Katrina-Safe Eating

Quick Apple Crisp

Free of dairy, eggs, soy, gluten, peanuts, and treenuts

It’s 7 p.m. on a Monday — you know what that means — it’s Bachelor Monday!

Alright, well maybe you aren’t a Bachelor fanatic (if you’re not, then honestly good for you), but either way, you know that feeling when you’re getting all set up to enjoy your show and want a fun snack to enjoy it with, but you don’t have enough time to bake a whole cake or even make a trip to the grocery store.

So what can you do?

Popcorn won’t cut it, this is an important episode. It requires an important snack. So here’s what you do: make a “Quick Apple Crisp.”

My Quick Apple Crisp only takes about 30 minutes total including prep and cook time, and its simple ingredients are all things you would have on hand, so no need to take a trip to the grocery store.

Ingredients:

Topping:

1/4 cup of oats
Tbs of brown sugar
1 tsp of cinnamon
Pinch of salt
2 Tbs of margarine (cut in)

Filling:

1 small apple
Handful of frozen or fresh raspberries (optional)
1 tbs of maple syrup
Sprinkle of pumpkin spice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Cut the apple into wedges and then slice horizontally
Mix topping and cut in the margarine
In a pot on medium-low, combine the apples, raspberries, maple syrup, and pumpkin spice. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Pour the apple mixture into an 8 oz ramekin
Top with the crumble
Bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven

The secret to making it a “quick” crisp, is that you pre-cook the apples, so that the juices come out before baking it with the crumble on top.

This recipe makes a single serving amount and fits inside of an 8 oz Ramekin. If you don’t have a small baking dish to cook it in, have no fear. You know that aluminum foil you have in your cupboard? Take out the foil and cover the inside of a small bowl with it. Pour your apple mixture and crumble in there, and then when it’s time to bake, take the foil out (make sure it keeps its bowl shape), and bake inside the foil.

You’ll have to transfer it back into the bowl after it’s done baking, which can get a little messy, but it still works just fine.

Make sure to top with vanilla ice cream to make your night extra special!

Protein, Coffee, and…Kale?

Don’t be discouraged by the name, this smoothie is GOOD! I give full credit to my sister, Jenna, who created this recipe to satisfy her extreme kale, protein, and coffee addiction. When she use to make these smoothies, I would look at her pour the greenish-brown liquid into a cup and cringe at the idea of drinking it.

Then I tried it myself.

I have to say, she was right; it actually is good. Not only does it taste good, but it is a great source of protein, vegetables, and caffeine on the go. Normally, I’m not a big fan of drinking my meals. I would much rather eat a plate of food then drink a smoothie, but my class schedule makes it difficult to fit in a full sit-down meal some days, so this has been my lifesaver to keep me satisfied throughout the day.

Alright, so here’s the deets:

What you’ll need:

Powerful blender
1 frozen banana
1-2 cups of brewed coffee
1/2 cup of frozen kale
1 scoop of protein powder
A splash of Unsweetened Flaxseed Milk + Protein (or substitute your milk of choice)
Sprinkle of unsweetened cocoa powder (or to add sweetness, use Nesquik chocolate powder)

Stick it all in the blender and blend on high until smooth.

Ways to modify:

Instead of using a vanilla milk substitute, you can use a chocolate flavored milk to bring out the mocha flavor. My favorite non-dairy chocolate milk is Ripple brand chocolate milk.
If you don’t like coffee or you don’t want caffeine, then you can just use water in your smoothie! It will have the same amount of calories. You can also replace the coffee with your dairy-free milk.
Frozen kale can be replaced by frozen spinach. I find that kale adds slightly less flavor than spinach does, but they are both mild.

Daily Morning Oatmeal

“Oh I love pigeons more than anything else…besides oatmeal.”
Bert (Sesame Street)

It figures that my first two posts are about oatmeal. I really love this stuff, just like Bert! I eat it every single morning because it is simple to make, it’s the perfect balance of carbohydrate and protein to start your day, and it tastes real good.

This is the simple, daily oatmeal recipe that I make every single morning. It isn’t a complex recipe at all, but there’s a few simple tricks that I have, which really help boost boring oatmeal up a few notches.

