Move More During The Day

A prevalent and concerning trend in modern society is the adoption of a more sedentary lifestyle, which has a significant negative impact on our health and well-being. The average person can spend a majority of their day sitting down. They can sit down at their job and sit down more when they are at home “relaxing” after a long day at work. Children are sitting more, as well. They spend their school day sitting in their classes, sitting doing their homework, and they also spend time sitting playing video games or watching TV after a “long day” at school. All this sitting is resulting in negative consequences for the overall health of society. How can we address the negative impact of prolonged sitting and promote a more active lifestyle? Get up and move more! Here are ways to incorporate movement into your day!

Alarm

One way is to set an alarm/reminder to get up from your desk and get some movement each hour. You do not need to go through an entire workout, but you can get up and take a walk around your office or home throughout the day. You can also go through a series of stretches to do at your desk or where you’ve been sitting. There are a number of Google searches and YouTube videos to help give you an idea of movements to complete that can take just a few minutes. Merely stretching out during your day can reap numerous benefits for you.

Stairs

Consider taking the stairs instead of using the elevator when you have an opportunity. If you are going up several floors in an elevator, consider stopping a few floors before and take the stairs for the rest. Or start on the stairs and catch the elevator on a higher floor to finish the journey. Make sure you can re-enter the floors after being on the steps before you begin this. Additionally, find ways to take easier stairs if you have a great number of floors to take between levels in a building, and you are new to this.  

Parking

You can park farther away from the building when you park to add some more steps into your day. You can do this when you are going shopping, on your way into work, when you are going to the doctor’s office, or even the grocery store. It should be easier to find a space as well because most people park as close to the building as possible.

Pacing

When you are on the phone, brushing your teeth, waiting for the elevator, or waiting for food to be prepared, you can pace around the area that you are in. You don’t need to go very far, but make sure you keep your body moving. If you have a walking tracker, you can figure out how many steps you add to your day simply by pacing around while you are doing other things or waiting for something to finish. You are going to end up being pleasantly surprised.

Avoid
One thing to avoid is becoming a “weekend warrior” where you try to make up for your sedentary lifestyle in one or two days on the weekend. There are a large number of people who try this and end up being injured because they pushed it too hard and went beyond their capabilities. You cannot make up for a week of sitting down in one day. You need to incorporate more movement in each day to notice the benefits to your health.

Combating the negative effects of prolonged sitting requires conscious effort to incorporate more movement into our daily routines. Whether it’s setting alarms to remind ourselves to get up and stretch, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking farther away to add more steps, pacing while waiting, or avoiding the temptation to become a “weekend warrior,” small changes can make a big difference in promoting an active lifestyle. By breaking the cycle of excessive sitting and finding ways to move more during the day, we can take steps towards improving our overall health and well-being.

Instagram Made Me Do It: Macaroni & Cheese By Quinton Washington’s Mom

So, it’s been a minute since something on social media has caused me to run to the store to get the ingredients. But……. I saw a video on BuzzFeedTasty’s (@buzzfeedtasty) Instagram account, and off I went to the store! Quinton Washington shared his mother’s Macaroni & Cheese recipe. Here is my take on it.

Recipe:

• 8 oz. mild yellow cheddar cheese
• 8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese (his was white cheddar, mine was yellow cheddar)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
• 1 T kosher salt
• 1 T sugar
• 1 t black pepper
• 1 (16 oz.) box elbow macaroni
• 3 T butter (his was unsalted, mine was salted) – plus more for greasing the baking dish
• 4 C shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Start a large pot of water heating to boil.
• Cut cheese bricks into ½” cubes.  (I have no idea how big that is, so I just chunked mine.)

• In a medium bowl, add eggs, milk, sugar, salt, and pepper–whisk to combine.

• When water is boiling, add macaroni and cook for 5–8 minutes. (I cooked mine for 8 minutes.) Turn off the heat and let the macaroni sit in the hot water for 3 minutes until tender. (I gauged 3 minutes while I was doing the other prep work.)

• Drain the macaroni and return it to the pot. (Here is where I drained the macaroni and then added the butter to the pan and the cheese. Then I re-read that I was supposed to put the macaroni back in the pan already–so I grabbed the macaroni and put it in the pan.)

• Turn the heat to low, add the butter and the cheese to the macaroni. Stir until butter and cheese are melted.

