I’ve never liked beans of any sort, but after reading books such as The Primal Blueprint and The 4-Hour Body, I was inspired to look into carbohydrate sources other than grains. The big two I found were lentils and chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans.)

The chickpeas look a little like hazelnuts, so I figured they must make a good snack when roasted and coated in salt! This led to cooking up some Oven-Roasted Spiced Chickpeas.

This is a very tasty way to eat these legumes. It’s also a great way to get carbs, protein, and fiber without eating grains, if you so choose.

Ingredients

• 16oz bag of chickpeas (such as Arrowhead Mills)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Spices, such as:
  • Sea salt
  • Curry powder
  • Turmeric
  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder
  • Chipotle pepper
  • Cayenne pepper
  • Cumin

Instructions

This is extremely easy. If you can operate an oven, you can do this.

Step 1: Soak and Boil.

Start by soaking your chickpeas overnight. Then when you are ready to cook, boil the chickpeas for approximately 10 minutes. (If you didn’t soak them overnight, you’d probably have to boil them for an hour!)

Drain and let dry. (Because you don’t want dripping wet chickpeas going in your oil and spice mixture later.)

Step 2: Preheat oven.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Step 3: Oil and spices.

Stir together the oil and spices in large bowl. Pour in chickpeas and toss until they are evenly coated with the spice mixture.

(For the spices, I usually just improvise and give the chickpeas a coating of whatever I have on the table!)

Step 4: Place on tray.

Spread chickpeas evenly on a baking tray.

Step 5: Bake.

Place the tray in the oven to bake at 350 degrees for approximately one hour. Stir or shake occasionally (every 15-20 minutes.)

*Other recipes call for baking at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, but I like to get them extra crispy without burning them, so I use the lower temperature and longer cooking time. It seems to work better for me.

Step 6: Let cool.

Remove the tray from the oven and let your chickpeas sit out on a cooling rack. Don’t burn your mouth trying to eat them immediately!

Step 7: Enjoy.

Once cooled to a moderate temperature, sit the chickpeas out in a bowl on the table. They are gone in a day or two (sometimes an hour or two) so I never end up storing them.

What do you think of chickpeas? What are your favorite spices for them?

I love fancy oatmeal flavors, but I don’t love perfecting a detailed recipe. Luckily, a CoachLevi.com reader (and oatmeal expert) named Joe does! Joe submitted this oatmeal recipe, and I thought it looked so awesome, I’m highlighting it right here!

I’ve always said oatmeal is the perfect breakfast for a long day. Well, this deluxe oatmeal is perfect for a long, long day! In Joe’s words, “Eat this the night before an Ironman competition or the Tour de France.”

Here ya go:

The Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats
• 1/3 cup Now Foods Unflavored Whey Protein Isolate
• 2 Tbsp Bob’s Red Mill Organic Ground Flaxseed Meal
• 1 cup Mott’s Healthy Harvest Granny Smith applesauce
• 2 Tbsp 100% Pure Maple Syrup (such as Coombs Family Farms)
• 1 Tbsp Beit Yitzhak Fig Spread (No Sugar Added)
• 1 cup Rice Dream Classic Original Rice Milk
• 1/2 cup Libby’s Pure Pumpkin
• 1/4 of Granny Smith Apple (chopped into cubes)
• 1/2 of Anjou Pear (chopped into cubes)
• 10 almonds, chopped
• 5 toasted walnut halves, chopped (half an oz serving)
• 1/2 tsp McCormick’s Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves

(Feel free to substitute different brands of products depending on what you can find locally, and as usual, I encourage you to experiment with this recipe to make it perfect for your needs and taste buds!)

The Directions

Joe didn’t submit any directions, so here is how I would do it:

1. Decide how you are going to cook up the steel cut oats. (For this example, let’s say you’re going to use the stove top.)

2. Measure out all your ingredients, making sure everything is chopped and sliced and ready to go.

3. Now put the oats, milk, apples, and pears into a large pot and stir it up.

4. Start cooking on high heat to bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

5. After 10 minutes, stir in all the other ingredients (the pumpkin, apple sauce, etc.)

6. Continue cooking on low for about 10 more minutes.

7. Whenever the oats are ready, remove from heat and allow to cool.

8. Eat!

Nutrition Facts

If you follow Joe’s detailed recipe, these are the calculated nutrition facts.

Calories: 1,038
Total Fat: 26.9g
  Saturated: 2.7g
  Polyunsaturated: 10.1g
  Monounsaturated: 6.5g
Carbohydrates: 170.1g
Dietary Fiber: 24.6g
Protein: 47.1g

If you try this recipe, please post your review in the comments!

I’ve always liked spreading peanut butter on apples, but sometimes I need more calories from carbohydrates. And I’ve always liked peanut butter on pita bread, but that can be kind of bland sometimes.

So I combined the two into a tasty treat! I call it the Peanut Butter Apple Pita.

Ingredients:

• Pita bread
• Apple
• Natural peanut butter

Preparation instructions:

Have your every own peanut butter apple pita in four easy steps.

1. Split open the pita.

What I do is first slice it in half with a butter knife. Then toast it for a short time, until it separates. Then pull it apart so you have two “pockets.”

