No Cook Oatmeal and Hamburger Soup

It's been a rainy summer here in the SC low-country but I am not complaining. The rain has left everything so lush and green and so very pretty and I'll take that over a drought summer of dried up brown and dying vegetation any day.

It's made going outside difficult because of the mosquitoes and then there's always that nasty humidity whether it's raining out or not. But that's ok because lush and green, Y'all.

Our heart/diabetic friendly recipes for today are:

• no cook oatmeal
• burger soup

I found the no cook oatmeal on the American Heart Association site thinking it would be something Mother could make for herself when she returns home, that would be easily prepared, and done the night before so no morning prep would be necessary.

I cannot give Y'all my personal opinion of this recipe because, oatmeal. I do not do oatmeal, never have and hopefully never will. However, Mother loves oatmeal so I went with it. She was surprised at the taste. She didn't think she was going to like it because of the almond milk and honey (it's a tiny amount) but she said the taste was fantastic. The thing Mother did not love was she had to chew it but we're going to try it again (it makes a lot and she doesn't eat much per sitting) and add more almond milk before we heat it up. Yes, we heated it up even though the recipe did not call for it. I mean, cold oatmeal? UGH.

If Y'all would like to try it, here's the recipe:

No Cook Oatmeal

2 1/2 cup skim milk (I used almond milk)
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups rolled oats (not instant or quick-cooking)
2 bananas, halve lengthwise and sliced (I only used half of one banana but that's because I am doling out only one serving at a time)
1/4 cup chopped, unsalted pecans or walnuts (I didn't use these because Mother doesn't do nuts)

In a large, resealable container or bowl, add milk, honey, and extract. Stir to combine. Add the oats, stirring to combine thoroughly with milk, honey, and extract. Seal or cover and place in refrigerator over night.

In the morning, add bananas and serve.

See? No mention of heating it up. What would you call this? Summer oatmeal? Ha!

UPDATE: I tried to doctor this stuff up on Sunday morning (yesterday) but it simply could not be improved. We've decided to scrap the no cook oatmeal. If anyone tries it, let me know what you thought. 

Mother has always had ice water running through her veins meaning she is always cold so soup in August sounded good to her.

This is a variation of a hamburger soup I make in the winter. I got all thumbs up on this one even though I left out a couple of high salt ingredients.

Hamburger Soup

1 lb ground beef (I used ground turkey)
butter, oil, or cooking spray
peas
carrots
potatoes (I left these out because our recipes have to be diabetic friendly as well but you could use sweet potatoes)
green beans
light red kidney beans
brown rice (in lieu of the potatoes)
fire roasted tomatoes (I only used 1 can but you can use more if you want)
vegetable broth

You can use organic, frozen mixed veggies if you'd rather or if you're in a hurry. I usually use fresh veggies and I slice the carrots, dice the potatoes, snap the green beans, and throw in the peas (Trader Joe's has these amazing English peas in the produce section that I prefer to use in any recipe calling for peas.)  

Directions:

Brown the meat (I do add onions here unless Tucker is going to have some because dogs shouldn't eat onions) in a little oil, a little butter, or cooking spray, add the remaining ingredients and simmer for an hour or more depending on how long it takes the veggies to become tender. Serve.

We usually like cornbread with our soup but we just went with the soup this time.

I did start a Pinterest board for Heart Smart Recipes if you'd like to visit or follow. I will try to remember to update in the comment section under each recipe what we thought of it.

Stayed tuned, Y'all! There will be more heart/diabetic smart recipes coming soon!

Please visit my Etsy shop, CoasterDoodles

and feel free to FAVORITE the shop
or buy something! :)

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