(A very long) disclaimer,which u can skip:
I am not fast food fan -haven't eaten hamburger/hot dog or anything from chains like mcdonalds ever (except some snickers ice cream that I couldn't finish).I don't like pizza. Yes,and I said it to a Italian girl. Let's just say I've spent hours in wc after eating some ordinary ones in last 7-8 years.However they weren't homemade,so if I really don't have time nor choice I'll eat my moms or make one I can endure. Having said that I din't particulary follow the food I eat to check kcal,or is it nutritious in any way. I am a full time student so most of the time I eat lunch,sometimes breakfast/dinner, in one of student canteens
I am not fast food fan -haven't eaten hamburger/hot dog or anything from chains like mcdonalds ever (except some snickers ice cream that I couldn't finish).I don't like pizza. Yes,and I said it to a Italian girl. Let's just say I've spent hours in wc after eating some ordinary ones in last 7-8 years.However they weren't homemade,so if I really don't have time nor choice I'll eat my moms or make one I can endure. Having said that I din't particulary follow the food I eat to check kcal,or is it nutritious in any way. I am a full time student so most of the time I eat lunch,sometimes breakfast/dinner, in one of student canteens
They are sort of like your average minus hotel restaurants with mostly not healthy food. No. 1 meat is pork in everything and 90% of time breaded/fried. Most of the food is super greasy,fried and cheapest that they can afford. Combinations tend to be odd like fish fingers and some potatos or,rice or pasta -dry. The desserts are super sugary and most of the time when they don't buy it,it's simple crust with cacao added to whipped cream. Here and there,there are veggies and fruit (more the latter). Seeing fish or other sea food is like hallelujah.
(Even though there should be some on friday -you'll get bought fish fingers or sth like fried squid,if there's a fish, it's only mol/oslić =hake,fried.)
On occasian I cook -it's mostly rice/pasta with different sauces (mostly tomato),fritatta, polenta w sth,soup, small pizza,baked pasta with cream cheese -sth easy and quick. More often I'll make breakfast :pancake,grits, some pastry.
Having said all that - I have been told I'm a picky eater. I can't eat sour food (it's more than just I don't like),not fan of beans or greens (with few exceptions) and I like "oriental food and spices" like thai food or curry spice/seaweed or fruit like lychee. I was born in a wrong place ok. The food I grew up on is mediterranean since I'm full blood Dalmatian,even though I "apparently" don't seem as one.
So I've decided to take 1 super healthy ingredient that I don't like and try to incorporate it in healthy dish that I'll enjoy - for a week. The reasoning: I want to see can my stubborm self change my mind,will it have some effect on me -since I'm anemic, + I gained couple of kgs which I'm trying to loose = 30 min of different home exercises (yeah I do them but I don't enjoy it) + heathy meal a day (Breakfast or dinner since lunch is tough and I mostly eat bread with salame of some spread,maybe cereals).
(I'm not a person of a few words )
YOU CAN START HERE
I choose OATS since it's super good for you,and I super avoid it.
Some healthy facts : rich in fiber,vitamins,minerals,antioxiants,law in sugar... and bland as hell.
Day 1: Cacao banana oatmeal pancakes
After doing some google research I become curious about this recipe since it doesn't use flour and is done pretty quickly + I love pancakes.
All you need is egg,oats,cacao,banana + little of baking powder. I put a full recipe here
https://www.coolinarika.com/recept/zobene-palacinke-s-bananom-i-cokoladom/
My blender broke so I used smoothie maker to crush oats to flour (u can try by hand,they don't need to be perfectly grinned.) Surprisingly it worked just fine and out of the mixture I got 4 American pancakes. (I say American since,where I'm from crepes are pancakes. ) I ate one on the picture xd
I didn't taste oats,just banana and chocolate which is always a good combination. They where semi sweet from banana (and u could smell it) and bit of honey I added,but cacao gave that rich dark chocolate-y feel to it. I ate them by them-self,but they're good with syrup,sugar...They keep you full for about 4 hours.
