Fiber Fool

We retired last night to the first snowfall of the season and awoke to about 8 inches and the snow still coming down. We knew it was coming. Sunday afternoon the watch was issued, which was then changed to a warning by about mid-day on Monday if I recall correctly. It’s very heavy and wet. Low travel roads had only about 3 inches or so, but the bottom part was straight up slush. The damp and cool just screamed for a hot, cozy breakfast.

Last year I had come across a pumpkin pie oatmeal from Katie Goodman over at Good Life Eats. It seemed right up my alley and is a great use for smaller amounts of leftover pumpkin puree which have around pretty frequently. That said, almost anytime I have oatmeal for breakfast I end up chasing carb counts the rest of the day. My current nutrition plan is not a super low-carb diet like Atkins or South Beach, but one of balance in favor of more protein because I’m actively training and lifting weights.

In a conversation a few weeks ago with Kim of The Woolen Rabbit I learned the trick of mixing in some protein powder with the oatmeal and that has helped. When I thought about that and about pumpkin pie filling which is basically a custard I thought, “why can’t I make the oatmeal with a custard enveloping the oatmeal?” So, I added 1 egg and a 1/4 scoop of unsweetened vanilla protein powder. I also reduced the butter a tad and made it into a single serving recipe. Chances are good I will end up making it just for myself or maybe the two of us. Because I am also trying to get a lot of fiber I upped the oatmeal a tad as well. The result is a roughly 330 calorie breakfast with almost 20 g protein and 30 g carb.

Pumpkin Pie Baked Oatmeal

serves 1
Ingredients

• 1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not quick cook)
• 1/2 tablespoon ground flax meal (optional, but great source of Omega-3s and fiber)
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
• 1/4 cup 1% milk
• pinch salt
• splash vanilla extract
• 1/2-1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 serving unsweetened vanilla protein powder (I use Solgar)
• 1/2 teaspoon stevia, granulated
• 1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon pecans, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 2-cup ramekin and add oatmeal and flax meal if using.
2. In a small bowl whisk together pumpkin, milk, egg, salt, spice, extract, protein powder, and stevia.
3. Pour wet ingredients over oatmeal mix in the ramekin and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the center is just barely set.
4. Combine remaining three ingredients into a crumble texture and sprinkle over nearly set custard and bake an additional 7-9 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes before enjoying.

Because it seems a little wasteful to fire up the full size oven for a small ramekin (though the extra heat would feel nice), I baked mine in our toaster oven. I’m tempted to try this again, but mix it all together before bed and let the oatmeal soak up the wet ingredients in the fridge overnight. It’ll be less fuss for mornings when I need to get out the door. I’m thinking if doing that I could do so with steel cut oats too. I’m also toying with the idea of baking it in a hot water bath, like a traditional baked custard. That seems a bit fussy for breakfast, but I’m curious if it would impact the final texture.

Over the years of teaching I’ve amassed a collection of step-by-step photos and text and I think it is time to share them with the wider world. First up, is how I do left twisting cables without using a cable needle.

I always tell my students who are new to cabling that it is nothing more than an organized way to knit stitches out of order. Most commonly one uses a cable needle to aid in working the stitches in a different order, but anyone who has done long term cabling projects knows those pesky cable needles like to run away and hide! Even if you do not wish to embark upon a full project dedicated to cabling without a cable needle, knowing how can get you out of a bind if you happen to loose a cable needle while out and about. Today I’ll share how I like to cable without a cable needle to make a basic 4-stitch left twisting cable sometimes called “Cable 2 Front (C2F).”

Step 1: Take your right needle tip and bring it behind the left needle and pass it into the third and fourth stitch on the left needle as if to purl.

Step 2: Take your right thumb and place pressure on the first two stitches on the left needle and kind of pinch them to keep them from dropping. Then slip all four stitches from the left needle.

Step 3: Insert the left needle tip through the 2 loose stitches you are pinching with your right thumb. The tip should enter them from left to right so they are mounted normally onto the left needle.

Step 4: Slip the 2 stitches on the right needle back to the left needle. It looks kind of disorganized and the stitches may be somewhat distorted. They may also seem quite tight. This is normal.

Step 5: Now knit the newly reordered stitches normally. You should be able to see that two stitches cross to the left in front of two stitches. This forms the left twisting cable.

While I demoed a very specific cable, the same process applies to left twisting cables of any size. I used this technique in many of my designs with varying types of cables, including Buttercream gauntlets, Challah socks, Cornucopiacowl, Laridae mittens, and Three of Diamonds socks to name a few.

Come back next week for Right Twisting Cables Without a Cable Needle!

