Oatmeal Pancake For One

There are a jillion posts about overnight oatmeal out there.  I tried one I found on Pinterest, but it was 9 ponts on WW and it was really hard to swallow, gloopy is an accurate description.  Then my friend Lisa made one that looks way better here, and there is no Greek Yogurt, but there is peanut butter.  I haven't tried hers, but it sounds yummy.  But here I am, wanting oatmeal, but not wanting a bowl of oatmeal.  The truth is, there are a lot of points in it, and I need protein for breakfast because I eat right after my work out.  So I thought I would share my Oatmeal Pancake For One!

After breakfast, well, actually after lunch, when I woke up the princess, she said, "I thought I smelled pancakes, then I remembered only Mom was home, so, not likely!"  Well, wasn't she surprised when I made her one!  She has one a few times a week now!

Although I grew up close to a Quaker Oats plant, I have forsaken it for Bob's thick cut oatmeal.  I love the chew of this oatmeal.  A traditional bowl requires a little more cooking than Quaker, but for making this pancake it is quick and perfect.  I do still buy Quaker Old Fashion for my cookies though.  I also needed a protein source, so eggs are easy, cheap and low fat.  I use a whole and a white, that way, Sookie-the-one-eyed-Bichon gets a healthy little yolk for breakfast!  (See her cute little face on this post!)  I chose to sweeten with Agave Nectar, but you could use sugar, honey, stevia, whatever.  I also had some leftover buttermilk and added a dash.

Oatmeal Pancake For One 
7 Points Plus on Weight Watchers

1/4 cup Bob's Oatmeal
1 egg
1 egg white
1/2 Tablespoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
splash of buttermilk (optional, could also use soy, coconut, almond or cow!)
fresh fruit  I used blueberries, but anything would be tasty

Beat the eggs with a fork and get them foamy, add the oats, cinnamon, nectar, and milk and mix well.  Pour into a hot omelet pan and as the edges set, but it is still gooey, sprinkle on your fruit.  Carefully flip when the top begins to set, and cook until browned.  Depending on the spread, I find the best way to get it out of the pan is to lay your plate over the top, and carefully, flip!
So, what are you waiting for!  Get in there and cook!

Happy Birthday Cookies

Today my daughter's bestie turns 20!  Happy Birthday Sara!  And in 2 short weeks, my daughter turns 19.  As these girls get older that age difference makes less and less of a difference.  But way back when we were in kindergarten, it could have been a huge difference.  I often wonder, what if?  What if I had kept her in preschool another year?  Who would her friends have been?  What would be different?

Thankfully, there are no do-overs, so we can wonder, but thankfully never know if ultimately it was the best choice.  She is happy, well adjusted, does fine in school, and yes, she was one of the youngest, but in college, this all makes no difference.  We decided on a platter of candles.

Small cookies to share with all those girls.  I got my inspiration from Maryann of CookieArtisan.  It is relatively easy to be inspired by her, she is a true artist and her platters are stunning.  She even did an appearance on Martha, yes, she is that good.  I love these Americolor Electrics for coloring, and I think these are the perfect birthday platter!

Butterfinger Ice Cream Pie

Delicious!

Butterfinger goodness in every bite!

Mr. Preppy loves Whitey's Ice Cream Butterfinger Malt.  This is a hometown favorite, and when we head to Iowa, it is a given that after pizza at Happy Joe's (see one of my most popular posts, ever) we head to Whitey's.  I decided for Father's Day I was going to make something we would all like that incorporated Butterfinger Ice Cream, but could be shared.  So I whipped up this pie.

Let's start with the crust.  It had to be home made, but there were no Nabisco Famous Wafers to be found anywhere.  I have a real grocery store problem.  I was born and raised in the grocery business, and here I am in a major metropolitan city with Kroger.  That's it.  Oh I have a Fresh Market I love just a minute from home, but you can't get Tide, or Milk Bones or Nabisco Famous Wafers there.  As it turns out, the Kroger I chose to shop at yesterday didn't have them either.  I dislike Kroger so much.  This store is SOOO big, if you don't get a cart, your arm will fall off carrying the basket.  I fill it and then ditch it at the head of aisles so I am not lugging it around.

So what to do about my crust?  I opted to NOT buy a premade crust, as this Kroger doen't even carry the Nabisco or Keebler in chocolate, just the house brand.  And the anemic looking chocolate was unappetizing.  I made my own wafers a few weeks ago, but I have so much going on, it just wasn't an option.  So I settled on Newman's Own Chocolate Cookies.  They are little alphabet cookies, and I remember buying them for my kids.  They have great chocolate flavor, so I figured it was worth a try.

Better then Famous Wafers!

Chocolate Crust
1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (1-7 oz. bag of Newman's Own Alphabet Cookies)
7 Tablespoons butter, melted
3 Tablespoons sugar

Process cookies in food processor until fine crumbs.  Add sugar and pulse.  Transfer to bowl and add butter.  Mix until it comes together and press into pie dish and up sides.  Cover with foil and place in freezer.

Don't boil the cream.

Then came the ice cream.  I am not a fan of custard based ice cream.  Finding a recipe I could fool around with was not as easy as it sounds.  I ended up with an Alton Brown base.  Very simple the way I did it.

2 cups half and half
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup minus 2T sugar
1 T vanilla paste
6 fun size Butterfinger

Heat on stove to 170F, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Add  vanilla paste off the heat.  Let cool slightly and add 1 crushed Butterfinger (fun size), and stir to dissolve as much as you can and infuse that flavor.  Cover and chill thoroughly before processing in ice cream freezer.

Chill before you beat them for the best results.

Place in ice cream freezer, and when the ice cream has almost doubled in size, fold in 5 more crushed fun size Butterfingers and spread the ice cream into prepared crust. Place in the freezer while you make the fudge top.

It would be delicious just like this.  Does not need ganache!

Fudge Top
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1 T butter
1 T half and half
1 fun size Butterfinger

Melt over double boiler and stir until smooth.  Cool to room temp before spreading over the top of ice cream pie, and garnish with one crushed Butterfinger fun size. Cover loosely and freeze until ready to serve.
This went over very well!  It was delicious, no doubt.  We decided it doesn't need the chocolate ganache on top, it is almost too much together.  The ice cream alone is delicious, and the crust got 8 thumbs up.  I think I will skip the Famous Wafers all together and stick to these little cookies!

There were demands for seconds, so this did not last long!