Road trip stop 1 - The Dalles, Oregon

We have stopped for lunch at this cute little cafe in Dalles Oregon . Brama caffe - serves Italian and Greek food. We ordered two panini's one with chipotle chicken and the other with Caprese . 

Each table has these cute expresso shot glasses and are really cute . 

My chicken panini with Greek salad was very good. The brown bread with seeds and oats added the perfect crunch to the chicken that was grilled and soft. It also had some chipotle mayo that tasted delicious . For dessert I had the affogato vanilla gelato with expresso shots!! Oh it was so delicious I had tasted this when I was in Australia as a student . Here's a picture of it 

Will write more later.. Tata

Roadtrip Cookies or just-to-eat peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

Whenever we had to leave for a road trip or rather any trip in India, my mom always always used to make her methi theplas. So that we have something to munch on along the way. These theplas were so good that on days when we go bored of eating outside we would eat a couple of the theplas with some tea or coffee.

Well, my theplas dont exactly taste like my mom's and they require so much effort which I am very lazy to do by myself. I decided to go ahead and make some peanut butter chocolate chip flourless cookies before we leave on our road trip to Eastern Oregon ( soo excited !!! :D ) . These cookies have no flour in them, can be made gluten free using gluten free rolled oats and are a perfect snack for the road as they have protein - peanut butter, fiber - rolled oats and are tasty - chocolate chips & vanilla ! These are so easy u must, must make them :) .

Ohh, I love these cookies !!! 

I have adapted this recipe from the blog two peas and their pod.

Ingredients:

* Rolled oats - 2/3 cup

* Peanut butter  - 1 cup

* Brown Sugar - 2/3 cup

* Eggs - 2

* Baking Soda - 1 tsp

* Vanilla Essence - 1- 1 1/2 tsp

Recipe:

Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

This recipe will make around 12-15 medium sized cookies.

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

In a bowl mix the rolled oats and baking soda and keep aside.

In a mixing bowl add the brown sugar, eggs, peanut butter and vanilla essence and mix until everything comes together.

Add your rolled oats + baking soda mixture and mix on medium speed for 1 min.

Finally add the chocolate chips.

The mixture is quiet sticky, so you might want to use a scoop or a spoon to put them on a sheet.

Bake them for around 9 - 10 mins until they are a little brown on the edges, once you remove them from the oven they will continue to cook. Once they cool down a bit say 2 - 3 mins you can transfer them to a cooling rack and let them cool completely before you pack them for your trip !!

I hope you all have a stress-free and relaxing weekend !! Enjoy :)

Time saving no-cook over night refrigerator Oatmeal

I have a confession to make. I used to hate oatmeal, It was the most un-appetizing breakfast. I have tried many times as a student to cook oats with buttermilk, milk, water, even olives ! Alas, but to no vail. I used to hate it.

Then a few months back my mom made me try masala oats, a ready to cook savory oats porridge available in India and I was hooked. I ate it so much, that I got around 30 sachets of masala oats from India.

Rolled oats

This got me thinking that if I love savory oats in ready to eat packs so much, I should try cooking them myself with different flavors and so began my oatmeal experiments. And lo behold now I want to get up every morning to a bowl of oatmeal :) I love them so much. My favorite is the no-cook refrigerator oatmeal. It is so easy to make, requires some planning and you can have it  in any flavor you like. I love these oats as you dont have to wake every morning wondering what to eat for breakfast, saving you a lot of time and effort. I am sure you will love these.

Here's what you ll need :

* Rolled Oats - 1/3 cup + extra
* Milk/ Soy milk / Rice Milk/ Almond Milk
* Chia seeds - 1 tsp
* Cacao/ coco powder - 1 tsp
* Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
* Sweetener - brown sugar, stevia, maple syrup, agave, honey
* Nuts
* Fruit - banana, strawberries, berries
* Air tight container that does not drip or leak.

Here's how you do it. Take any kind of air tight container that you might have - mason jars or small glass lunch boxes. Put everything, except the fruit inside the container, add as much or as little milk as you like. Close it - shake shake shake, Put it in the refrigerator and forget about it. Your no-cook overnight refrigerator oatmeal is ready to eat the next day !

Before you eat it, chop some fresh fruit up and it to the oat meal. Fresh fruit enhances the chewy gooey flavor of the soaked rolled oats.

Chia seeds, have a neutral flavor and when they soak in the milk tend to swell up and become like tapioca balls. I always add some to my oatmeal.

Chia seeds, a great addition the oatmeal.

And here's the trick, you can experiment with any or all of the above and even add your own flavors - Matcha Green tea, Brown sugar and Maple, and my favorite Chocolate & Strawberry. Enjoy :)

Strawberries

Strawberries, taste so good with oatmeal !

Let me know if you do try the oatmeal or how do you make your oatmeal every morning?