I wouldn't mind eating them again. They where yummy.
Day 2. : Back to basics-oatmeal
I've ate oatmeal before but It was always watery or bland or instant mix with sth to give it flavor. So my challenge was how do I make it work for me)
First thing : I used vanilla soy milk not water. I'm lactose intolerant,but you can try any milk.
The milk by it-self is a bit sweet,but runnier than cows.
I put 2 glasses to stove and added 1 glass of oats.
Next I needed sth to make it taste as sth more than soy milk. I put about a tablespoon of honey (maybe bit less),added cinnamon,hint of salt and few indian cashews I had. I didn't want to add cacao,since it would overpower the mix + I already used it. So I added a banana while cooking. My roommate adds grated apple,but I only had banana to throw in. I suppose you could throw in raisons or other dried fruit,but I used what I had.
Oatmeal was ok. I didn't like as much as pancakes but it wasn't that bad. As you can see on the picture it was creamy and you could taste banana and vanilla from milk. Cashews gave it a bit of crunch. It wasn't bland yey! ,but if you gave me donuts or oatmeal, I'd go for donuts.
Also I was hungry pretty soon and isn't oatmeal supposed keep me fed,longer than an hour?
Something you can easily make and with only 2 essential ingredients .
Day 3 : Dinner delight -Oat peanut butter cookies
I was,slowly becoming fed up with oats and it was day 3! Every recipe I read called for delicious oatmeal with this and that and I wasn't having it. I didn't want to use bananas again, and it turns out finding sth to make without them ain't easy.
Before you think "peanut butter healthy?!" The answer is yes it is,in small doses. Think about it,it's nuts with bit of salt and ''hint''of sunflower oil to make it smooth. It has lot of calories for sure,but I wasn't gonna eat a whole jar ,just couple of spoons (and I didn't mean to eat all the cookies right away)
This recipe is my combination of few others I read,but didn't want to use by them-selves Why? 1 wanted me to add 1 glass/cup of peanut butter,other tons of sugar.
To make this 10 crunchy bits you only need 1egg +3 tablespoons of (crunchy) peanut butter and a 1 glass of oats. * optionally you,as I did , can put 2 tablespoons of honey and some dried fruit.
Mix them all,throw in fridge to make them easier to roll in small balls. Roll and slightly press with fork. Bake them 8-10 min on 180C.
They weren't overly sweet and smelled wonderfully of peanuts. I liked them a lot.
Day 4: Overnight oats
OK I admit I went a day without oats. I cheated. The day was frantic and I just didn't have the will to use them. So I prepared overnight ones before going to bed. It takes about 5 hours to set so seemed about right.
There are a lot of different recipes of overnight oats -choco peanut butter,coconut,strawberry one... But the base is always the same.
Take a cup as a measure or a glass. You'll need 2/3 cup of milk,1/2 cup of oats and 1/3 of a cup of Greek yogurt. Mix them all. Now if you wanna thicker consistency like pudding use chia seeds too.
I had one punch Greek yogurt,almond milk,little bit of dark chocolate bits,banana chips,there's cinnamon sugar on top and just threw them all in.Mixed and put in plastic container,closed and left in the fridge(u can use jar with a lid)
If i had had plain Greek yogurt I'd have put spoon of cacao and peanut butter or just 1 of 2,or added more dried fruit but punch yogurt already tasted great.
*Yogurt didn't actually have punch in it but sour cherry,pistaccio,honey,dates and maybe rum aroma
Next morning I tried it. Oats soaked up all milk and yogurt so tasted like a pudding or one of those thicker yogurts with tinny oats and fruit in them. Oats were really soft which for a change I liked. I forgot though,date yogurt had raisins in it which I don't eat usually eat,but it worked this time. Chocolate bits have it hint of different,slightly bitter taste which I really loved. Banana blended well with ''punch'' and it smelled like cinnamon and punch. Since I didn't add honey or other sweetener It wasn't overwhelmingly sweet,but just right.
