Grape Rosemary Oatmeal

Ugh, you guys... I suck so much at taking care of herbs.

I bought four different herbs from the farmers' market: basil, cilantro, thyme, and rosemary. The basil looked beautiful for nearly two weeks, and then it turned a sad yellow color. The thyme turned brittle after a few days. The tall bush of cilantro collapsed into a  yellow pile within hours. All three of them never fully recovered. I believe the basil and thyme improve a little bit every day, but the cilantro had to be removed from the pot and tossed. The only plant that still looks functional is the rosemary.

Grape and Dark Chocolate Chunk Muesli

...Because chocolate chunks are just plain better than chocolate chips.

Although most of my favorite food blogs are vegan (or at least vegetarian), I take inspiration from all food lifestyles. I check FoodGawker at least twice every day and browse until I have viewed each new recipe, and I know the times of the day that the site is usually updated. It might be an addiction...

Ever since I "met" Haley from Cheap Recipe Blog, hers is one of the sites that I often find inspiration. Recently, she shared a cheap and easy entertaining idea of serving frozen grapes, dark chocolate, and wine for dessert. Um, I love all three of those things, so YES.

Grape and Orange Marmalade Oatmeal

I must share a story with you.

This is my last day of school as a first-year teacher. On one of the days earlier this week, a student (whom I love, of course) brought goodies for the teachers. My colleague came into our workroom holding a bag of cookies and encouraged me to check out my mailbox because the student had left treats for each of us, along with personalized drawings for gift tags. Like every time a student brings gifts, I felt the same mixed feelings: flattered, but disappointed. Nine times out of ten, I end up giving away the non-vegan food item to a coworker (but appreciate the thought nevertheless).

I hustled to my mailbox anyway, eager to see the drawing this student left me. What did I find?

PB and J Muesli

There is neither peanut butter nor jelly in this muesli (although I definitely contemplated both). Instead, it contains a delicious mix of fresh grapes, crushed peanuts, and (bonus!) sliced bananas, flax, and raisins. It's like PB&J, in a muesli-friendly form.

Grape Salad Overnight Oatmeal

I'm not positive about this one, but this is probably another crazy Midwestern thing. We just LOVE take fruit, stirring in cream cheese, and calling it a salad. Hey, at least this one doesn't have marshmallows!

Grape salad was first introduced to me by my godparents. They brought it to some celebration we were having at my house (perhaps my sister's confirmation or something??). Cripes, this stuff is good. It consists of red and green grapes coated in a mixture made of cream cheese, sour cream, and a little brown sugar. It sounds pretty terrible written out like that (especially to someone like me who hates sour cream), but it's truly divine.

Peanut Butter and Grape Baked Oatmeal

Yeah, I finally made another baked oatmeal recipe. What can I say? The stove has my heart!

However, grapes in oatmeal fascinate me, and I've also been interested in what happens to grapes when they're baked. If you couldn't guess, this oatmeal is inspired by PB&J; the grapes take the place of grape jelly. (I grew up eating grape jelly, and it wasn't until last year that I finally accepted strawberry as another option. Still, grape is the best.)

Fruit Salad Oatmeal

I must admit that I enjoy being a vegetarian. In the beginning, I struggled with feeling misplaced or left out, but once it fused into part of my identity, I embraced all of its challenges. Limited options on menus means I'll be less overwhelmed (I'm very indecisive) and more likely to try something new (like eggplant!). Potlucks become a scavenger hunt and careful investigation to discover the meatless dishes on a long table of bacon and ground beef. Thanksgiving and Easter turn into challenging games I like to call "How to Make a Meal Out of Side Dishes."

Potlucks, especially in Small Town, South Dakota, generally offer less than three vegetarian options (one of which is a basket of dinner rolls). The scalloped potatoes will always include diced ham. The quiche will always have bacon.

But there will always be fruit. Sometimes these fruits are in their raw form: a giant bowl of cubed watermelon or clusters of purple grapes. Other times, they're mixed together in one bowl: berries and melons and grapes! Sometimes, they're mixed together in a tasting "dressing," like honey mint or lemon poppy seed or coconut lime.

Grape and Walnut Oatmeal [Guest Post]

There comes a time in every food blogger's life when they see a recipe on the internetz and think, "Damnit. Why didn't I think of that?!" This is what happened when I stumbled upon a few recipes on a blog called Cinnamon Soliloquy. I could quickly tell from Stevie's blog that she was an oatmeal fan and read my blog. The format of her recipes even resembled mine a little bit! Jealous that she had some cool oatmeal ideas that I hadn't thought of yet, I decided to reach out and ask her to write a guest post for me. (This is my first guest post on the blog; there are more in the works!)

Hey!

My name is Stevie and I blog over at Cinnamon Soliloquy - but Lauren has very kindly given me the opportunity to include this guest post in her gorgeous blog! 

I am currently studying Classics (lots of ancient Greek and Latin) at the University of Exeter, Devon in the UK. I love exercise and try to live a balanced, healthy life - which includes what I eat! 

My blog is mainly a way for me to share recipes - the majority of which are oatmeal (or as we call it here in England - porridge!) based. I have eaten oatmeal for as long as I can remember, however for the first 17 years of my life it was the flavoured stuff which came out of a Quaker packet.