Fresh Strawberry Oatmeal

As an avid runner, oatmeal is more than just a delicious and nutritious breakfast food. It's a training tool. When I am running high mileage weeks, eating becomes less of a pleasure and more of a science. What to eat, how much to eat and, most of all, when to eat. Life can be a delicate balance when you are pushing yourself to exhaustion on the roads, but want to avoid sugar headaches and chemical-laden 'energy bars'.

Usually, my breakfasts consist of sauteed vegetables and an egg with some fruit. It's delicious, filling and good for me. But this week, I really amped up the mileage. A couple of days in, and I could tell my normal nutrition just wasn't cutting it. I needed more carbs. I was craving them. So after a particularly beautiful morning run, I went back to the breakfast drawing board.

Check out that sky, and that beautiful running friend!

I have to admit. I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to oatmeal. I don't believe in making it savory, and I don't mix up my recipe. My oatmeal, developed by watching my grandfather for years, is made with milk. I add almonds and raisins and a little honey. It's delicious, and perfect. But, it's also a little heavy. A little too heavy for my delicate after-run stomach.

So instead of my normal recipe, today I grabbed a pint of strawberries and used the microwave. The result was amazing. If you like oatmeal at all, you have to try it. You do. Come now, it only takes 5 minutes.

I keep thinking of variations. Maybe apple/cinnamon oatmeal? Pear and cardamom? What about adding orange zest? Let me know what you try!


Fresh Strawberry Oatmeal
Serves 1

What You'll Need:
1 small bowl, or large coffee mug
A microwave

Ingredients:
1/3 cup oats (may use instant, I didn't)
3-4 fresh strawberries, diced finely
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp honey (optional)
1/2 cup milk

What You'll Do:
In your small bowl or mug, fill the bottom with sliced strawberries. Over the top of fruit, sprinkle spices and honey. Add in oats over the top of strawberries, and pour in milk. You want to make sure there is enough milk added to cover the top of the oatmeal. At this point,there is no need to stir your mixture.

Place your cup in the microwave. Cook on high for 3-5 minutes. Watch carefully. As your oatmeal cooks, the strawberry goodness will rise up and bubble out. Don't let it overflow, it can be a disaster to clean off the bottom of your microwave. Remove from the microwave and stir. You may need to cook an additional minute or two after the initial bubbling.

Wait for oatmeal to cool slightly and add another tablespoon or so of cold milk. Stir well and enjoy!

Apple Crumble

The time has come for warm deserts slathered in vanilla ice cream (vanilla bean please!). The best warm desserts I know of are pies, but I am not much of a pie person (cherry pie, yuck!).

Baked apples though ... those speak to me. Oh geez. They don't just speak, sometimes they raise their voices in a mightily building crescendo. Each tender apple slice melding its voice together with that of the nearby cinnamon, brown sugar and butter. Each piece simple, but adding to the glorious music of dessert. Wow. I mean, wow. Baked apples. That's the way to go.

This crumble was inspired by a wonderful Plum Crumble recipe in the GI High-Energy Cookbook. I changed a few things, and baked the whole thing in a 9x9 brownie pan. How delicious!

Apple Crumble
serves 4

What you will need:
A 9x9 baking dish (I used a glass Pyrex dish, this probably affected my baking time. Remember to keep an eye on your dishes as they bake)
1 medium mixing bowl

Ingredients:
6-8 small Macintosh apples (or any other type of baking apple)
3 tbsp light brown sugar
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (may use all purpose)
1/4 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp butter, room temperature
3 tbsp additional light brown sugar
2/3 cup rolled oats (not instant)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 c water

Instructions:
Peel and core apples. Then cut into chunks and place in bottom of baking dish. Sprinkle 1/2 the water over the top of apples, and mix in brown sugar. Mix until brown sugar is evenly distributed.

In separate mixing bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Using your hands, mix together the flour and butter. The mixture should eventually become very crumbly, almost like breadcrumbs. At this point mix in the brown sugar, oats and spices. Add water sparingly and mix with a fork to create larger clumps.

Spoon crumble mixture over the top of apples. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Serve warm with ice cream.