Saturday, October 5, 2013

Toasting Special Olympics, My Daughter, and Oatmeal

This is my daughter:

Isn't she pretty?

This is the building she is jumping off, excuse me, rappelling off this weekend. Man O swears there is a difference between jumping and rappelling. Did I mention this building is 35 stories?

It's the tall one. Sigh.

This is the reason why: Special Olympics fund-raiser.  One of ManO's family friends has been a participant in Special Olympics since 1968. Marty Sheets is one of the most famous athletes of the games and is featured in a painting with Eunice Shriver, founder, in the National Portrait Gallery in DC. You can read about him here.  


We had to get up at the crack of dawn to get downtown to see our daughter go down in the second wave of participants. Man O wanted to know originally if we could pay her NOT to jump, I mean rappell, but he has mustered his daddy courage and we are going to go watch.

We needed comfort food for breakfast. Fortunately, October starts oatmeal season at our house.

You can see my ghostly image in the glass.
I've been looking at a way to make my gluten-free oats special. Yep, oats have gluten unless they are grown in special fields. I found a simple trick. So simple I was totally flabbergasted.

NO one told me about toasted oatmeal. I had to stumble on it on Pinterest. What kind of friends do I have???? Why toast oatmeal, you ask?  It gives the oats a rich nutty flavor that really adds something to a bowl at breakfast, cookies or granola.

Toasted Oatmeal

Set oven to 350 degrees.

Spread oats on an ungreased cookie sheet in a thin layer and place in preheated oven.

Toast a minimum of 10 minutes or until slightly golden brown.

Your oats should look like this picture.
 
 How simple is that? One little step that makes all the difference.

Just like one little step off a tall building makes a big difference in the money our local Special Olympics has for events.

So, do you have an easy secret that makes one of your recipes so much better? Do you have any experience with Special Olympics or doing something crazy for charitable purposes?

PS: I'll check in and let you know how it goes! 









11 comments:

  1. Oh, that sounds delicious!! And... you're giving me nightmares of the days when my kids will be old enough to be jumping off tall buildings without my permission.

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    1. Carolyn's five year old nephew said, and I quote, when I told him about Aunt Carolyn being a superhero, "But Granma Juju, Mommy and Daddy said I can't jump off buildings. It's dangerous."

      Out of the mouths of babes.

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    2. I am amazed by her daring nature and by her beauty and WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP HER????? WHERE WAS HER WONDER WOMAN COSTUME?????? IF HER FRIENDS ALL DECIDED TO JUMP OFF A BUILDING, SHOULD SHE DO THE SAME THING???? CLEARLY: YES!!!!!

      Breathe, Ruthy.... in. Out. In. Out.

      Oy, kids. Oy kids. Oy kids.

      Julie, what a stinkin' cool kid!!!!! You tell her I'm so proud of her, that's an awesome thing to do! Scary yes, but on the other hand, she did it and will forever and ever and ever be able to say I DID IT!!!

      She'll show pictures to her kids. Wait. No she won't because then she'll understand mother fear and she'll keep it a big, dark secret and then they'll do it anyway and she'll know, oh, she'll know what she put you through but you'll be in heaven laughing at her and shaking a finger and saying things like "You should always toast your oatmea!" and "Didn't I tell you not to jump (rappel) off of tall buildings. Now go sit!!!"

      You may have confused her with a stray puppy, I'm not sure, heaven's vantage point is not my current forte.

      Love this!

      The Adventures of: Julie!!!!! and her boy, "Man-O"

      God bless you both.

      A lawyer and a jumper.

      I'm not sure if youse did something amazingly right or just simply dreadfully wrong but I'd have to with the former!!!

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    3. Thanks, Ruthy. A lot of parenting is having children that find their way in spite of their parents and life events. We were just saying the other day, "we must have done something right."

      My five year old grandson is still appalled she did something his parents said he is not allowed to do.

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  2. I take it Carolyn is a rocking climbing kind of girl? That seems so much more terrifying on a building! Glad she made it!

    And thanks for the toasting oats tip. I'd never heard of that either. So once they are toasted do you just make up your porridge the usual way?

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  3. Yes, I should have said that. And Carolyn hasn't done in a long time.

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  4. A good tip and approach to oatmeal. And congrats to Carolyn! What heart!

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  5. Well, I've volunteered to work for the Special Olympics before. But I've never jumped--er, repelled off anything for charity! Your daughter is not only gorgeous, she's brave and generous!

    Thanks for the tip on oats! I love the idea. I wonder if I could just take one serving and toast them in a pan before cooking??

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  6. Children...they just won't listen to good reasoning. I mean, why jump, okay repel, off of a building when there's a perfectly good elevator?

    Oh, who am I to talk? I went ice climbing.

    Now, about the oatmeal. So after you toast it, do you store like regular oatmeal and then cook it like regular oatmeal? Yes, October starts the oatmeal around our house too, so I really need to know. :)

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