Cherry Baked Oatmeal

Did you miss me? I'm sorry I skipped several days of blogging, but I have a confession to make: this is going to be kind of a new norm.  I never want to be that blogger who fades out and you never know what happened to them. But my posts are going to be spaced a bit farther apart. My goal is to post once a week. 

Why?

Blogging has kind of gone from being a huge passion to a huge chore.

Why?

I love the concept of blogging, don't get me wrong, I love all of you and getting creative with what I post and all that jazz. But here's the thing: I do EVERYTHING-- taking photos, editing them, and writing the posts all on a Kindle Fire. And said Kindle only has a front facing camera. Yeah. It's been tough and at this point, I don't have the extra money to invest in a quality camera.

So things will be almost normal around here. I'll just be posting less often.

So anyway, here's a recipe for A single serve oatmeal, using the most beautiful, fflavorful fruit in the world.

Cherry Baked Oatmeal

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 tsp. Baking powder

1/3 cup milk

1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

1 banana, mashed

12 cherries, pitted and chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350°Fahrenheit. Grease a single serving ramkin.

2. In a small bowl, combine the oats and baking powder. Stir in milk, vanilla, and banana.

3. Fold in cherries. If you'd like, save some and place them on to of the oat mixture after pouring the batter into the ramkin.

4. Bake for about 28-30 minutes, or until center no longer is very wet.

Enjoy!

<3 Danielle

How to be Gluten Free Naturally

With so many people being gluten free these days, companies are beginning to catch on and create g.f. packaged foods, full of junk that does not belong in the human body.

Now I'm not vegan, paleo, or anything like that, I'm just gluten free and mostly dairy free, but I still believe it is important to feed our bodies whole, real foods. It might be easier to pick up a package of granola bars off the shelf of the grocery store, but in the long run? Your body will thank you for choosing an apple and peanut butter, or something like that instead.

So below, I'm going to list some gluten free foods that are just naturally g.f. please note that I am not a doctor or certified nutritionist, and I'm not recommending that anyone go gluten free. This is for the many people who are gluten free, but would like to remove packaged foods from their diet.

Milk.                    
Yoghurt

Cheese

Butter

Fruit

Vegetables

Rice

Potatoes

Corn

Quinoa

Certified G.F. Oats

Eggs

Chicken

Beef

Pork

Lamb

Salmon

Tilapia

Codfish

Shellfish

Catfish

Vinegar

Coconut oil

Olive oil

Honey

Agave

Maple syrup

Cocoa powder

Nut butters

Nuts

Coffee

Tea

Please note also that you should always double check each item listed here to see if it really is g.f. because sometimes there can be a glutenful product in a place you least expect it.

Hope this has helped you! This is not EVERYTHING that's g.f., So be sure to explore your options around you!

<3 Danielle

Simple Thai Spaghetti Squash

Suddenly, it's freezing out. The grass and garden are dying. Leaves are changing colours, I've traded my tank tops for sweaters. Ugh.

The good news is that I have a whole bunch of winter squash to use up! 

Between the pumpkins, butternut squash and spaghetti squash from my garden, I'm set for the winter!

Spaghetti squash is the star of this dish. It gives the illusion of pasta, with a slight crunchier texture and a more earthy taste. I showed you how to cook these bundles of perfection in this post.

The chicken packs the protein. its what will keep you full until your next meal. The green beans add color, flavor, and nutrients. The ones pictured above were actually home grown! Then comes the sauce, contributing a Thai-like flavor that comes from soy sauce, garlic, and of course I couldn't leave out peanut butter!

I also recommend sprinkling crushed red pepper flakes over the top, of you want to give it a little kick!

