granola, oatmeal, this and that

After not being able to find oatmeal and having to buy some granola, I found a different brand of granola, this one only had a few ingredients in it, looking forward to tasting this one.

I notice that some brands of granola ingredients seem like the fruit is freeze dried?!  not really into this texture.

Hopefully this one will be different.
 

A couple of days later, I found oatmeal!

At my favorite market, I happened to go when the store opened and was able to get one of the three bags on the shelf!
 

Saturday, our first meal out was hotcakes at Civitas!

It was nice to have their hotcakes with ham, salad and fruits.

Our timing was nice because it was just before lunch time, also the shop monitored how many were seated to prevent crowding and after diners had finished, they wiped down the table and chairs with alcohol santizer.

(One thing I would do the next time we eat out would be to keep my mask on when ordering and keep it on until after we receive our food, taking the mask off just before eating only).

And then we got on the train for the first time in months and went to Okachimachi to shop at Takeya.

(While I was looking at the website of the company that makes the oatmeal I like to buy, I noticed that they also made this dark chocolate granola which I found at Takeya...they also made the granola that I bought the other week).

Looking forward to trying this one as well.

It's peach season!

This variety is called hanayome (literally flower bride)

This was a little green but very floral, the peel came off easily and was very juicy.

I found this beet at the store and it was huge!

I roasted it with this very unripe avocado...hoping both will be delicious.

The avocado turned out to be spongy after roasting, meh! but at least we didn’t waste it.

Have a good week!

shortage

While the U.S. has been having shortages of flour and yeast during this pandemic, Japan's latest shortage is oatmeal. 

I guess because it is versatile and can be used to make granola, eaten as "oatmeal", used in cookies... 

Since we were running low on granola, and after hearing the news of the shortage, I thought I would be able to get a bag of oatmeal at my local market.

I usually make my own granola because I like to control the sweetness and what ingredients are put into it.

Nowadays, whenever I make this granola recipe, I only put in cacao nibs, nuts and seeds. 

Unfortunately, when I went to the market, the shelf was empty.  

Luckily though, I was able to find some granola.

Hopefully this shortage won't last too long.

On another note, wish me luck, I'm going to see if I can get my hair colored today...

nangokudo

I've seen these guys, usually at Tokyu Hands.

I'm not really one to sample things before buying, but the lady selling these kept putting different dried fruits into my hand...

I like that the dried fruits I purchased are "made in Japan"...Aomori apple, Setouchi lemon & orange.

Usually whenever I see dried orange, they are hard.as.rock. but these were really soft.

I chopped up some to top our oatmeal this morning.

It was delicious and a nice way to brighten up a grey morning.

How's your week going?

oatmeal chocolate chip bars

From a post that K of Never Turn Down A Cupcake had on her blog, it lead me to Cookies and Cups.

Which lead me to her recipe for Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars.

These were easy to put together.

Salty Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bars from "Cookies and Cups"
makes 24 bars

Ingredients
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 cups flour
2 3/4 cups of old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

How to Make
Preheat oven to 350°.
Line 9x13 baking dish with foil and spray lightly, set aside.
In bowl of stand mixer combine oil, brown sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth.
Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Add in oats and mix until evenly combined.
Stir in chocolate chips and coconut (if desired)
Bake for 20 minutes until just set.
Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

NOTES: I cut this recipe in half and left out the salt. Next time I'll add some nuts too. Chewy and soft, they are the perfect snack.

refrigerator oatmeal

I've been seeing this on the web lately and had to give it a try, I adapted this recipe.

Here's what I did:

Refrigerator Oatmeal : 1 serving adapted from "The Yummy Life"

1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/3 cup chocolate coconut milk
1/4 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon ground flax seed

Topping: 1 apple banana, sliced

NOTES: I used this brand of "milk", it is really good, or as the label says "so delicious".

Since the milk was already sweetened, I didn't add any honey or any other sweetener to my oatmeal.

I didn't have rolled oats and just used old fashioned oats.

For winter months, warm/hot oatmeal is nice, but for summer this version is good!

I'm making this again using this Almond Coconut milk (which a reader, Marisa, told me was good)...you know it's gonna be just as good!

ideas

Got this idea from Pinterest, but I ran into a couple of problems...

My bell pepper was too small and my eggs too big...

I flipped them over to make the eggs, over easy.

Still this was good with a toasted bagel.

Another idea I got from Pinterest, was for oatmeal.

I tried the peanut butter and jelly version...my peanut butter is the natural type so it isn't sweet and the jelly I used was my favorite, guava, the combo was kinda funky...I think I may stick to my original way, just adding dried fruits.

making my own sunshine

The weather on Saturday was awful. Rained all day, sometimes in sheets even.

Satoshi had to go to class, so we had a quick lunch at Mickey D's.

Then he went off to class and I stopped into buy some groceries then stayed indoors for the rest of the afternoon.

I've been wanting to make cookies, but most times need to cut the recipe into half or fourths because a)I don't have a large oven and b)I don't need THAT many cookies lying around.

I tried this recipe and cut it into fourths.

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies adapted from Food.com
makes 10 to 12 cookies (depending on your scoop)

56 grams butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/8 cup white sugar
1/2 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/8 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup oatmeal
1 handful dried cherries
1 handful 60% Ghiradelli chocolate chips
1 handful pecans, chopped

Cream the butter and sugar until smooth.
Add the egg, vanilla and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.
Spoon onto parchment paper.
Bake at 325F (170C) for 13 minutes (I baked them for 18 minutes)
When done, let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to rack.