First, a few simple ingredients:

The brands don’t really matter, but I find that these are the cheapest all-natural brands of these ingredients. However, it’s all relative. I go to school in NYC, so what is “cheap” around me is skewed because everything here is expensive.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of Rolled or Quick Oats
1 cup of water (can be substituted with your milk substitute as well)
- A splash of Flaxseed Milk + protein (I have started only adding it in as a splash because I like the watered-down flavor with the added creaminess from the splash of milk.
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of chia seeds
Maple Syrup to taste
A handful of FROZEN raspberries and blueberries

Directions:

Stove top: Pour the water and milk into a medium saucepan on high, covered. Bring the liquid to a boil. Stir in the oats and reduce heat to medium-low. Let the mixture cook covered for about 3-5 min (rolled oats) or 1-3 min (quick oats). Once the oats have absorbed most of the liquid, stir in the maple syrup, cinnamon, and chia seeds. Pour into a bowl and top with frozen raspberries and blueberries.

Microwave: Pour the dry oats into a deep bowl (deep because the liquid can boil over if you aren’t careful!). Pour the water or milk over the oats. If these are rolled oats, I recommend letting them sit and soak up the liquid for 5-10 minutes before putting them in the microwave. Place the bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, or longer depending on your preference. Take it out and stir in maple syrup, cinnamon, chia seeds, and top with frozen raspberries and blueberries.

I highly recommend using frozen berries because the contrast between the warm oatmeal with the cold berries is the best part. Also, frozen fruit doesn’t go bad, so you can store bulk packages in your freezer for months and use them whenever you’re ready.

Feel free to use whatever frozen fruit you like. My favorites are raspberries and blueberries, but my best friend loves frozen mangoes and cherries in her’s. So get creative!

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

Free of: Dairy, peanuts, treenuts, soy, lemon, and gluten

Prep time: 15-20 min | Cook time: 25 min

I love oatmeal. I really, really do. Oatmeal is so wholesome, which makes it the perfect treat to start (or finish) your day. I actually eat oatmeal every single day for breakfast, and have been for about six years now! Sometimes though, my traditional oatmeal with berries could get a little, dare I say, boring.

When I want something a little more special, I make this recipe which I adapted from this Pecan Pie Baked Oatmeal recipe. This recipe works great for holiday breakfasts or a healthy dessert option at night! And it takes only a few minutes to whip up. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 cups of rolled oats (I like to use Quaker brand oats)
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of allspice
1/2 tsp of ginger
1/2 tsp of salt
1 Tbs of ground flaxseed
1 Tbs of brown sugar
1 cup of Flaxseed milk (any milk substitute will work, I am just partial to GoodKarma’s Unsweetend Flaxseed Milk + Protein)
1/2 cup (or slightly over) of pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
2 Tbs of coconut oil (melted)

For Topping:

3 Tbs of maple syrup
1 Tbs of coconut oil
1/2 cup of pumpkin seeds
1 Tbs of brown sugar
1 tsp of cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix together dry ingredients (oats, flaxseed, spices, brown sugar, and salt).
In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients (pumpkin, coconut oil, milk, and eggs).
Add the wet to the dry and mix until well combined. Pour into a ceramic baking dish (about 3 quarts or 9 inches in diameter).
Bake in oven at 375 for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, while the oatmeal is baking, prepare the topping:
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, and coconut oil.
- Once combined, mix in the pumpkin seeds.
- Cook the pumpkin seeds until the 10 minutes are up, and then pour topping over the oatmeal.
- Swirl in with a knife.
Bake for another 15 minutes (or until the pumpkin seeds are slightly crispy).

You can serve this hot, right out of the oven or chill it covered in the fridge as a cold oatmeal. If you are making this as a dessert, I recommend serving it hot and adding your favorite non-dairy vanilla ice cream as a topping.

Here is a list of some of the best non-dairy vanilla ice cream brands:

So-Delicious no sugar added coconut ice cream (the no sugar added is really the key, I like it so much better without sugar).
Rice Dream Vanilla ice cream (I grew up with this and have not been able to find it, but it was my absolute favorite brand of dairy free ice cream!)
O’My Dairy Free ice cream