Simple Thai Spaghetti Squash
1 spaghetti squash
1 cup chopped chicken, cooked
about 20 green beans, cleaned
2 tbsp. peanut butter
2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp. rice vinegar (can substitute water)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
crushed red pepper flakes to top (optional)

1. Cook and remove flesh from spaghetti squash with a fork.
2. Steam green beans in a sauce pan with 1 inch of water until soft (about 15 minutes)
3. In a small cup or bowl mix peanut butter with vinegar until smooth. Add in the soy sauce a little at a time, stirring constantly to keep a smooth texture. Finally, stir in the garlic powder.
4. Toss together the chicken, squash, green beans and sauce, and red pepper flakes if using.
5. enjoy your meal!

Hope you al like it!
<3 Danielle

Links to Make You Smile

Hello everyone!
Sorry I never posted yesterday! I caught a bug and slept in,  and then I was feeling too gross  and tired all day to be creative enough to write a post. So basically I needed something to cheer me up. Sometimes the best medicine in the world is a smile or laugh, of  course accompanied by a huge mug of tea.
So here I'm going to share some links to thing that make me happy. Hopefully they'll make your day, too.

Happily Ever Eloped by That is What She Read

These gorgeous pictures from World of Wanderlust

This confetti eyeliner from the beauty department

Have you ever seen any of these Honest Trailers? They're pretty funny... and accurate!

How about this prank from The Ellen Show?

Well if I made you smile at all, comment below which link tickled your funny bone!
<3 Danielle

Mango Sorbet

This is summer in a bowl. I mean really this and summer have so much in common:

They are bright and cheery

They make me happy

They are both things I always look forward to

They make you forget your worries and cares

They go by really fast. 

And I mean fast. One bite of this and I started shoveling it in my face as fast as my spoon could travel. It's so silky and sweet, and its only one ingredient. One. Just one. Yeah.

I am always skeptical of recipes advertised as one ingredient, because a lot of the time it's some kind of processed packaged product.
But not this. This is about as fresh as you can get! And even fresher if you have access to mango trees (if this is the case, I'm so jealous)!

Mango Sorbet
1 mango

1. Peel and cube the mango. Find out how to cut a mango like a pro here.
2. Freeze the cubes until solid.
3. Process until smooth in a food processor. Enjoy immediately.

I hope you love it as much as I do!

<3 Danielle

Spiced Butternut Squash Soup

Oh boy, do I have butternut squash on my hands. As someone who rarely uses squash, I really didn't know what to do with it. The only logical thing I could think of was soup.

Butternut squash has kinda a sweet flavour, so the next step was to decide what to pair it with. Should I play off the sweet and add cinnamon and cloves, or add onions and garlic for contrast?

The latter won. And I'm glad it did. This soup had a flavour profile that blew me away-- curry, garlic, carrots, onions, sriracha, and (wait for it........) peanut butter!

I'm sorry, guys... I just couldn't resist adding a tablespoon. It's totally optional; add it if you like love adore fantasize over peanut butter. And before you add it in, let me warn you: that little bit adds quite a punch!

Spiced Butternut Squash Soup

3 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1 medium white onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 tbsp sriracha sauce

1 tbsp peanut butter (optional) 

1 tbsp. Curry powder

1/4 cup basil leavers (fresh)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 cups milk (I used dairy milk, 2%)

1. In a large soup pot, steam all ingredients except for the milk in the broth until soft (about 30 minutes). Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes on low, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
3. Blend in batches with milk. Make sure each batch is blended with milk, for example, it took me 4 batches, divided into 1/2 cups of milk.
4. Return to pot and bring back up to temperature. If it seems too thick for you, add some more broth.

Enjoy it! I know I did!

Life in Pictures: Wisconsin

Welcome to my very first Life in Pictures Link Up!

Last week, I was invited by Linda to join the Life In Pictures Link Up. Basically, it's a bunch of pictures from your day or week with as little text as possible. Click on the graphic below to access the link up! 

I normally don't do much of anything super interesting on a daily, so I thought I would show you all some pictures of my vacation I took in Wisconsin last week! Can you all guess where in Wisconsin I was?

Well that's it! I hope you enjoyed the pictures! This is my first link up ever, so sorry, Linda if I did it wrong, and thank you all for reading looking! Comment below what you think!
<3 Danielle