I ate it cold,but you can heat it up or keep it in a fridge for up to 2-3 days since you get decent amount of it and I approached like it was yogurt,so didn't eat it all right away.
Over all I'd try to make this again,maybe with plain yogurt and peanuts.
If you have busy early mornings-this is a great idea.
Day 5: Let's make it roll with Oatmeal dinner rolls (or not)
This recipe took some time,that's way I left if for Sunday. Ingredients are simple though: flour,water,dry yeast,butter,sugar,salt and oats. Waiting for a dough to set took most of the time. It needed to raise,then I had to wait additional 45-50 min again too double + making oatmeal + baking time.
Let me just say dough was big even before raising so if you want smaller one just put half of everything.
I'll leave recipe here I found https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/oatmeal-dinner-rolls
After they were finally done and cooled down,which took too long , I tried some. Consistency wasn't as fluffy as some pastries but it has oatmeal in it,so it was expected. There was just a hint of sweetness from sugar,but still you could put on it some spread or jam,maybe even salami.
That set watch out for the dough,because it can turn gummy if you do sth wrong. Just another reason why I don't make often bread rolls or pastries.
I'm gonna say this though If you like spending about 2h cooking this is a good recipe,otherwise just go for pancake or cookie. By the end of it I was done,so from my perspective, not sure if it was worth it.
Day 6 : Granola bar
I made musli/granola bars once before by using egg whites to combine musli with nuts and fruit and it was a solid job.
This time I tried no bake one which required honey and peanut butter to combine bunch of cereals with everything. I used cup of oats and half of a cup of cereals (with mixed nuts in them),about 5 tablespoons of peanut butter,3 tablespoons of honey,2 rows of dark chocolate sliced and handful of pumpkin seeds.
First of all recipe called for 1/3 of a jar of honey and 1/4 of p. b. With a cup of 3 different cereals each ,which I tought was way too much so I reduced recipe.
You need to melt p.b. With honey and cover cereals,nuts and other stuff with it. Put it in oiled cake pan and press it hard so it sticks together then leave to cool (or thow in the fridge).
Well here's what've concluded: Who the hell puts soo much honey in anything?! I mean Americans... Even with a couple of spoons of honey it was too sweet for me,let alone half a jar (plus it said brown sugar too -which I exed). Pumpkin seeds,chocolate and nuts worked together and you got nice bars but unless you like sweet stuff bit more than rest,just use less honey -like a spoon,or simply use EGG WHITE and bake it.
This was the one with egg whites And mixed cereals. You can added watever you want in it (nuts,seeds,fruit...) and it lasted for a quite time.
Day 7 : A Goodbye smoothie
I'm soo done with this experiment I'm not even gonna bother going in details with this smoothie 'cause you've must have seen variation of them in stores like b-aktiv.
Essentially mix greek yogurt,milk with fruit like banana and put some oats in it. Mix till well combined and drink it. You can add spices and things alike.
The Aftermath:
After finishing this hellish week I concluded that I STILL don't need oats in my life.Sorry to say that I didn't make a giant improvment in that department. Things I liked in recipes are everything but oats.My guess -because they disguised oats. IF you wanna eat them 'cause of iron,zinc or other benefits,but don't wanna taste them those recipes (apart from maybe oatmeal) do it good. I have to say pancakes were my favorite. I'll probably make overnight oats here and there and try include them in other stuff -but in a small doses and not so soon.
But for now,I say GET THEM AWAY FROM ME
Sorry for potential grammar error and no idea why some text is red (except recipes).
