, maple syrup or honey, whipped cream….have fun with it!

Wishing you a restorative weekend, and a successful week ahead!

Love,

Mandie ❤

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Hungarian Cabbage Roll Soup

Ok, following through with my commitment to myself to write something once a week…..

Today is an unusual day for me. I took the day off from teaching back home in Newcastle because tonight I have a Gatsby themed ball at the studio I’ve been taking Ballroom Dance lessons at. I’ll be dancing Cha Cha, Salsa, Rhumba, Waltz, Tango, and Samba! A long list, and I don’t feel prepared, but I know I’ll have fun anyway!

I’m feeling much more intuitive about what to eat and how to move my body lately, and I love not putting a label on my diet. I eat real food. And dark chocolate. If there’s a birthday party or a special event with dessert, I’ll eat the dessert if I want it. More often than not, I’m finding that I don’t, because I like feeling good. I have 4 slices of Tartine Bakery’s Chocolate Soufflé’ Cake from my birthday that I haven’t touched, for goodness’ sake! I know the time will come when I’ll want a slice, and it will be there for me then. But it feels so good to crave whole foods in moderate portions, and not feel like food rules me.

Anyway, last week I was craving a soup inspired by my family’s Hungarian Cabbage Rolls. I love soups in the winter, and once a week I’ve been concocting soups and stews in my brand new, beautiful Staub. A nice big pot of soup gives me inexpensive dinners for a whole week. They’re soothing, and I like that I can be in control of what goes in them. This is what I came up with after a bit of tweaking, and I really enjoyed it!

Hungarian Cabbage Roll Soup

Ingredients:

A few tablespoons of Salted Butter (I used the little bit of TJ’s French Cultured Butter I had left, as well as some good ol’ Kerrygold!

A drizzle of EVOO

1 Organic Yellow Onion, chopped

Several cloves of Garlic (If you’re Italian like me, that means the whole head), minced

1 lb. Protein (I used TJ’s Grass-fed Ground Beef, but this would taste great with a combination of beef and pork, which is what my family uses in our Cabbage Roll recipe)

Smoked Paprika (I used TJ’s, because I forgot to bring back some for myself when I was in Budapest a couple summers ago *distressed cry* – but the Smoked stuff was super yummy)

Sea Salt and Pepper to taste (use your judgement)

1 large can of Organic Diced Tomatoes (I used TJ’s because I basically live there)

3 bags of TJ’s (again) Shredded Green Cabbage

About 1/4 c. Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar with The Mother

2 Cartons of Kettle and Fire Bone Broth (I used Chicken, because it’s what I had in the pantry, but next time I’ll use Beef)

You could also add white rice, which is something else we put in our Cabbage Rolls, but I omitted it this go around, because I generally have my grain in the form of Oats, or a Sweet Potato with breakfast. Personal Preference.

Toppings:

Raw Sauerkraut

Organic Sour Cream

MORE PAPRIKA, OF COURSE

To Make:

Sautée the Onions and Garlic in the Butter and EVOO (if you have people in the house, they’ll start asking what’s for dinner now). Add in your protein. Season with Paprika, Salt, and Pepper. Cook. Add in the Cabbage, Tomatoes, Rice (if using), and top it all with two cartons of Bone Broth and the ACV. Let it simmer covered for an hour and a half or so. Taste, and add more seasoning if needed.

Serve with a dollop of Organic Sour Cream, a spoonful of Raw Sauerkraut, and a dash of Paprika.

Simple, Soothing, and Yummy!

Enjoy!