• Pour the macaroni into the 13 x 9 that you buttered. (Here is where I layered it. I put some macaroni in then added some of the cubed cheese, then added the rest of the macaroni, and then the cubed cheese on top.)

• Add the egg and milk mixture and cubed cheese. (My cheese was already in there, and I just poured the egg and milk mixture over top). Carefully fold into the macaroni until well combined. (All I did was pour it over the top. I didn’t mix anything).

• Bake for 25 – 30 minutes ( I did 30 minutes), or until cheese is bubbling and the top of the macaroni is golden brown.

A final note from me is–try and not eat the whole thing in one sitting. YES, I made this for MYSELF. Yes, it is 8 servings. Well, it is supposed to be 8 servings. I’m guessing my serving size is not the same. Let’s not get into that right now, though.  

Time Marches On

It’s funny how sometimes you are doing something, and it seems like time is dragging. Other times, when you are doing something, it seems like time is flying by. Each of these times, time still goes at the pace it does. It is you that is feeling different.

Time becomes an issue when you begin to state, “I’ll do it tomorrow”, then you realize tomorrow was actually five years ago. What happened there? There is the general thinking that you should be “present” in your life. This means when you are with people, physically and mentally be with them. Don’t spend your time looking at your phone, worrying about something that is happening later, or focusing on the past.

This is a good idea, but for most people, it will take discipline. It is easy to “space out” when you are listening to someone talk about a subject you are not a fan of or discussing some intricate thing in their life that doesn’t really interest you. Being present, though, has many benefits.

One of the benefits of being present is that it increases your ability to focus. You are concentrating on what is happening in front of you, so you are also taking in more information and having a richer experience.

Another benefit is that, at mealtime, you are less likely to overeat. How many times have you sat down with a bag of chips and seemingly two seconds later you are reaching around in the now empty bag wondering what happened to the chips? Certainly, you couldn’t have eaten them ALL?! The other part of that problem is that it takes your food about 20 min to reach your stomach, so you start to feel like Violet from Willy Wonka as you are feeling full, but all of your food hasn’t made it to your stomach yet.

When you are more present in your life, you are also more connected to your surroundings and the people within your circle. This can give you a greater sense of purpose for your life and better relationships. Your sense of happiness can be deeper.

All you need to do to begin is just begin. Notice your breath and your physical body while you are with people. Notice how your clothes feel, what your hands are doing, and what the people around you are saying. If your mind starts to wander, bring it back. Take a deep breath and notice it. It will take time, but you can do this.

An important benefit to being present in your life is that you won’t feel like time is slipping away. You will be mindful of every day that you have, your priorities will align with your time, and you will notice that you are doing more needle-moving activities that take you one step closer to reaching all of your goals.

Why I Write

… because I have things to say.

… because people told me that I have a story to tell.

… because I like to think about and discuss things.

… because I can tell other’s stories in new and different ways.

… because I want to.

… because I have so many things swimming around in my head.

… because it helps me gather my thoughts.

… because I feel compelled to.

… because I have stories in my head.

… because it calms me to share my thoughts.

…because I believe people want to hear what I have to say.

…because I can think better on paper.

…because I want to share my imagination and creativity.

…because kids like my silly stories.

…because adults like my stories too!

…because I want to share the beauty I see in the every day.

…because I am fascinated by EVERYONE and EVERYTHING.

…because I like to look at everyday things in a new way.

…because it’s my passion.

…BECAUSE I CAN!

 

 

Update: Caramel Sauce

Just wanted to share with you (and grandma) that I tried it again and succeeded! It’s a lovely golden color and tastes heavenly.

The original attempt at caramel was here: Pinterest Made Me Do It: Maple Caramel Carrot Cake.

cooked caramel

Pinterest Made Me Do It: Maple Caramel Carrot Cake

So, I have a Pinterest,  and I keep track of my popular pins. One of my popular pins seemingly every week is this Maple Caramel Carrot Cake. There is someone almost every week that is repinning this onto one of their boards. After seeing this month after month, I decided that it was high time that I actually tried making the cake to see how it would turn out. That’s what this post is about.