After doing some google research I become curious about this recipe since it doesn't use flour and is done pretty quickly + I love pancakes.All you need is egg,oats,cacao,banana + little of baking powder. I put a full recipe here
https://www.coolinarika.com/recept/zobene-palacinke-s-bananom-i-cokoladom/
My blender broke so I used smoothie maker to crush oats to flour (u can try by hand,they don't need to be perfectly grinned.) Surprisingly it worked just fine and out of the mixture I got 4 American pancakes. (I say American since,where I'm from crepes are pancakes. ) I ate one on the picture xd
I didn't taste oats,just banana and chocolate which is always a good combination. They where semi sweet from banana (and u could smell it) and bit of honey I added,but cacao gave that rich dark chocolate-y feel to it. I ate them by them-self,but they're good with syrup,sugar...They keep you full for about 4 hours.
I wouldn't mind eating them again. They where yummy.
Day 2. : Back to basics-oatmeal
First thing : I used vanilla soy milk not water. I'm lactose intolerant,but you can try any milk.
The milk by it-self is a bit sweet,but runnier than cows.
I put 2 glasses to stove and added 1 glass of oats.
Next I needed sth to make it taste as sth more than soy milk. I put about a tablespoon of honey (maybe bit less),added cinnamon,hint of salt and few indian cashews I had. I didn't want to add cacao,since it would overpower the mix + I already used it. So I added a banana while cooking. My roommate adds grated apple,but I only had banana to throw in. I suppose you could throw in raisons or other dried fruit,but I used what I had.
Oatmeal was ok. I didn't like as much as pancakes but it wasn't that bad. As you can see on the picture it was creamy and you could taste banana and vanilla from milk. Cashews gave it a bit of crunch. It wasn't bland yey! ,but if you gave me donuts or oatmeal, I'd go for donuts.
Also I was hungry pretty soon and isn't oatmeal supposed keep me fed,longer than an hour?
Something you can easily make and with only 2 essential ingredients .
Day 3 : Dinner delight -Oat peanut butter cookies
I was,slowly becoming fed up with oats and it was day 3! Every recipe I read called for delicious oatmeal with this and that and I wasn't having it. I didn't want to use bananas again, and it turns out finding sth to make without them ain't easy.
Before you think "peanut butter healthy?!" The answer is yes it is,in small doses. Think about it,it's nuts with bit of salt and ''hint''of sunflower oil to make it smooth. It has lot of calories for sure,but I wasn't gonna eat a whole jar ,just couple of spoons (and I didn't mean to eat all the cookies right away)
To make this 10 crunchy bits you only need 1egg +3 tablespoons of (crunchy) peanut butter and a 1 glass of oats. * optionally you,as I did , can put 2 tablespoons of honey and some dried fruit.
Mix them all,throw in fridge to make them easier to roll in small balls. Roll and slightly press with fork. Bake them 8-10 min on 180C.
They weren't overly sweet and smelled wonderfully of peanuts. I liked them a lot.
Day 4: Overnight oats
OK I admit I went a day without oats. I cheated. The day was frantic and I just didn't have the will to use them. So I prepared overnight ones before going to bed. It takes about 5 hours to set so seemed about right.There are a lot of different recipes of overnight oats -choco peanut butter,coconut,strawberry one... But the base is always the same.
Take a cup as a measure or a glass. You'll need 2/3 cup of milk,1/2 cup of oats and 1/3 of a cup of Greek yogurt. Mix them all. Now if you wanna thicker consistency like pudding use chia seeds too.
I had one punch Greek yogurt,almond milk,little bit of dark chocolate bits,banana chips,there's cinnamon sugar on top and just threw them all in.Mixed and put in plastic container,closed and left in the fridge(u can use jar with a lid)
If i had had plain Greek yogurt I'd have put spoon of cacao and peanut butter or just 1 of 2,or added more dried fruit but punch yogurt already tasted great.
