Cherry Bakewell Baked Oatmeal Squares

So remember yesterday when I posted about how I made some delicious baked oatmeal over the weekend?  Well I thought I'd share the recipe in case you feel like giving it a go yourself.  I'm not original enough to have come up with this, so full credit goes to Jessica at How Sweet It Is.

Cherry Bakewell Baked Oatmeal Squares

[adapted from How Sweet It Is]

serves 4-6

2 cups old fashioned oats

1/3 cup loosely packed coconut sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 large egg

1 & 1/4 cup non-dairy milk

2 teaspoons almond extract

3 tablespoons non-dairy margarine, melted

1 medium ripe banana, mashed

1/4 cup dried sour cherries

2 tbsp Linwoods Cocoa and Berries ground flaxseed

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and grease a baking dish.

In a large bowl, mix the oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and flaxseed.

Measure out the milk and whisk in the egg and almond extract. 

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry oat mixture. 

Mix in mashed banana, melted butter and dried cherries.

Pour the mix into a baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the top is set. 

Remove and let cool for 5 minutes before serving. 

Top with fruit, bananas, milk or simply enjoy plain.

Weekend Things

This weekend I:

Watched almost an entire series of House.  True story.  I obviously don't have much of a life.

Went food shopping.  Twice!  Clearly once just isn't enough in our household.   

Tried on about a hundred different pairs of trousers, of which exactly zero pairs actually fit.  What a complete waste of time.  Although I'm sure all the dressing and undressing contributed to my exercise quota for the week.  Or, more accurately, was my exercise for the week.  Just a quick note to fashion designers - please stop putting long  side pockets on trousers as it prevents us pear-shaped ladies from being able to wear them.  Thank you.  

Had my very first Cadbury's Creme Egg of the season, and the dairy in it didn't cause me any stomach problems.  Hooray!  I may start stockpiling these before they disappear for the year.  Although I have to admit that I kind of like only having them around Easter as it makes them feel that little bit more special.

Made baked oatmeal for the very first time and it turned out great.  It wasn't my own creation but I'm just glad I was able to follow a recipe and produce something that was edible.  If you love oaty things such as porridge and flapjacks then you will love these.  Maybe I'll post the recipe tomorrow.

Decided that I am just far too impatient to stay in my current job until 27th April, so I have used three days leave and now my last day will be Tuesday 24th April.  Much better.  This does mean however that I will be at home packing boxes and cleaning for three days straight.  Oh well, it’s better than being at work I suppose.

And one thing that I most definitely didn't do this weekend was cleaning.  Nope, not one little bit.  My house is filthy and probably stinks but what can I say?  The epic House marathon and general laziness were totally worth it.  Mad cleaning will now ensue as I have just found out that our letting agent has lined up some viewings this week.

I have to say that handing in notice on both my job and home when I currently don't have anything to replace either of them is a little daunting.  I'm scared!

The Girl Who Shouldn't Set Goals

Man, am I feeling vibrant this week!  This is a nice change considering the bad luck I've been having with my stomach this year.  Luckily things seem to be on the up, and this unseasonably hot [yes, HOT!] weather we have been having just makes me feel so much better.  It has been in the low-mid twenties Celsius and bright sunshine all week.  Let the good times roll.

 

Anyway, I thought I would check in and see where I am with my March goals.  If there is one thing I should know about myself by now it's that I just don't stick to goals.  I don't even try because I'm too laid back to really care. I guess I can strike 'goal-orientated person' off my CV.  Whatever.  

My goals for March were:

• To move a little more each day.  This won't involve any major changes but I want to go for a nice walk every work day on my lunch break and do one hour long yoga DVD session and one hour of light cardio (e.g. swimming, jogging, stepping, aerobics class etc) per week.  This was a complete and total failure.  I have done a few 2-3 mile runs, exactly 2 yoga workouts and 1 swimming session all month.  On the plus side I have walked halfway home from work [2 miles] every day this week, but that's about it really. 

• To continue finding my 'happy place' with regards to the type and amount of foods that I like to eat.  Again, no major changes here just a continuation with what I am already doing and experimenting with different types of foods to find out what makes me thrive.  Yep, I actually am working on this one but it is a slow process.  I'll file this under 'I'm working on it' for now.

• To find out what triggers my IBS.  This is kind of linked to the above goal because I am a firm believer that most IBS symptoms are triggered, or at least exacerbated, by eating certain foods.  I would like to have some kind of 'safe to eat' list in place.  Yep, another goal successfully ticked off!  I am currently thriving on a low gluten and low dairy diet.  However, I have been having major cravings for a big, thick baguette stuffed with butter and cheese.  Sods law dictates that you always want what you can't have.  I don't even really like cheese sandwiches!

• To find a job in London!  Ideally, I would love to have an offer in place by the end of March but realistically just some interest in my CV and a few interviews would be progress.  I did start applying for jobs but it was just too soon to generate any interest so I have put it hold and will resume my search shortly.