Here is the recipe from the pin:

INGREDIENTS

Carrot Cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• pinch ground cloves
• 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups grated carrots lightly packed, approx. 4 large carrots

Maple Caramel:

• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 2/3 cup unsalted butter room temperature
• 4 oz cream cheese full fat, room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
• 1 tsp vanilla

Assembly:

• 4 Tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup pecans chopped, toasted

I went to the store and picked up the ingredients (well, almost all of them — we’ll get to that)

I started by assembling the dry ingredients:

 

Flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice

Dry ingredients for Maple Caramel Carrot Cake

As you can see instead of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves, I only have one bottle — pumpkin pie spice. Surprisingly, those are the ingredients for pumpkin pie spice. So, one bottle will do! I did need to worry about how much to put in though. I was thinking of calling my sister because she is good at all that figuring. Me? Not so much. I decided to just wing it. Instead of putting all figures into some calculation, I put in 2 T of pumpkin pie spice.

The picture above right is all the dry ingredients in the mixing bowls getting ready to be whisked together.

Now onto the wet ingredients.

Eggs, vanilla, white sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil

Here are all the wet ingredients assembled together. I kind of cheated in this picture because I have the “good – picture ready” brown sugar instead of the gnarly hard as a rock little bag of dark brown sugar that I used. I put the brown sugar in a microwave safe container and placed a damp paper towel on it, then zapped it in the microwave for 20 seconds to re-soften it. It had lumps, so I put the hard-ish lumps in with some of the oil and white sugar into a Magic Bullet® mixer, tossed in the eggs, and whipped the lumps out.

Wet ingredients in the bowl

Here are the wet ingredients assembled in another bowl. (This was before the lumps were scooped out and Bulleted away.) I tried to mix this by hand, but the lumps were getting on my nerves. They needed to go. At this point, I had not actually preheated the oven yet, so I did. I wasn’t sure how long all my assembly was going to take and it’s hot here, so I was going to turn the oven on as late as possible.

Now comes assembly time! I purchased already shredded carrots to make sure there were no shredded fingers in the cake with the shredded carrots. See how nice the wet ingredients look? Magic Bullet®.

wet ingredients, dry ingredients, shredded carrots

I ended up buying too many carrots. I am not good at eyeballing how much I need. I used one bag for this cake.

carrot cake batter poured into pans

Here is the carrot cake batter poured into pans. What pans did I use?  I used foil throw away pans that were under $2 for 3 at the store. I greased and floured the pans and used a cookie sheet under it because I wasn’t sure if it was going to cook over, or if the pans would get weird because they were foil. They were fine: I didn’t actually need the cookie sheet. In the oven they go. Now onto the caramel.

Okay, I’m a dork and I used to go to the Geauga County Maple Festival in Chardon, BUT I wasn’t interested in buying REAL maple syrup because it’s expensive, and I have no use for it after this recipe. I picked up some cheap not so maple pancake syrup from the store. Then began to fret because it wouldn’t get thick and sit right on the cake. So, I looked up a caramel recipe instead and made that.

 

sugar and water on stove

sugar bubbling away

This is a cup of sugar and 1/3 c of water in a saucepan. The idea is to NOT STIR this and put it on medium heat until the sugar melts and it gets all bubbly good. To stop the sauce from cooking, you pour in 2/3 cup heavy cream.

 

heavy cream

issues opening heavy cream

chip clip to close heavy cream

As the old cartoons would say, “Fricka Fraka Bricka Bracka” Why can’t I open this damn thing normally. It reminded me of the nightmare at lunch trying to get the little carton of milk open without spilling it all over the place. I gave up after trying the one side and just ripped the whole top open. Think you’re going to show me up Mr. Heavy Cream! Oh, and I didn’t need the whole amount for this recipe. What’s a girl to do?   Well, a handy dandy chip clip will close that right up for ya! I ended up pouring that into a cup of coffee I made.

 

sugar and water on stove

cooked caramel

At this juncture, I can hear my grandmother sighing. “Girl, you have no patience! You needed to heat that longer so it would actually brown. It’s too light. It doesn’t look like the picture.”

Oh well.

I finished that with the heavy cream and 2 T of butter then called it done. Oh, and for good measure, I threw in some pancake syrup in case there was even a hint of some kind of maple in there.

