Steel Cut Oats- Jamba Juice Copy Cat

So I was telling you all how much I love steel cut oatmeal. Today, I have your recipe for the yummiest oatmeal ever. Please remember you must buy STEEL CUT the quick oats and old fashioned oats will not give you the same results. If you buy the wrong stuff you will have a warm oatmeal smoothie. 

Quaker makes some in a blue container but I have had luck at Trader Joe's. It is more expensive than the "regular" oatmeal but so much tastier and a texture that your mouth will just not believe. For those of you who have had the Jamba Juice oatmeal, you know what I am talking about. You could do a Christmas morning oatmeal bar. A perfect bowl of oatmeal on a cold Christmas morning. Just remember when cooking, it expands like rice.

Enjoy. Until next time,

Nicole

Steel Cut Oatmeal

2 cups steel cut  (NOT Quick Oats!)
8 cups Vanilla Soy Milk

Toppings

banannas & brown sugar
dried fruit
pecans
rasins
nuts
cranberries
blueberries


Combine all in slowcooker and cook on low for 8 hours. Alternative method : cook in the rice cooker in porridge mode or regular. Stir in more soy milk to your liking and top with your favorite toppings. If you prefer plain, just top with some brown sugar.

The Perfect Christmas Tree

Photo: South Coast Plaza tree

Many of you are overachievers when it comes to Christmas decorating. Some of you are already done but I have not even started my Christmas tree. Lucky for us, we have a professional Christmas decorator giving us some tips. May I please introduce Sophia Mirasol with her handy Christmas tree decorating tips.

Christmas has to be my favorite time of the year. Amidst the hustle and bustle, I find a moment of peace when I sit beside the Christmas tree. It is a joy when my boys sit with me and discuss which is their favorite decoration on the tree.

Here are some tips that will make holiday decorating as simple as pie. . .

1. Start with a thick pre-lit tree. One that has mixed leaf textures and wired pine cones is even better.
2. If it is not a pre-assembled (fold up) type, arrange all the layers in ascending order.
3. Use the pointed plastic attachment of your vacuum cleaner and vacuum your tree.
4. Assemble and fluff all leaves pointing upward and up. This will make it easy to balance any decoration you will hang.
5. Add fancy lights to match your theme. I love star lights or icicle shaped lights. You can scatter them or bunch them for greater impact. Add your lit tree top. Always use proper extension cords and plug them into an AVR or fused outlet strip.
6. Add vines or leaves. Then add berries or a second color of leaves. Play with a coordinated pallette for a playful look or go a range of mono chromatic for a more elegant look.
7. Add Christmas flowers. Poinsettias are the most popular but you can use any flower. Remember that the flowers must be in proportion to the size of the tree. The larger the tree, the larger the flowers.
8. Add your most special ornaments first to be able to position them in the most noticed places. Add different shaped balls, snow flakes, gilded pine cones. You can work these in inner portions of the tree. Secure your ornaments with green florist wire.
9. Add your ribbon and bead garland. Secure with green florist wire.

In between every step, step back and check from various angles of the room for balance and symmetry of your work.

A typical 7 foot tree will use a minimum the following...
10 sets of lights
12 vines or branch picks
12 berry picks
12 flowers
48 balls
24 special ornaments

At the end of the season, make sure to clean decorations and remove all wires. Store glass ornaments in acid free containers. Take photos and list the items in each container. Do not keep broken ornaments. This will make it easy for you the next year.

--Sophia Mirasol

For those of you lucky enough to be in Metro Manila, Sophia is available for your Christmas decoration needs.

Decorate away my friends, decorate away. Until next time.

Nicole

Yellow & Grey Elephant Baby Shower Brunch

Hi friends. I sure missed blogging for you all. Here is a shower I did during my move week. So awesome ladies at church helped to it together with me to bless the mommy to be and her blessings.

So here is a yellow and grey baby shower that we threw for TWINS.  Please note all I had was my camera phone, so the pictures are far from professional.

The cupcakes were topped with Cricut elephant toppers. I covered a large foam board with yellow fabric and made paper rosettes like I did for my Man's Party (http://31wifefolife.blogspot.com/search/label/man%20party)

 The elephant stuffies were hand made by a friend of mine who does craft fairs. She is so talented that she does not even use a pattern to make them.

 A gluten free chocolate cake graced the table with a large elephant topper.

 The brunch menu included quiche and a make your own parfait bar. We used 6 oz. baby food jars as parfait containers.

 We also had a steel cut oats bar. The recipe I have is exactly like the Jamba Juice oatmeal. I will share that for you later this week.  We also had a waffle bar (but I have no pictures) off to the side with a waffle maker and batter for the guests to pour and make waffles.

 Last but not least the favors. We got cute yellow boxes from Dollar Tree and Hand Sanitizer.  I used free printables from Pottery Barn kids (http://www.potterybarnkids.com/design-studio/invitations/sunshine_templates.html). You can check out my Pinterest board for my thought process in planning this shower (http://www.pinterest.com/31wifefolife/twin-baby-shower/)

Until next time friends.

Nicole