Strawberry Almond Oatmeal

Hot and healthy oatmeal and strawberries.

So, Beaver, it's time for my yearly physical!  I really enjoyed meeting our new doctor and felt encouraged and motivated about my health after our visit. However this year my blood work didn't come out so great. B12 deficiency (requires a monthly shot) and high glucose, which caused the girl who called to inform me of this news to remark that I should "watch my diet." As you know, I don't eat sweets, I watch my sodium intake, I prefer whole grains and brown rice to anything white, I don't fry things, and well, just everything I do is all about good nutrition. I blame the wine! I guess now I really do have to save my favorite cooking-and-eating friend (besides you of course) for very special occasions only.

High glucose is dangerous because it can lead to diabetes, and while it's doing that it can permanently damage your heart and circulatory system. In medical terms I am officially prediabetes, about which the Mayo Clinic says this: "Progression from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes isn't inevitable. With healthy lifestyle changes — such as eating healthy foods, including physical activity in your daily routine and maintaining a healthy weight — you may be able to bring your blood sugar level back to normal."

With this in mind I went through the American Diabetes Association website in search of recipes and diet recommendations. Boy do they love oatmeal! Me, not so much. But it's not just a good choice for a low fat-low calorie-low sugar breakfast, it is in fact a magical food that gets in your body and does good things. They go so far as to call it a Superfood. So I really do have to find a way to gag it down. This recipe, based on one from the ADA, makes eating oatmeal somewhat tolerable for me.

This oatmeal's got all the right stuff.

Strawberry Almond Oatmeal

Ingredients

1 pkg unflavored instant oatmeal, or make it from scratch, whatever

4 strawberries, sliced

1 tablespoon raspberry all-fruit spread

1 tablespoon slivered almonds

Procedure

1. Prepare the oatmeal as directed. 

2. In a small bowl mix the sliced strawberries with the fruit spread.  Place in microwave for 20 seconds to warm and "melt" the spread a bit. 

3. Spoon strawberries over the oatmeal and sprinkle the almonds on top. 

Chicken Fannie Biryani

Chicken Fanny Biryani

So Beaver, do you remember the awesome Curried Rice recipe we used to make a lot back in the 80s?  We got it out of our favorite cookbook of all time (well, that is, until you became smitten with the Hairy Bikers):  The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.  I was reluctant to part with The FF Cookbook when you left to go work in another state, but since it was falling apart I figured meh, you can have it, I'll get a new one. ANYWAY, the other day I was poking around the web trying to figure out what to do with a package of chicken thighs I had in the refrigerator when I came across a recipe from the BBC GoodFood website for Chicken Biryani Pilau.  It looked delicious and I will definitely make it sometime, but alas I didn't have any peas.  But it got me to thinking about our awesome curried rice recipe and boom!  I did that weird thing where two vague notions collide in my head and without actually forming a thought I move to the next step.   In this case I moved to the kitchen, knowing that it would all work out in the end.  If you were here I would have said, "Trust me."  And guess what?  It did work!  So here's the recipe.

Chicken Fannie Biryani

Ingredients

2 tablespoons canola oil

6 -8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 large onion, roughly chopped

2 cups chicken broth or bouillon

1 cup long grain rice

2 teaspoons curry powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup raisins

Roughly chopped onion should have lots of irregularly shaped bits.

Procedure

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, heavy bottom frying pan.  When ready add the chicken and saute, turning frequently to make sure the pieces don't stick, until cooked on the outside, about 8 - 10 minutes.  Remove from the pan with tongs and arrange in a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish.

2.   Add the onion to the frying pan and saute until the onion softens, about 5 minutes.  Make sure to stir and scrape the pan to get any little brown bits mixed in.

Scrape up those brown bits as you saute.

3.  Add the chicken broth, curry powder, and salt and bring to a simmer.

4.  Stir in the rice and raisins and cook one minute more.

5.  Pour mixture into the casserole, over and around the chicken thighs.  Use tongs to arrange the chicken so it is immersed in the rice and liquid.

Hot, hot and hot:  Chicken Fanny Biryani casserole is ready to bake.

6.  Cover and bake 50 - 60 minutes.  If you hear it bubbling it's ready.

Serves 4 - 6

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