So, it’s light. It’s still tasty. Now it is frosting time!

powdered sugar, butter, cream cheese

The frosting is simply powdered sugar, butter, and cream cheese. Yum! Apparently, I didn’t think it was important to take a picture of the frosting. Just picture a small round bowl with white delicious cream cheese frosting in it. Time to take the cake out!

sun photo

 

The carrot cake looks lovely (better than that seasoned cookie sheet), and I let these sit in the pan for 10 minutes before I put them on plates to finish cooling. This had to happen in the fridge because, as stated earlier, it’s hot here.

cooked carrot cake

carrot cake cooling on plates

As you can see, the foil baking rounds created a lovely edge for the cake. Now to level the layers, so the cake sits evenly.

 

leveling the carrot cake

close up of carrot cake texture

After leveling the cake, I took a close-up photo to show the texture of the cake. Also, with the leveling, I got to sample everything before it was assembled into the finished cake. Bonus!

finished carrot cake

sliced finished carrot cake

I frosted the bottom layer and drizzled some caramel on it, then put on the top layer repeating the process, and finished it off by sprinkling some shredded carrots on top. Obviously, my grandmother would be mentioning that the caramel could have been darker. I also drizzled some pancake syrup on it again for the desired possible hint of maple effect. It does not look like the photo from the pin, but we’ll just say I made it my own from the creative end. Oh! I almost forgot; you’ll notice there are no pecans on the cake. Yeah, I forgot to buy those.  Still delicious!

My Comfort Foods Aren’t Comforting

I was driving in the car today thinking about food. I don’t think about food all the time, but lately, I’ve been wondering why I want to eat the things I do. I was thinking about the idea of comfort food. I gathered that was food that people want to eat to remember the past and feel better. Then I began to wonder what my comfort food was. Not so much exactly what it was, per se, but more why I called it that. I didn’t have a happy childhood. When we had an abundance of casseroles that meant somebody died. We ate spaghetti once a week and Hamburger Helper because we couldn’t afford anything else. Little Debbie was a member of our family because “she” was cheap.

I tend to lean towards carberific food when I want comfort food. But I’m not eating to eat. I’m eating to feel better. That’s not the point of food. Food isn’t supposed to be around to make us feel better about our lives. And let’s say I eat it then…..I don’t eat until I’m full…..I eat until I feel better. That’s not right either. I can eat a box of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. I add more butter, so I don’t have to worry about the milk part. I do not eat a bowl of cereal; I eat a box of cereal. While I’m eating one bowl, I’m already thinking about the next. As long as the milk holds out, I keep filling the bowl. Do I feel “better” when I’m done? Hell, no! I feel full and uncomfortable. Was that what I was really going for?

When my mother went to the Dr. (she went A LOT) we would get a candy bar from the pharmacy for our troubles. It was a Cadbury Milk Bar. I was partial to the caramel ones. When I go to the Dr. as an adult (seldom), I want a candy bar. Exactly a Cadbury Milk Bar Caramel flavored so I can think about my mother. Was my mother healthy? Nope, we went to the Dr. a lot with her because she had chronic illness, several bouts of almost dying, and she took a crap ton of pills. But I equate this with candy. Does this sound comforting? Not really.

Let’s not even think about birthdays at our house. Our birthdays were almost all so close together that every week we had a new cake for over a month. We couldn’t lump anyone’s birthday together. We all had to have our own cake. Cake came with ice cream and for me, a lot of frosting!

So where does my idea of food and comfort come from then?

My one grandmother used to make homemade macaroni and cheese; my other grandmother preferred Kraft. I want both. I stayed with my homemade macaroni and cheese grandmother when my mother was in the hospital so long we needed to go to school somewhere else for a while. I also stayed with her after I got divorced because my mother died within the same time frame (a week after the divorce) and at that point, I just couldn’t. I couldn’t function, I just had no idea what to do with myself. I was never getting divorced and because I did, my mother was supposed to help me through this. This was not very comforting either. But I did get the opportunity to eat some stale doughnuts (because they were on sale), all of the homemade holiday candy, the onslaught of Easter chocolate, the nut rolls during the holidays, and of course the homemade macaroni & cheese. The only problem with this was that I was an emotional zombie at this time. I went to work and came home. That was the extent of my life for about a year after I was divorced. My grandfather started telling me that I needed to get out of the house. He didn’t even care if I stayed out all night, I just needed to go back to the land of the living because I was creeping everyone out at the house.

