Homemade Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Warm and creamy oatmeal sweetened with maple syrup and brown sugar is a great winter time breakfast.

I've never been much of a breakfast eater.  I know it's the most important meal of the day but I rarely feel like eating before 10 or 11am.  

When I was growing up we always had plenty of cereal because everyone else in the family ate cereal every morning.  I like some cereals but not at 6 or 7 in the morning when you had to be up for school.  I also liked to sleep until the last minute so I didn't have time to eat before being hustled out the door.  My usual breakfasts consisted of granola bars or instant shakes that didn't require any prep and I could down in a rush.  

Weekends were a different story.  While my parents didn't let us sleep all day, we still got to sleep in a bit more.  My usual weekend breakfast was maple brown sugar instant oatmeal, occasionally with hot cocoa.  Both were easy just add hot water and I think my mom was happy I was eating so they were always on hand.

Now that I'm all grown up my weekly breakfasts are still granola bars but I like to make a more substantial breakfast on weekends when my husband and I can eat  together.  With it being winter something warm and creamy is always nice so I decided to make oatmeal from scratch.

Homemade Maple Brown Sugar Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled 5 grain cereal (or rolled oats)
2 1/2 cups milk
pinch of salt
1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar
1-2 Tbsp maple syrup

Combine rolled grains and milk in a large sauce pan, over medium high heat, with a pinch of salt.

Stir occasionally and allow to come to a boil.  Once boiling stir continually for about 10-15 minutes until thick and creamy to your liking. 

Remove from heat and add brown sugar and maple syrup to your liking and serve immediately.

Makes 2-4 servings

Enjoy.

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Homemade Bloody Mary Mix

A simple bloody mary mix made from tomato paste.

Bloody Marys make a great drink for 6 AM kickoff on gameday Saturdays.  However, the bottled mixes can be slightly expensive and you still have to tweak it to suit your tastes.  I decided to make my own.  I don't keep plain tomato juice in the house, but I always have tomato paste, so why not dilute it?  I absolutely love tomato paste.  It is so versatile, you can make tomato sauce with it, add it to soups and stews, and now I have found out you can make tomato juice with it.  I love that I can now, easily, make my own bloody mary mix using my favorite spices and hot sauce.

#Tomatopaste rocks | #Homemade #BloodyMary Mix  [Tweet this]

Homemade Bloody Mary Mix

Ingredients:

1 6oz can tomato paste
3 1/2-4 cups water
4 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chopped green onions or 1-2 Tbsp onion powder
1/4 cup hot sauce (I used Big Daddy's Ass Burn Sauce, use your favorite)
1 tsp celery salt
few shakes celery seed
1/2 cup cilantro (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth.  Use less water if you like a thicker bloody mary, use as much hot sauce as you like or leave it out altogether.  I used green onions and cilantro just because I had some that needed to be used.

Pour the blended mixture into a large saucepan and heat to a boil (if you are worried about chunks pour mixture through a wire mesh strainer to catch any larger chunks).  It doesn't need to boil long, just let it reach a boil then remove from heat.  This just helps take off the raw flavor from the garlic, onions, and cilantro.  If you use only dried spices you could probably skip this step.

Refrigerate at least over night to allow the flavors to meld.  Pour over vodka and garnish how ever you like.  You can rim the glass with celery salt, add a stick of celery, pickles or olives. I used a stick of bacon.

Drink, watch football, and enjoy.

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Holiday Gift Idea: Peppermint Patties

While making cookies for Christmas, I ran across a recipe for homemade peppermint patties. Since these are my mom's favorite candy I could not resist trying them, even though there is no baking involved. I followed the recipe exactly except for the chocolate. My store did not have enough baking dark chocolate, so instead I used chocolate chips, and added 2 Tbsp shortening. The recipe made 47 patties and I made 9 bags of 5 patties. Overall a great recipe just a little messy dipping in melted chocolate.

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