A souffle'd casserole of baked grits with cheese and sausage.

Baked Garlic Cheese Grits with Sausage

I love my stovetop version of garlic cheese grits. They are a creamy, cheesy, and perfect garlicky cradle for eggs in purgatory, shrimp and grits, or grillades and grits, or as a tasty side dish, great with scrambled or fried, dirty eggs.  Last week though, we were chatting over on the Facebook page about everybody's favorite way to make a baked, casserole-style cheese grits, like this one; souffle-like and fluffy.

Pralines & Cream Oatmeal

Here's another one for The Oatmeal Chronicles - or How to Make Your Oatmeal More Interesting. I started off trying to create one thing and then thought about this instead. Oh my gosh was this a delicious treat!! Don't prepare the topping until right before you need it though, because if you do boil it too long it will eventually harden like candy once it starts cooling. You want it warm and pliable as a topping. This topping is also a great accent for just about anything sweet - try it drizzled over Greek yogurt, cake, ice cream or cheesecake!

Pralines & Cream Oatmeal
Posted at http://deepsouthdish.com

Praline Topping

4 tablespoons of Land O'Lakes unsalted butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of light corn syrup
1/4 cup of chopped pecans
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Melt the butter in the microwave using at least a 2 cup measure. Stir in the brown sugar, cream and corn syrup and return to the microwave, heating on high for about 1 minute, stirring halfway through. Stir in the pecans, return to the microwave for about 1 more minute or until bubbly. Set aside to cool.

Oatmeal

3/4 cup of Quaker old fashioned oatmeal
pinch of salt
1-1/2 cups of water
Heavy cream to drizzle
Drizzle of honey
Tiny pinch of chopped pecan for garnish

Combine the oatmeal, salt and water in a large microwave safe bowl, between 2 and 4 quarts to allow for expansion. Stir together well and microwave on high for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your microwave, or until oatmeal is creamy.

Spoon oatmeal into serving dish and drizzle it with cream around the outside edges and a bit on top. Spoon praline topping in the center and drizzle a bit of honey on top. Garnish with a pinch of chopped pecan.

Grits Cakes

Leftover garlic cheese grits, poured into a loaf pan and refrigerated overnight, then sliced into wedges, dipped in seasoned flour and deep fried.

Deep Fried Grit Cakes

Remember those yummy garlic cheese grits we made last weekend? Well, we're about to turn these into some awesome grit cakes! Talk about good. Give 'em a try ... they are fantastic!

First preheat your deep fryer to 355 degrees, or heat oil in a large skillet. In a medium bowl, mix up some flour with salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning.

A favorite breakfast staple of grits are taken a step up with the addition of garlic and cheese, making them the perfect bed for shrimp and grits, grillades or eggs in purgatory.

Creamy Southern Garlic Cheese Grits

Grits, plain with just butter, salt and lots of pepper are a delicious Southern staple. They are made from hominy or plain corn that has been finely ground to the consistency of sand and are typically served as a side dish with eggs and toast at breakfast, but often show up at other meals too.

I love grits, but I truly love garlic cheese grits. I mean these make my eyes roll back they are so good - creamy, cheesy and loaded with garlic. And, if you're lucky you'll have some left to make fried grit cakes too, because they are over the top, I'm tellin' ya!

Lemon Banana Oatmeal with Honey Graham Crumble

 

Well, so far, I'm still workin' out of my pantry folks! This is solid proof how great it is to keep a well-stocked pantry and especially a well-stocked freezer. While I am beginning to run out of basic things like milk and yellow onions, we've still got plenty to choose from to build great meals right out of the pantry.

Today I had exactly one banana left and just a little bit of walnuts, so I thought I would add to my Oatmeal Chronicles by doing an oatmeal with banana today. Now I just love my banana bread that has a bit of citrus in it, including fresh lemon juice, so I thought that I would try a little bit of lemon with the banana in my oatmeal and I'm so glad I did. It adds just a wonderful bit of tartness that was just delicious with the sweetness of the honey. Don't have fresh lemons this time? Well here's a tip that will ensure that in the future you always do!