I think sweet pumpkin things brought me to my pumpkin obsession, but I’ve not limited myself to such. Thank goodness or my new wellness campaign would be certain to fail from mid-September through December!

After last week’s fantastic pumpkin soup which we miraculously ate up without it going bad and my success at mixing up the leftovers towards the end with the addition of white beans and chipotle powder it struck me to try make a hummus-like dip with pumpkin, white beans and taco seasoning! The result was a huge hit at knitting on Monday night. We went through half a batch in a blink of the eye and we were only 6 (counting DH, though he wasn’t knitting).

There were several comments along the lines of “I hope you took good notes!” I smiled and reassured them I’d be posting the recipe today. Because I was a total nutter on Monday morning and despite more cleaning and cooking being required, I dirtied the vast majority of our tablespoons just for the sake of the photo below. Thank goodness I had the forethought to use tablespoons rather than teaspoons!

It is a pretty easy recipe requiring only 9 ingredients (I forgot the garlic for the photo) - white beans, pumpkin puree, garlic, tahini (or peanut butter), olive oil, balsamic vinegar, taco seasoning, red bell pepper and scallions. I used McCormick’s Spicy Taco Seasoning because that is what we tend to keep in the cupboard. It would be a tad more healthful if you made your own so you controlled the salt. I just added no salt beyond what was in the seasoning packet and it seemed fine to me despite my being more sensitive since my dietary changes.

Put everything but the oil, vinegar, pepper and onions into the bowl of a food processor and process until nearly smooth.

Add the oil and vinegar and continue to process until smooth and creamy.

And finger dipping good…

Move contents to a bowl, and stir in finely chopped red pepper and scallions until even distributed. You can reserve a bit for garnishing the top. If serving at a party I especially like to do that as it gives people somewhat of a clue about the ingredients.

It was served on Monday with fresh cut veggies - carrots, celery, red pepper, and cucumber as well as Flamous Falafel Chips which are fantastic and paired especially well with the dip. Regular tortilla chips would work too.

I think this dip would make a fantastic contribution to Halloween parties, but would be equally welcomed at weekend football watching gatherings. Of course, it has already been tested at knitting nights and it is a hit :-) The recipe is below.

Mexican Pumpkin & White Bean Dip

makes 3 1/2 - 4 cups of dip

Ingredients:

• 1 - 14 oz can white kidney or cannellini beans, drained and rinsed well (or about 1 cup dry cooked and cooled)
• 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons tahini or peanut butter
• 1 packet McCormick’s Spicy Taco Seasoning or similar
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium red bell pepper finely diced
• 3 scallions sliced fine

1. Place beans, pumpkin, garlic, tahini and seasoning in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to begin, then let process until nearly smooth.
2. Slowly add vinegar and oil while the processor runs if possible. Process until smooth. Move contents to a medium bowl.
3. Add bell pepper and scallions and stir until incorporated evenly.
4. Chill at least 4 hours. Serve with crudite and chips.

Nutrition Info per 2 Tablespoons Approx: 41 calories, 1.8 g fat (0.2 sat), 5.4 g carbs, 1.5 g fiber, 1.1 g sugar, 1.4 g protein.

If it is too spicy for your tastes the first thing to do would be to not use spicy taco seasoning. But I think the dip could stand up to more pumpkin or the addition of 1/2 cup of low fat green yogurt. That said, there are a few sensitive palettes in my knitting group and I offered some Greek yogurt for them to mix in on their plate and no one took me up on the offer. I do find the chilling tempers the heat a bit as the spices marry into pumpkin and white beans.

If you wanted more heat you could certainly add in finely diced jalapeno or serrano peppers, shoot if you are daring I suppose habanero would work as well. It be as easily spiced up individually on plates with Tabasco, Cholula or any favorite pepper sauce.

If you’ve been a reader here in recent years, it is no secret that I love my pumpkin! Really, that extends to pretty much any orange fleshed squash or tubar with pumpkin being my all time favorite. That is certainly one of the many reasons I love fall so much. I can go just about anywhere and enjoy something pumpkin-y from a latte to a bagel and cream cheese or donuts (though they aren’t really on the list this year). I even tried pumpkin fudge one year - that wasn’t really my thing, but then fudge isn’t often my thing so I shouldn’t have been surprised. Anyway, that means this week’s 10 on Tuesday is pretty easy for me. It will mostly be a trip through my archives. Though the photo up top is for a recipe I plan to share tomorrow for a savory pumpkin dish that is great for gatherings.

1. One of the really obvious ones is in the form of pumpkin seeds. I love pumpkin seeds and they are a great source of iron! Who knew? Not to mention fiber and good fats too. My favorite way to spice them up is with a kind of curry inspired mix of sweet and smokey spices.