Okay, so I guess I didn't do quite as badly as I had anticipated but I'm still not going to set any more goals.  At least for now. 

In other news, my husband has received a contract of employment for his exciting new job in London.  We have both now handed in our notice at work and are due to finish at the end of April.  The goal [damn, I shouldn't use that word should I?] is to relocate on the weekend of 28th/29th April and then have some time off before he starts his new job.

In completely random other news:

I am really enjoying the new cookery show The Little Paris Kitchen.  I just adore the feel of the programme; from the tiny, quaint kitchen, to the shots of pretty Paris streets, right down to the presenter's feminine dress sense, I just love it all.  So girly.  So cute.

I'm also really enjoy the Hairy Bikers Bakeation programme as well.  I really want to learn to bake and seeing the delicious food they get to prepare and sample inspires me to get in the kitchen.  Well it makes me think about getting into the kitchen, but I haven't quite made it over the threshold yet.  All in good time.

A few weeks ago I was loaned the first series of medical drama House and now I am hooked.  I don't know how I missed this when it was originally aired but it is fabulous.  Who would have thought Hugh Laurie with an American accent would work?  Because it so does.  I'm picking up series 2 tonight!

I am really enjoying opening up my diet beyond the sphere of 'healthy' foods, and relaxing my whole outlook around food.  It isn't easy to let go but I am having fun experimenting with foods that I used to love but haven't eaten for years.  This week I have been eating crisps.  Yes, actual crisps.  Not Popchips, or Snack a Jacks, or Velvet Crunch or any of the myriad of  lower calorie alternatives.  Nope, I've been munching on good old Walkers cheese and onion and prawn cocktail crisps.....and I like them.  

I think that's it for now but there will be more posts to come soon.  At least I hope so........because that does sounds an awful lot like a goal to me!

Howdy! An Update and Some Goals

Blogging is a funny thing.  I find myself really missing it when I don't do it, but when I do blog I don't really feel like I am adding anything unique to the internets.  However, every person should have a voice or an outlet and this is mine, regardless of whether anyone reads it or finds it even remotely interesting! 

If I'm honest, I haven't blogged here in a while because I started to think that if I don't have a regular blogging schedule, an intended audience or even any readers that it was a worthless endeavour.  However, this is simply not true. If the only purpose this blog serves is to give me a place to write down my thoughts and feelings then it is worthwhile, at least to me.

So, moving on. 

As a quick update my IBS has been playing up somewhat.  After a brief period of reprieve on a low fibre diet, I have found myself once again feeling drained and in abdominal discomfort every day.  I have even had to take time off work because of it so I dedided to go back to the Doctors.  At the moment it is being investigated further to make sure the original diagnosis of IBS is correct.  As my symptoms have returned with avengance I am now experiementing with a [mostly] gluten free diet to see if that improves things.

I am still trying to move towards a more intuitive eating approach and make an effort to break out of eating what I think I should, rather than what I might really want.  For some reason this isn't quite as easy as it sounds!

Exercise-wise I have absolutely nothing to report.  Owing to my stomach issues I haven't done a single workout in 2012.  I simply haven't had the energy to do anything but come home from work, make dinner, do a few light chores and lie on the sofa each evening.  Ditto weekends.  It's a shame but I'm not going to get all bent out of shape about it.  Oh, and in case you are wondering,quitting exercise has had  absolutely no impact on my weight. Although I don't weigh myself, all of my clothes still fit the same so I'm happy.

As for the rest of my life, well things may be changing pretty soon.  I don't want to say too much but my husband has been ofered a new job which involves relocating to London.  I am both very excited and very nervous about this but am prepared to ride the wave if it all goes ahead.  That is pretty much all I want to say at the moment because although the job offer has been made, he hasn't yet received a contract of employment or been through any of the pre-employment checks and references (of which there are many!) but I have already made a start on my own London job search just in case it all comes to fruition.  Watch this
space I guess!

That's basically what I've been up to in a nutshell.  I will probably blog a bit more extensively on each of the topics covered here at a later date as I have lots of thoughts on it all.  For now though, I will just set some goals for the month ahead.  Although I must confess that I am not much of a goal-setting person so we'll see how it goes!

• To move a little more each day.  This won't involve any major changes but I want to go for a nice walk every work day on my lunch break and do one hour long yoga DVD session and one hour of light cardio (e.g. swimming,jogging, stepping, aerobics class etc) per week.
• To continue finding my 'happy place' with regards to the type and amount of foods that I like to eat.  Again, no major changes here just a continuation with what I am already doing and experimenting with different types of foods to find out what makes me thrive.
• To find out what triggers my IBS.  This is kind of linked to the above goal because I am a firm beliver that most IBS symptoms are triggered, or at least exaserbated, by eating certain foods.  I would like to have some kind of 'safe to eat' list in place.
• To find a job in London!  Ideally, I would love to have an offer in place by the end of March but realistically just some interest in my CV and a few interviews would be progress.

So, let's see what March brings.  Bring it on!