I have been waking up with a really heavy head for the past couple of days. I think it’s the heat. They are not turning on the air conditioning in the building until July. 
After using up some pumpkin in the soup yesterday, I had just enough for a bowl of oatmeal. Now this is exactly why I am hesitant to actually buy canned pumpkin. The one brand that I found is huge, and since I am the only one eating it, it lasts forever! At least it keeps well in the fridge…
So this is officially the last of it. I think I will lay off buying pumpkin for a while. 
Well, at least until I break down and buy more. LOL.
A little surprise… SUNFLOWER SEED SPREAD aka sunflower seed butter. A little sample of this was found at the bottom of my Yoga in Motion loot bag. I looove trying new nut and seed butters! This one tasted like… sunflower seeds! So cool!
This has got to be one of the better looking oatmeal bowls that I have put together.
- 1/2 Quaker oats
- 1 cup of hemp milk (this time it attempted to perform some kind of curdling action in the pot… I had to look away)
- 1/2 cup of canned pumpkin (stirred in at the end)
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1 tsp of brown sugar
- 1/2 banana sliced (the other half was also devoured of course, can’t just leave food lying around)
- pecans (this may be my favourite kind of nut)
- sunflower seed butter
This may sound like a lot of ingredients, but I find that once I have everything in my pantry, I don’t really care. It doesn’t take much time to add a splash of vanilla extract in to the mix, for example. However, the taste becomes that much more sophisticated.
Fun in the sun: oatmeal + french vanilla flavoured coffee with chocolate soy milk + watermelon = perfect fullness.
Off to mark. And mark. And mark. And mark some more. Last push of the semester.
Julia
May 5, 2010 at 1:25 pm
Most likely you won’t do it, but one of the best ways to utilize pumpkin pure is in… bread. I made the most tastiest bread a couple of months ago. It was vegan as most breads are. Pumpkin, garlic and chili bread – mmm… that was absolute heaven!
Kate
May 5, 2010 at 1:31 pm
weeeeellll…. maybe.
any fancy equipment required?
I can definitely see an issue with baking really tasty bread. Essentially the same issue I see with baking really tasty cookies. I would eat it. ALL of it. LOL
Julia
May 5, 2010 at 1:56 pm
I use my fancy-shmancy KitchenAid mixer to knead the dough because I am lazy, but a lot of people swear by theuraputic (how the hell do you spell this word?) power of kneading the dough by hand; it takes about 15-20 minutes to knead. Other than that, it’s pretty easy. If you are interested, then wait a little and I’ll make it again and post the recipe (cos the recipe I used as a guidline wouldn’t really work for you since the the proportions of liquid to flour do not work for canadian ingredients).
Julia
May 5, 2010 at 1:57 pm
PS. I feel like I am your groupie
Kate
May 5, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Oh god, that already sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
Maybe you can do an in person workshop. We’d post the results. 
speaking of fancy – is there a particular mid-priced food processor you’d recommend? I know there is a cult following for a Vitamix (blender), but don’t know if there is a similar holy grail food processor?
Kate
May 5, 2010 at 2:03 pm
A groupie with a snazzy haircut and killer heels. I’m flattered!
Julia
May 5, 2010 at 2:31 pm
I do not own a food processor
And since I really want one, I decided it’s better not to research them to avoid temptations.
Hmmm… a master-class type of demonstration you say… sounds fun
I’ll try to figure out when my place is clean enough and invite you 
Kate
May 6, 2010 at 6:43 pm
that would be fantastic!!! so why are you avoiding temptation? Are they that expensive? I know those dough mixers are. and don’t even get me started on the Vitamix…
Julia
May 10, 2010 at 5:07 pm
Because I have absolutely NO space neither in the kitchen nor anywhere in my apartment for another appliance
It’s horrible. I got a waffle maker a few months ago and used up the little free space on top of my fridge that I had left.
Also, thank you for the inspiration to try pumpkin oatmeal
http://www.imagelicious.com/blog/post/Pumpkin-Pie-Bruleed-Oatmeal
Kate
May 11, 2010 at 4:11 am
I now know why you don’t have any space for food processor. It’s because you have things like brulee torch.
Do you use a waffle maker a lot? I bought it once, but ended up returning it because I realized that I didn’t want an appliance that I only use for one dish…
Julia
May 11, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Oh no! It’s not just for one dish
You can waffle a lot of things, not just waffles. Recently I waffled some french toast. I am planning on waffling cheese sandwiches and eggs. Check out this site: http://www.waffleizer.com/
I made waffles only twice though, but I am not regretting the decision of bying it.
(and torch only takes very little space
)
Lionel Baeskens
May 11, 2010 at 5:37 pm
I love the entry. It looks yummy. Kudos!I appreciate it!
Kate
May 11, 2010 at 7:31 pm
thanks for your comment, Lionel. the recipes on your site sound really yummy as well. how did you come across my blog?
Kate
May 11, 2010 at 7:33 pm
Oh man “waffle” as a verb. Love it. I dare you to waffle soup though.
Julia
May 11, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Yep, I had fun using it as a verb… but wait… how about this – “waffleization”? Huh? My boyfriend kept saying that it’s not a word, but I responded that I could use it in a sentence. Listen – “The waffleization of french toasts was great success”
As for soup… I think I won’t be able to waffleize (haha) the soup.
Kate
May 12, 2010 at 3:01 am
i’m thinking that the noun should really be “waffleage”. i like the ring better.
p.s. i seriously cannot believe that we are having this conversation…
Julia
May 12, 2010 at 1:47 pm
ooh, I like “waffleage”. I am going to use it to annoy Alan
Kate
May 12, 2010 at 3:43 pm
definitely an unintended side effect of the blog, but I’ll take it.
Ivan Ringus
May 22, 2010 at 3:50 am
Hello,this is Ivan Ringus,just found your Blog on google and i must say this blog is great.may I quote some of the Post found in your web site to my local buddies?i am not sure and what you think?anyway,Thank you!
Kate
May 27, 2010 at 1:37 pm
definitely!
thanks, Ivan.