NOTES: these were good! just amount of chewiness. I ended up with 12 cookies. I'd make these again and it was nice way to brighten up a gloomy day.

things I'm liking (for breakfast)

What are you enjoying for breakfast?

I hope you do eat breakfast, did you know that until Satoshi and I started dating, he didn't?!

Now, he says, "he can't live without it" (breakfast).

Anyway, it has been awhile for a "things I'm liking post", so I thought I'd share with you some things that I'm liking for breakfast.

I first heard about Pon juice from Martin's blog.

This is one of the first "local" orange/citrus juices that is a juice made from 100% mikan (tangerine)grown in Japan.

Most others add grape juice or other fruits to come up with the 100%, leaving you with only a smidge of orange in there.

On the container they are called "pom" but the katakana reads "pon".

It is a little pricey, but worth every "penny", especially since they don't use a lot of preservatives or colorings. I think the label only lists 2 ingredients, the mikan juice and a preservative.

We'll be drinking this often.

It is strawberry season here.

The other day, while I was at the market, these caught my eye.

Hinoshizuku are grown in Kumamoto and are really sweet.

I debated whether to get them because they were quite expensive, 599 yen (about US$5.99) a container, but I'm glad I did. In the container there were 2 layers, total about 35 or so berries.

They are sweet and delicious, perfect for our mornings.

Nisshoku's quick oats. On their site it says that they are the first company to bring oatmeal and cereal to Japan in 1929.

Everything grown in Hokkaido and don't you just love the can?

I bought the quick oats at Seijo Ishii but noticed on their site that they have a rolled oats, which I'm interested in trying. I hope I can find them somewhere.

In the meantime, I have Bob's Red Mill Thick Oats in the container, which I brought back from one of my trips to Hawaii.

I recently found these kiwi, I've mostly seen the ones from New Zealand but these from Shikoku (Ehime) caught my eye...198 yen (about US$1.98) for 5.

They were a little tart and a bit on the unripened side but were great with plain yogurt and homemade granola made with pecans, pistachios and dried cherries.

Is there something you are enjoying for breakfast?

caramelized onions

After reading Tea's post on caramelized onions, I had to try it for myself since I had never caramelized onions before. (You should know that most adventures in my kitchen are "first times" for me.)

The "new" or spring onions are in season now, these onions are tender and sweet, great for roasting...great for caramelizing.

Tea suggests a heavy pan but I didn't have one, only a non-stick one.

I sliced 2 onions and used a tablespoon of olive oil. And then I let it cook down. I added a total of 4 tablespoons of oil and 30 minutes later....

I got this...sweet caramelized onions.

So what to do with them?...

You could try making the "Goat Cheese, Caramelized Onions and Arugula Pizza" by Ellie Krieger. I did it with feta and flour tortillas, but it was still delicious.

You could make Shepard's Pie. I actually saw Su-Lin's photo and wanted to make some. I added some caramelized onions to fresh peas and carrots and bell pepper, some ground beef seasoned with garlic and a little onion then topped it with the mashed potato. I cooked the peas, and the carrots and bell pepper I "heated" up with the water from boiling the potatoes. The mashed potato, I added some plain yogurt and a little skim milk. Then I baked it. I liked this but want to try her version with a tomato based sauce.

You could try Tea's recipe for curried oatmeal. I have to tell you a little story...When Satoshi and I were first married, I would make his breakfast then go off to work. (I would usually make a bowl of oatmeal and he would eat it when he awoke.)

One day, when we were eating breakfast together, I noticed that he put furikake onto his oatmeal. At first I thought...ewww. I guess because I grew up with oatmeal being a sweet dish rather than savory. He said the consistency was more like o-kayu (rice gruel), which is why he would add furikake.

I didn't have the madras curry powder that Tea used, so I used the curry powder that I had. Her recipe is for one, but I made half the recipe and split it between Satoshi and I.

Satoshi liked it. He said it wasn't "oatmeal-like", though he wished it could have been spicier. Maybe he'll eat more oatmeal if I cook it this way. I liked it and served it with some sausage for breakfast.

What do you use caramelized onions for?

p.s. Happy Easter!

tartlette's oatmeal lavender squares

Butter is still non-existent. It pops up here and there, but it isn't around for very long...sigh.

Since I don't have butter "stashed" like a lot of people I've seen on the news, I've been trying different recipes that don't require it.

Can you believe that a Japanese housewife on the news had 7 boxes of butter in her fridge, which she bought "just because" there was a shortage and "may" need some, didn't bother to put them in the freezer, and threw them out because they all went past the expiry date?? Talk about waste and selfishness! makes me sick to hear these stories.

Anyway, since I don't have a stash, I was excited to try Tartlette's recipe for oatmeal lavender squares the other day. The image I had was kind of like those pre-made granola bars.

However, when I mixed all the ingredients together, it was really wet. Not stiff or dry like it sounded in Tartlette's post.

So, I ended up baking them a L-O-N-G time...maybe a bit too long.

I love the flavor though and lots to chew too--work on those jaw muscles!

NOTES:I used muesli instead of oats. I think my honey was a bit more runny than normal, which probably caused things to be more runny than it should have been.

I am definitely trying this one again.