Who Knew Oatmeal Was So Versatile!
I
love this book. Kathy Hester takes a very
practical approach and for every recipe she provides the reader with
alternatives. If it calls for Pastry Flour, for example, you are given
the alternative of a gluten free mix. And if you don't have a squash,
she suggests looking in your pantry for that can of pumpkin
you've got hanging around.
The first recipe that caught my eye
was the one for making your own instant oatmeal. Ahhh. I'm so happy. My
kids love instant oatmeal. Probably because it's so sweet. But here
was a recipe I can totally get behind. One where I can use organic oats
and only natural ingredients. Better yet, this recipe is so easy that
my teen daughter makes it. Pulling together what she wants. I mean,
Oats, Sugar, Stevia and a dash of salt. How easy.
The recipes are
organized in a way that works for me. The first section is for DIY
staples like the instant oatmeal I mentioned. What amazed me was how
many ways oatmeal could be used that I hadn't considered; like biscuits,
roti, gravy and even pepperoni crumbles that you can use on pizza. I
thought these recipes were very clever.
The next set of recipes
build on ones you might be familiar with. Pancakes, waffles, scones, and
variations of breakfast and snack oatmeal like Lemon Raspberry
'Cheesecake' Oatmeal.
These warm weather oatmeals are followed by cool weather recipes, like smoothies and shakes.
The
next section covers granolas and bars, the one after that soups and
savory stews. After that you'll find recipes that cover lunch and
dinner and even desserts and beverages. Who knew? There's Bourbon
Oated Shortbread for example. Yum.
The final section delighted
my daughter. She loves to make her own makeup and scrubs and this book
had a number of recipes which she is trying.
And I should note
finally that there is even one recipe for Fido and one for kitty:
Peppermint Puppy Cookies and Catnip Kitty Treats.
There
are things I look for in cookbooks. The first has to do with
appearance. Because I'm old I need a font that is easy to read, and I
also really like photos. OATRAGEOUS delivers. The pages are well laid
out and nearly every recipe has a drool worthy color photo.
The
other things I like are recipes that are versatile. Kathy Hester
delivers there too. The basic idea behind these recipes are to use
natural vegan ingredients, but she is constantly pointing out
alternatives you can use. Enough so that I feel pretty confident in
making my own switches.
Most of the ingredients in these recipes
are ones you are probably not going to have a problem getting at the
grocery store. The one item I know we don't have locally are Meyer
Lemons. In fact, I've never heard of this variety. But in general we are
talking regular spices and items like non-dairy milk, coconut oil,
stevia, agave nectar and the like.
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