Then I took care of my Kraft Macaroni & Cheese grandmother for several years towards the end of her life. We had fun times. We went on a winery tour around Ohio. I paid for the tour for just myself, but she was so damn cute that every winery gave her free stuff. My grandmother was diabetic. My father (her son) wanted her to live her life however she wanted, so one day a week he would take her out and they would eat junk. She would buy candy, ice cream, whatever crap she wanted to eat, and he let her. Does this sound comforting? She always had a stomachache afterward. ALWAYS! My brother and sister-in-law wanted to help, so they bought her sugar-free candy. She ate the WHOLE BAG in one sitting. Ever look at some of the sugar-free candy bags? There’s a warning on there. “Excessive consumption can have a laxative effect.” Yeah, it did. Was that comforting? NO!

So, what is comfort food? I have no idea. I know that I seldom have bread, cereal, pasta, or candy bars in my house. I don’t eat a few and don’t eat til full, so they can’t be around. Will I go out to a restaurant and eat the bread that’s put on the table? Sometimes. Other times I simply say, “No thanks.” and make them take the bread away from the table. I make homemade macaroni and cheese and eat Kraft once in a blue moon now. I still look at the Cadbury Milk Bars in the grocery store, but I simply walk past them instead of telling myself, “I deserve this.”

I know everyone has problems. Most likely the majority of people did not have a happy childhood. I’m not really talking about everyone else here though. Just myself and the idea of comfort food.

I’m not sure what type of food would actually make me happy. I’ve eaten candy bars and noticed that about 5 seconds after I finish it, the taste is already gone out of my mouth. The calories surprisingly are still there, but the taste and memory of the food are already gone. Then I begin to think I got gypped. I think if I’m going to have well over my calorie limit for the day, I should at least get to enjoy it longer.

So, then I’m left with the idea of what is comfort food? I still have no idea.

Memories From Youth

It’s amazing when you are growing up before you get the chance to go to your friends’ houses, what you consider “normal”. It’s all fine ‘til you visit your friends for the first time and realize that they can have an entire room with nothing in it. You ask if they just moved in, and they let you know they grew up in the house. You wonder what anyone reads. Why are there no newspapers strewn about or magazines lying around? Where is the furniture? How does anyone live like this? Then they come to your house, look around, and think the same thing! LOL!

Some of the strongest memories I have from growing up revolve around food. It’s funny because growing up meant cooking for a crowd. When I moved out on my own, I still cooked for the crowd and needed to learn how to drastically cut back the servings. Leftovers got old and abundant. One thing we had often was spaghetti. Often, like once a week. We had pizza once a week as well. Another staple was the good old casserole.

Casseroles were for dinner, to make if anyone was sick, hospitalized, and to take to funerals. You could always tell something was wrong by looking in the fridge and seeing the abundance of casseroles from friends and family. Tuna Noodle Casserole was always a hit along with any type of chicken and rice casserole. My mother was sick a great deal of my childhood so the church choir members would bring over casserole for the family. What made this interesting was that the choir was made up of many people from different nationalities. This meant you weren’t always sure what exactly was in the casserole. All they said was, “Here’s some casserole.”

Another food-centered event growing up was birthdays! Most of our birthdays happened within weeks of each other. Everyone had their own cake; there was no sharing. Some of us had a train cake with the different candy cars, ice cream cakes, fruit-filled cake basically it was a sugarfest for months! It’s been interesting growing up and trying to have a different relationship with food. I mean Little Debbie was practically a member of our family! When I first moved out on my own, I never bought snacks. So no pretzels, chips or anything like that. When family visited, they didn’t know how I could live like that! LOL!

I think back and remember the memories from growing up. I try (some hit some miss) to make the recipes from my youth and remember family members who’ve passed.

Review: Are You Fully Charged? The 3 Keys to Energizing Your Work and Life by Tom Rath

Tom Rath’s book is broken down into three sections – Meaning, Interactions and Energy. Each section builds upon the last to give you a whole body/energy boost. The book flow is easy to follow and broken up nicely with the sections/chapters.

Tom share’s his background, and how the events of his life shaped his thoughts and actions. He offers a call to action to look for meaning in life over the mere pursuit of happiness. Throughout the book, there are many ideas/concepts that would be great to ponder over some deep reflection. This is not a book to read and place back on the shelf, but a book to read and reflect on the message and how it applies to your life.

Every day and every interaction is a chance for a deeper more meaningful life, and Tom shows you how to recognize and tap into this. Part of your positive energy comes from who you surround yourself with and the way you interact with others. There is always a choice to make to see the positive or focus on the negative. Tom explains the importance of this choice, and what can happen when you focus on the positive.

