Three Things Thursday

1. Strawberry Oatmeal with a Muffin on top

I have been seeing a lot of oatmeal variations where people crumble a muffin on top. I happened to have just made pumpkin muffins and decided it would be tasty to break on top of my morning oatmeal. However, I didn’t like it. It was like a soggy muffin. Won’t do that again. I realized that I like crunchy on top of oats.

The oatmeal was good and similar to this one.

2. Yog-aaah

Since my IT Band has been acting funny, I have been spending more time stretching and trying to focus on other muscles like quads, hamstrings, and hips. I went to a yoga class on Wednesday morning and it was one of the best classes I’ve done. There wasn’t one sun salutation or warrior pose, but I still broke a sweat and did some new stretch movements.

It was really great to change up a yoga class and still get a good workout. My muscles that I neglect say thanks.

3. The FrontBurner’s Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes

This dinner was made around mashed potatoes. First let me tell you about Emily, a.k.a. The FrontBurner. I found Emily’s blog over the summer when I was looking for a better way to make tofu (read the link, it’s the best method). Emily is a trained chef, vegetarian and marathoner. (read her blog for the story of why she had to postpone this year’s Marine Corps Marathon because she got hit by a car crossing the street.) Always take cooking lessons on vegetables and alternative protein from vegetarian chefs! You know it will taste good because they live off of it.

I love her writing style and the stories she tells, and then I met her in San Francisco at Foodbuzz Fest (below left, Anne is on the right). One of my food blogger favorite people to meet. If we lived in the same city, we would probably be friends in real life.

I learn so many tips from her like adding lemon juice to milk makes it taste like buttermilk when you don’t have any on hand.

Back to the mashed potatoes…in addition to centering the meal around mashed potatoes, I made stove grilled chicken and oven roasted green beans too.

Read here for the whole mashed potato recipe. I was excited to try it with the onions because Jeffrey loves onions for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, raw or cooked, and I love all things sweet. When onions caramelize, they become sweet and we both win.

Using a stand mixer to mix them was so easy and effortless. The mashed potatoes mixed down instantly and adding the onions was easy.

It was the boiling that took a really long time.