It’s really hard to “open” the pita when it’s soft, but after a little toasting, it loosens up. That’s why I do the toasting.

2. Spread peanut butter.

Use the butter knife to spread natural peanut butter inside the two pockets. Creamy is easier to spread.

3. Add apple slices.

Peel your apple and cut into thin slices.

Lay the thin apple slices on top of the peanut butter.

(You can even sprinkle just a light coat of cinnamon on top of the apple slices, if desired.)

4. Eat.

Now you can eat your pita pockets!

After explaining the differences between rolled oats and steel cut oats a couple years ago, it was plain as day which was more popular! Tons of comments poured in in favor of steel cut oats!

Nearly everyone loved the taste and texture, but there was this one little drawback – steel cut oats take longer to cook than rolled oats. And if purchased in bulk (the cheapest way to buy steel cut oats,) you don’t get cooking instructions!

Therefore, I have prepared these instructions on how to cook steel cut oats! Continue reading to discover the most popular preparation methods…

Cooking on the Stove

This is your standard method of preparing steel cut oats, but it’s also the most time consuming.

• Start by bringing 4 cups water to a boil.
• Then add in 1 cup oats, plus a pinch of salt. Mix well.
• Once water returns to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover, but leave the lid tilted.
• To ensure the traditional rich nutty flavor, avoid overcooking.

That does it.

You can also experiment to find your preferred style. For example, you might use a ratio of 3 cups water to 1 cup oats. Or maybe you prefer using 2 cups water and 2 cups milk to 1 cup oats.

Nuking In the Microwave

If you don’t want to mess with the stove just to make a bowl of oatmeal for yourself, you can use the microwave instead.

• Mix 1/2 cup of steel cut oats with 2 cups of water in an 8 cup bowl (the size of the bowl is important as it must be large enough to allow the oats to bubble up without spilling over).
• Microwave covered (I use a paper plate) for 5 minutes on high.
• Stir. Finish cooking for another 5 minutes.
• Enjoy.

Alternatively, use 1/4 cup steel cut oats and 1 cup water, if you only have a smaller bowl, or want a smaller breakfast. If you do this, you can reduce cooking times to 2:30 segments, rather than 5:00.

*Since microwaves vary in size and power, cooking times may need to be adjusted for different models.

Soak Overnight, Then Cook (On Stove)

This is the second method of cooking steel cut oats on the stove. You can soak your steel cut oats the night before and leave it on the stove overnight, for less prep time in the morning.

• As before, use 4 cups water and 1 cup oats. First bring the water to a boil, then add oats.
• Stir until it boils again then cover.
• Turn off heat.
• Let sit overnight.
• When you do it this way, the oats should be ready in the morning as-is or with just 5 minutes cooking time, rather than 30.

The oats can sit out on the stove overnight without going bad. Just keep them covered.

Tip: Toast Oats On Stove Before Cooking

My favorite way to fix steel cuts oats overnight is to toast them in a teaspoon of butter or coconut oil, then add the water and bring to a boil.

In a large saucepot, melt the butter or oil and add the oats. Stir for 2 minutes to toast. Then you can continue with adding the water, etc.

Toasting before boiling brings out even more of that toasty, nutty flavor.

Cooking In a Slow Cooker (or Crock Pot)

Steel cut oats can be made in a slow cooker on low overnight and ready for breakfast!

• Be sure to spray the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray first.
• Add your 4 cups water and 1 cup oats.
• Just put it on the “keep warm” setting and the oats cook overnight.

Note: If you have a crock pot with just “low” and “high” settings, use low, and watch them. You probably can’t cook overnight on low, it’s still too hot!

Like microwaves, each slow cooker may cook differently. So test it out during the day to get the timing right, before leaving them to cook overnight when you’re not watching them!!

Don’t forget to flavor your oatmeal!

Click here for my suggestions on additional ingredients to flavor your oats.

When doing steel cut oats, you would typically add the extras after they are cooked or close to the end of the cooking cycle. Dried fruit and such does not need a lot of cooking time like the oats themselves!

Just choose the option that is the most convenient for you. They all work, and if you make a good size batch on the weekend, it will probably feed you all week. Then all you have to do is reheat the oats in the microwave for a bit each morning.

Enjoy your oats!

Photo credit: belizardi

I saw a statistic that said the average American eats three pounds of peanut butter per year (or something like that.) Well, I must eat a pound of peanut butter each week!

I eat every type of natural peanut butter I can find, but not only do I like to try new brands, I like to make my own natural peanut butter at home!

There’s no better way to ensure quality, healthfulness, and freshness than by making it yourself. And best of all, it’s very simple.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Raw peanuts
• An oven
• A blender

1. Spread raw peanuts on baking tray.

2. Place in oven, pre-heated to 350 degrees.

3. Roast for 15-20 minutes. Keep an eye on them, since you don’t want them to burn.

4. Allow to cool.

5. Put roasted peanuts in blender or food processor.

6. Blend until smooth and creamy. Probably 3-5 minutes.

Note: Be patient. It takes a long time to blend them into actual peanut butter. At first, the PB will look dry. Blend it a while longer and then the natural oils start to come out and you’ll have creamy PB.

7. Eat.