*Yogurt didn't actually have punch in it but sour cherry,pistaccio,honey,dates and maybe rum aroma
Next morning I tried it. Oats soaked up all milk and yogurt so tasted like a pudding or one of those thicker yogurts with tinny oats and fruit in them. Oats were really soft which for a change I liked. I forgot though,date yogurt had raisins in it which I don't eat usually eat,but it worked this time. Chocolate bits have it hint of different,slightly bitter taste which I really loved. Banana blended well with ''punch'' and it smelled like cinnamon and punch. Since I didn't add honey or other sweetener It wasn't overwhelmingly sweet,but just right.
I ate it cold,but you can heat it up or keep it in a fridge for up to 2-3 days since you get decent amount of it and I approached like it was yogurt,so didn't eat it all right away.
Over all I'd try to make this again,maybe with plain yogurt and peanuts.
If you have busy early mornings-this is a great idea.
Day 5: Let's make it roll with Oatmeal dinner rolls (or not)
This recipe took some time,that's way I left if for Sunday. Ingredients are simple though: flour,water,dry yeast,butter,sugar,salt and oats. Waiting for a dough to set took most of the time. It needed to raise,then I had to wait additional 45-50 min again too double + making oatmeal + baking time.
Let me just say dough was big even before raising so if you want smaller one just put half of everything.
I'll leave recipe here I found https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/oatmeal-dinner-rolls
After they were finally done and cooled down,which took too long , I tried some. Consistency wasn't as fluffy as some pastries but it has oatmeal in it,so it was expected. There was just a hint of sweetness from sugar,but still you could put on it some spread or jam,maybe even salami.
That set watch out for the dough,because it can turn gummy if you do sth wrong. Just another reason why I don't make often bread rolls or pastries.
I'm gonna say this though If you like spending about 2h cooking this is a good recipe,otherwise just go for pancake or cookie. By the end of it I was done,so from my perspective, not sure if it was worth it.
Day 6 : Granola bar
This time I tried no bake one which required honey and peanut butter to combine bunch of cereals with everything. I used cup of oats and half of a cup of cereals (with mixed nuts in them),about 5 tablespoons of peanut butter,3 tablespoons of honey,2 rows of dark chocolate sliced and handful of pumpkin seeds.
First of all recipe called for 1/3 of a jar of honey and 1/4 of p. b. With a cup of 3 different cereals each ,which I tought was way too much so I reduced recipe.
You need to melt p.b. With honey and cover cereals,nuts and other stuff with it. Put it in oiled cake pan and press it hard so it sticks together then leave to cool (or thow in the fridge).
Well here's what've concluded: Who the hell puts soo much honey in anything?! I mean Americans... Even with a couple of spoons of honey it was too sweet for me,let alone half a jar (plus it said brown sugar too -which I exed). Pumpkin seeds,chocolate and nuts worked together and you got nice bars but unless you like sweet stuff bit more than rest,just use less honey -like a spoon,or simply use EGG WHITE and bake it.
This was the one with egg whites And mixed cereals. You can added watever you want in it (nuts,seeds,fruit...) and it lasted for a quite time.
Day 7 : A Goodbye smoothie
I'm soo done with this experiment I'm not even gonna bother going in details with this smoothie 'cause you've must have seen variation of them in stores like b-aktiv.
Essentially mix greek yogurt,milk with fruit like banana and put some oats in it. Mix till well combined and drink it. You can add spices and things alike.
The Aftermath:
After finishing this hellish week I concluded that I STILL don't need oats in my life.Sorry to say that I didn't make a giant improvment in that department. Things I liked in recipes are everything but oats.My guess -because they disguised oats. IF you wanna eat them 'cause of iron,zinc or other benefits,but don't wanna taste them those recipes (apart from maybe oatmeal) do it good. I have to say pancakes were my favorite. I'll probably make overnight oats here and there and try include them in other stuff -but in a small doses and not so soon.
But for now,I say GET THEM AWAY FROM ME
Sorry for potential grammar error and no idea why some text is red (except recipes).
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