Minimal Monday

So, I skipped out on Friday because what could I tell you to eat? I had Chinese food for dinner.  I suppose I could have mentioned that I recently discovered how yummy sliced and roasted tomatoes could be, drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with salt, pepper and garlic.  Homemade cashew cream is yummy too.  Roasted peppers, tomatoes and broccoli are some of my faves.  But then, there was breakfast.

3 - 4 Medjool Dates, pitted, soaked
1/2 cup whole rolled oats
1/4 - 1/3 cup almond milk
cinnamon to taste
frozen raspberries
crushed walnuts

First, determine how long you want the dates to soak.  Overnight makes them super soft.  Fifteen minutes makes a difference too.  I used to use the regular dates because I figured they weren't that different except that I got more for less.  I was wrong.  The Medjool is where it's at! Anyhow, just soak them for 15 minutes or more.  I cooked the oats and almond milk mix for however long it would take to cook the oats.  I drained the dates.  If the oatmeal is a bit dry or hard (you know how oatmeal can lose its moisture) add more almond milk or keep some of the water in with the dates.  Add the oatmeal to a food processor with the dates, and cinnamon and process until the dates are fully incorporated without any "date bits" floating around.  I suggest doing this while the oatmeal is still a bit hot.  It will gently thaw the raspberries.  Then pour the oats over the frozen raspberries and top with the walnuts.  This was amazing.

Can you tell?  The photo was an after thought.

This is a great way to reduce the refined sugar in your oatmeal.  The dates made it perfectly sweet while the raspberries added a nice somewhat sour note that paired nicely with the sweetness and the walnuts provided that crunch while bumping up some of the protein value.  Besides that, the oatmeal was creamy with none of those random oat bits that I just realized I didn't like.  It ate more like a porridge.

In minimizing news, the only thing I've done recently is remove most of my children's toys.  This was done because many were broken bits, also many of them were argued over so often that I was going mad.  So, that was one big removal that I had undertaken.  I did have to add to my collection of stuff by buying some more school books.  I also had a lapse and bought some cotton/bamboo yarn.  That was a huge mistake because it has caused me to long for new yarn.  I am, however, knitting away on a shawl to use up four balls of Eden Silk that I had bought some time ago.  So, I'm still trying to be faithful to destashing.  I also need to finish up with basket that would be perfect to hold the working yarn so it doesn't roll all over the floor while I knit.  We did recently minimize our debt burden by paying off something that loomed large and terrifying over us.  Does that count? Lol.  Y'all take care and remember as King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, "It's all vanity."  In other words, it's just stuff.  Get rid of it.  Hope you're having more success than I am.