A Healthy Start

Off an on during the day yesterday, I kept poking through bread and muffin recipes, looking for one that would jump out at me as something yummy, but healthy, that I could work into my breakfast routine. I kept thinking of cranberry orange muffins.

But just as I started to pull out my ingredients and muffin pans, I got to thinking...rarely is one muffin an adequate breakfast for me. Plus, muffins are more like a treat - especially loaded with fruits, nuts and whatever sweetener I opt for. There's usually some sort of fat added, for I'm not a fan of rubbery "non-fat" muffins, and as hard as I try, I can't just eat one, or I eat just one, then make myself a second breakfast of sorts. So, as I tried to set of on the right foot for 2010, I came across this recipe on Allrecipes:

Cranberry Orange Spiced Oatmeal

I was really looking for something to use up that bag of fresh cranberries I had thawed, but alas, this holiday season I do have lots of dried cranberries in stock, so this worked for me. I also still have some frozen blueberries from our picking adventure last summer, so I put some of those to good use!

First, we tossed all the ingredients into a microwave safe bowl...

Old-fashioned oats, cranberries, blueberries, cinnamon, ground ginger, turmeric (which I halved), water and orange juice...I tossed in a few grates of orange zest as I was using a fresh orange for the juice.

Then I read the recipe...you're supposed to add the orange juice after cooking. Oh well. Good thing "Following Directions" has never made my New year's Resolution List! No worries, though, it came out fine - just needed to nuke it for 3 1/2 minutes or so, instead of two.

And here's my breakfast!

Quite good! I did need to add just a little drizzle of honey. The turmeric was not as troubling as I expected, maybe since I used half the amount in the recipe it's sort of a subtle background flavor that you can't quite put your finger on. All in all, a very good recipe, and fast! It makes one BIG serving, too. Some chopped apples would be a nice addition, and I think I might experiment with a slow-cooker steel cut oatmeal version of this.

Cranberry-Orange Spiced Oatmeal from Leah H at Allrecipes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric (optional)
• 1 pinch ground ginger (optional)
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup orange juice, or as needed

Directions

1. Place the rolled oats, cinnamon, cranberries, and blueberries in a microwave safe bowl. Add the turmeric and ginger, if desired. Pour in the water, and stir to mix ingredients. Cook on High until water is absorbed, about 2 minutes. Stir in orange juice to desired consistency.

And, enjoy a nice hot hearty healthy breakfast!