In the pantry I also had one sleeve of honey graham crackers left in an opened package, so I decided to take one-half of a cracker and crumble that up to top off the oatmeal. Lemon with banana, topped with a little honey graham and finished with a nice drizzle of honey ... a really great way to start the day!

Nutritional Factoid: Did you know that flaxseed is extremely high in Omega-3 essential fatty acids, the good fat? And, doctors are looking at it for its possible effects on lowering cholesterol, stabilizing blood sugar, lowering the risk of breast, prostate, and colon cancers, and reducing the inflammation of arthritis, as well as the inflammation that accompanies certain illnesses such as Parkinson's disease and asthma? (Source: WebMD) So when you can, add it into your foods!

Lemon Banana Oatmeal
with Honey Graham Crumble
Posted at http://deepsouthdish.com/

One whole banana, cut into slices, divided
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup of Quaker Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1-3/4 cups of water (or can substitute milk)
Dash of salt
1 tablespoon of chopped walnuts, divided
1 teaspoon of flax meal or crushed flaxseed
About 1 tablespoon of honey, divided
1/2 of a honey graham cracker, crushed
Drizzle of cream, optional

Slice the banana and toss with the lemon juice; set aside.

Combine the oatmeal, water, salt, most of the chopped walnut and the flax meal in a large microwave save bowl. Microwave for between 3 to 5 minutes, or until oatmeal is creamy. Microwaves vary so it may take more or less time with your microwave.

Remove, stir in most of the banana with the lemon juice, reserving a few slices for garnish and drizzle with about 1/2 of the honey; gently stir to combine. Transfer to serving bowls. Top each serving with a couple of banana slices, sprinkle with the crushed honey graham cracker, and drizzle the remaining honey all over the top. If you're not watching your fat and calories, melt a little bit of butter and drizzle that over the top of those graham crackers and around the top of the oatmeal too. Finish with just a drizzle of cream right around the edges of the bowl, if desired.

Enjoy!

Serves 1 or 2

The Quaker package lists this serving size as the "Heart Healthy Serving Size" providing 3 grams of soluble fiber, but it is quite a lot and certainly enough to split into 2 servings.

5 Weight Watchers Points for 1/2 of recipe, not including cream

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Apple Pie Oatmeal with Walnuts

Oatmeal, seasoned with apple pie spices and cooked with pieces of fresh apple.

I love oatmeal - and it is so good for you, heart healthy and well, honestly warms you up from the inside out. It also seems to stay with me longer than other breakfasts do, I guess because of the whole grain fiber you're gettin' from it. Usually I just do my oatmeal pretty basic without a lot of fanfare, but I've decided that I want to get a bit more adventurous so I thought that I would chronicle any different types of oatmeal that I decide to try. Today, I have apples I want to use up, so it was still pretty basic - apples and cinnamon with some walnuts tossed in. Let's call it apple pie oatmeal.

Nutritional Factoid: Did you know that walnuts are an extremely high and most excellent source of Omega-3 essential fatty acids, and that they are great brain food?


Apple Pie Oatmeal with Walnuts
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

3/4 cup of quick cooking or old fashioned oatmeal
1-3/4 cups of water (or substitute milk)
Dash of salt
One whole apple, unpeeled, cored and cut in chunks
Cinnamon Sugar*
Dash of allspice, nutmeg and ginger
1 tablespoon of chopped walnuts
Drizzle of cream, optional

Combine the oatmeal, water, salt and apple in a large microwave save bowl. Microwave for between 3 to 5 minutes, or until oatmeal is creamy and apples are tender. Microwaves vary so it may take more or less time with your microwave.

Remove, transfer to serving bowls. Mix the cinnamon sugar with the allspice, nutmeg and ginger, sprinkle the top of each serving generously with the mixture, top with walnuts and stir to mix it all together. Taste for sweetness and top with additional cinnamon sugar as desired. Drizzle a small amount of cream just around the edges of the bowl.

Enjoy!

Serves 1 or 2

*Cinnamon Sugar: Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1 heaping tablespoon of cinnamon and pour into a shaker bottle. I use an emptied cinnamon spice jar that has a shaker insert in the top and a screw on cap to store mine.

The Quaker package lists this serving size as the "Heart Healthy Serving Size" providing 3 grams of soluble fiber, but it is quite a lot and certainly enough to split into 2 servings.