One of the main points of the book is to take care of yourself. Make sure that you eat for health, get a great night’s sleep and remain active throughout the day. Each of these will have an effect on your energy level. We live in a grab-and-go meal society, where everything should be quick. Also, if we aren’t burning the midnight oil, we must not be productive enough. Tom wants you to review each of these areas of your life, and see how you can make changes that will produce a greater impact.

The book is a good choice for anyone looking to review the way they currently live, and for those ready to make a change. It offers the ability to review several areas of your life and offers ways to improve those areas.

Dublin Coddle and Irish Soda Bread

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I would make some traditional Irish fair. I didn’t want to go the corned beef and cabbage route, so I looked around for some interesting sounding dishes that were different. Now, the one, the Irish Soda Bread, is pretty traditional. I found one that used oatmeal in the recipe, so I figured that was good enough for the different category. The other dish I found looking up one of the “100 Greatest Irish Dishes” lists. Got past all of the corned beef this and cabbage that recipes and settled upon the Dublin Coddle. The original recipe is here. Surprisingly, didn’t stray too far from the recipe on this one. LOL

Dublin Coddle – Irish Sausage, Bacon, Onion and Potato Hotpot

5 lb bag of potatoes

2 large onions, peeled and sliced thickly

1 lb of good quality pork sausages

1 lb of thick cut bacon

2 cups of water

1 ham (beef or chicken) stock cube

3 – 4 T fresh parsley, chopped

Salt (to taste)

Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

The potatoes need to be peeled and cut into 2 -4 chunks depending upon how big they are. The small ones can just remain whole.

The onions need to be sliced thickly and set aside

The 1 lb of pork sausage and 1 lb of bacon are to be cooked long enough to give them color. They will be sitting in a pot for hours in the oven, so giving them a hint of color to begin with will suffice.

The stock cube is put into the 2 cups of water to dissolve, and the water is brought to a boil.

There is the choice to leave the sausage whole or cut them up. I choose to cut the sausages into thirds, and just cut the bacon in half.

I also did not drain the sausages or the bacon in the traditional sense…..I put the bacon and sausage fat in the pot.

The oven is preheated to 300 degrees. In a large heavy pot (that can go on the stove and in the oven) you start layering the ingredients: onions, bacon, sausage, potato, parsley, salt and pepper then repeat. This layering continues until all of the ingredients are used up. Then the stock water that you made is poured on top, and the water is brought to a boil on the stove. From here you put the lid on the pot and place it in the oven. I chose instead just to cover the top of the pot tightly with foil. This worked fine.

It is supposed to cook for 3 hours with a check on the water level after 2 hours. More water should be added to make sure that there is a minimum of 1 inch of water in the pot.

I used a small can of beef broth instead of the stock cube, and there was never a need to add more water to the pot.

What to do during the hours of cooking?

Hey, how did THAT picture get in there?

Additionally, I only cooked mine for about an hour and a half and when I checked everything it was done. So at that point I took it out and let it sit on the stove for a short while before tasting.

And this cooking faster let me make the soda bread quicker.

Irish Oatmeal Soda Bread

This recipe is pretty straightforward with ingredients and execution.

Ingredients:

4 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup old fashioned oats

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking soda

4 tbsp cold butter, cut into small chunks

1 ½ tsp salt

1 ¾ cups well-shaken buttermilk

1 egg, lightly beaten

The oven is heated to 375 degrees and instead of a bread pan; this bread is cooked on a parchment lined cookie sheet. I did not have parchment paper, so I greased and floured a round portion of cookie sheet. The bread did not stick.

The flour is combined with the oats, baking soda, sugar and salt. The butter is cut into this with your hands, making sure that any large lumps are gone.

The egg is lightly beaten and combined with the buttermilk.

The dry ingredients are mixed with the wet, and the mixture is formed into a round-ish ball. It is a free-form loaf, so you can shape how you want. This is then placed on the parchment lined baking sheet, and placed in the oven for 50 min.You cut an X into the top of the loaf before it bakes. It is recommended to let it cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

When I made the bread, I looked to see if it still had a wet look about it, when it looked dry was when I took it out.

Sadly, there was no Guinness to be had with this meal, but it was a good choice all the same.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!