2. Pumpkin Scones are a wonderful seasonal weekend indulgence, especially when paired with a honey cinnamon butter. Yum!

3. For weekday breakfast on the go I’ve been loving some pumpkin molasses muffins somewhat similar to those I posted about back in 2007. Though I have to say I’ve improved upon that recipe greatly tossed in a few little sparks of texture and flavor and have a phenomenal recipe going in the final edition of Nourishing Knits.

4. Then there is a long time favorite of mine, a copy cat recipe of a Great Harvest bread - pumpkin chocolate chip bread! Yum! I haven’t made any this year. I’m a little scared to run the numbers on it, though really it has lots of whole wheat in it so I may not be quite as bad as I think.

5. I love making pumpkin butter too! It is so good on pepperkakor as well as scones or morning toast. I only wish it could be safely canned. But since it is so dense and can’t be canned I just make sure to freeze enough puree for a batch that I do around the holidays so we can share it with friends and family.

6. There is of course also the traditional pumpkin pie, which I adore! I think I’ll be making a crustless version when my family is here is Thanksgiving since 4 of the 5 humans are watching their diets.

7. Oh, and how can I forget? I’ve managed to sneak in 2 of the minis this month, the pumpkin pie blizzard at Dairy Queen! So good! Though I can sort of satisfy my craving if I wear a blindfold and make a green pumpkin smoothie :-)

8. I made a wonderful pumpkin soup in the slow cooker from The Art of the Slow Cooker cookbook that we enjoyed all of last week. I tired of it a bit towards the end, but spiced it up with some chipotle powder and made it into a full meal with the addition of some white beans.

9. A local restaurant makes a wonderful pumpkin pecan waffle that I haven’t had yet this year, but will have to do an extra round of treadmill work here soon and indulge in it.

10. Our last batch of fruit-sweetened granola that I made was sweetened with pumpkin and banana puree. I over baked it a tad, but it has promise. Unfortunately that was the first time I decided to double the batch and use the full size oven (hence the over baking, I had been using our convection toaster oven over the summer).

I have a long list of pumpkin recipes I’d like to try yet. I ended up starting a pumpkin board on pinterest and will likely slowly add links to recipes that made my autumn linkity posts last year as I have a few minutes to spare here and there.

And don’t forget to pop by tomorrow for a savory pumpkin recipe I’ll be sharing!

I showed you a glance at Buttercream in yesterday’s post. I’m sure choosing a favorite pattern from the book is like saying one child of many is your favorite. But boy did I enjoy designing and knitting these gauntlets! They totally flew off my needles in record time. Thanks in part to cabling without a cable needle, though that isn’t required.

One of my favorite parts (other than the obvious cabling of course) are the thumb gussets. They are anatomically correct and actually grow out of the center of the palm, just as your flesh starts to form the thumb pad. It makes for a fabulous fit and helps keep the design better centered on the top of the hand. Of course if you have a favorite thumb gusset construction you could always substitute that in, though I would encourage you to give this one a try. You might never make another type of thumb gusset again!

The fingerless gauntlets are fully shaped with the decreases and increases worked right into the pattern. The two mock cables running along the side continue along the sides of the hand.

If you couldn’t already guess, the Buttercream pattern is paired with cupcake-related recipes for the book. I share my favorite cake/cupcake filling, rhubarb and a well-balanced almond buttercream frosting.

Amanda and I had a blast on this photoshoot, despite the cramped quarters of my dining room (Dear Santa, I need a wider angle lens for Christmas please). It was Amanda’s first time piping frosting and I think she did a wonderful job! We of course also had to sample our hard work…

Buttercream is written in one circumference with two different lengths (the longer length is shown here) for fingering weight yarn. This version is knit in Frog Tree Yarns’ Pediboo, whose bamboo content gives it enough sheen to really pop the twisted stitches. The longer length does require two skeins of Pediboo, though many other yarns can produce them with just one skein. For the longer length you’ll need roughly 290 yards, the shorter requires only 245 yards. Additional circumferences can be accommodated by changing gauge slightly. This sample pair fits both Amanda and myself (another @&* pounds heavier than she). In fact, I’ve been wearing them a bit this week while the weather is trying to decide between summer and fall. As with the other patterns in Nourishing Knits, the recipes are only in the book. If you wait for the pattern to be released separately it does not include the recipes.

Monday’s Nourishing Knits update was the final one until the whole book is released. So, when the next installment comes out the price goes up!

I’ll also be putting together a blog book tour once the book is complete. If you’d be interested in hosting a stop on that tour, let me know by dropping an e-mail to aberka at designedlykristi dot com. Please include your blog address in the e-mail!