What to do with all those egg whites now? Make a Pavlova!

As a kid I was always told to finish the food that was on my plate (or no dessert for me!), and my mother was the master of saving leftovers and whipping them into something new the next night.  And so now as I've become more aware of our highly unsustainable global food system where each piece of fruit, loaf of bread, box of cereal, etc, requires enormous amounts of energy to grow it/produce it, package it, transport it thousands of miles, and store it before it finally ends up in my hands, I have a hard time understanding how it is so easy for us to waste food.  Not only are we wasting the fossil fuel that went into the growing, transporting, processing, packaging, and refrigerating, once food is in the landfill and starts rotting it creates methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas!!!  According to Jonathan Bloom, author of American Wasteland: How American Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food, landfills are the second largest human related source of methane.  Who knew that your half finished burger is contributing to climate change on so many different levels??!


This past week, PEAR (Pomona for Environmental Action and Responsibility) a group that I'm a part of on campus, did a food waste audit in our dining halls.  It was shocking to see how easy it is for us to not think about how much the leftovers on our plates add up... (Yours truly made into onto the front of Pomona's student newspaper, check it! http://tsl.pomona.edu/articles/2012/2/16/news/2512-food-waste-at-pomona-adds-up-pear-finds )


So let's say you are planning to make some crème brûlée from Kate's wonderful post below... Great!  You're going along and you crack open the eggs and separate out the yolks you need, but you're realizing that you're going to have some leftover egg whites...  So what to do now?  (Especially since you just learned about how much of an effective wasting food has) Make a Pavlova!!


My partner in (baking) crime, Kristen, is half Kiwi (she's from New Zealand)!  So instead of following a recipe from a blog, Kristen recited her great-grandmother's pavlova recipe from memory as we went along making it.  Apparently pavlovas (a light, delicate meringue cake) are a traditional New Zealand dessert, and I was lucky to know that the first time I made one, the recipe I was using was tested against time and had been used over and over again to make only the best pavlovas! 

Traditional New Zealand Pavlova 

(thanks to Kristen for sharing her family recipe!)

6 eggs whites

2 cups granulated sugar
4 tbsp water
3 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp vanilla
2 tbsp corn starch


1 pint heavy whipping cream
Vanilla and powdered sugar to taste
Fruit, any will do (raspberries, strawberries, kiwi fruit, passionfruit, blackberries), whatever looks particularly mouthwatering and is in season.

1. Beat the egg white until they form soft peaks.  Add the water, vinegar, and vanilla, beat until well combined.

2. Add the sugar VERY SLOWLY until dissolved & the mixture forms stiff peaks. 

Finally mix in the corn starch. The mixture should be thick, glossy, and stand on its own. 


3. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, flick some water over it.
Form the pavlova into a circle (or two), about 3" tall, on a cookie sheet. If making two, leave plenty of space in between them. 


Bake for 25 min at 250*F, Then turn the oven down to 200*F and bake for 25 additional minutes. Let cool for 3 hours in the oven. Once you put the pavlova in the oven, don't open/bump the oven until it has cooled completely. 



Just before serving, whip the cream, cut the fruit cover the top of the pavlova with it!

Crème Brûlée: Crème de la Crème

       I've had a few creations in the last few weeks, some of them better than others. Lately, however, I've had a recurring yen for French food. For those of you who don't know, I spent the fall semester of my junior year in Nantes, France. Spending time in a place where the culture and language are completely different from your own perfectly demonstrates the clash of stereotypes from both native and foreigner. Here are two of the most common questions I got about life in America: 1. Do all Americans drink Coca-Cola all the time? 2. Do all Americans eat McDonalds? Food seems to be an integral part of all stereotypes. 


     However, I had my own perceptions of the French culture. I was baffled when my host brother ate cereal for breakfast. I was surprised when my host family did not eat baguettes every day. I was excited to find my host mother not only knew what tiramisu was, but also made it for special occasions. As time went on and I had not seen a crème brûlée, I began to acknowledge my own stereotypes. Still, some of us have been trained to associate the crème brûlée with France (crème de la crème). So in my time of need when my France craving came around, I fell back on my stereotypes and completed the ultimate faux-pas. 


      To me, the essential thing you need for crème brûlée is a torch. If you're thinking of investing, they're reasonable priced and can be used with anything. I went through a "torching" phase when I first got it and torched everything from toast and bananas to sugar on yogurt and meringue to even peanut butter (NEVER try this. Burnt peanut butter is disgusting). However, the recipe can be made using a broiler instead of a torch. 

Rammekins

      Aside from acquiring a torch, a crème brûlée is relatively easy to make. You also need ramekins (the little containers used to put the crème brûlée in). These are easy to find, although you may find more of the larger ramekins in America. True French stereotype: Americans to enjoy bigger proportions. For something as rich as a crème brûlée however, I think the smaller proportions are perfect. This recipe doesn't take many ingredients, and it almost always ends up tasting delicious. It also is a major crowd-pleaser ("Wow you can make crème brûlée?!"). 



                      Bon appétit!


Crème Brûlée 

• 2 cups heavy cream (one of the 16 ounce containers)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• One pinch salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. While water is boiling, combine cream, 1/4 cup sugar and salt in saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally 4 to 5 minutes, until steam rises. In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until smooth. Pour hot cream into yolks, a little at a time, stirring constantly, until all cream is incorporated.
3. Place ramekins in a baking dish, and pour the mixture into the ramekins. Place the dish containing the ramekins on oven rack (be careful not to spill!). Pour boiling water into dish to halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover whole pan loosely with foil.
4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until custard is just set. Chill ramekins in refrigerator 4 to 6 hours (although honestly, I think they taste delicious whenever!). 
5. Before serving, sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar over each custard. Use a kitchen torch or oven broiler to brown top, 2 to 3 minutes.

Finished product using brown sugar (you can use brown or white)

The Pleasures of Eating... and a vegan cookie recipe too!

I have been on a baking rampage lately!  I don't remember the last day that I didn't bake some sort of treat... and that's exactly how life should be.  Some highlights from the past few days:

Whole wheat peach muffins adapted from this recipe.  We substituted approximately 2 cups of chopped canned peaches for the apples that the recipe calls for.  Made with peaches that I canned this summer!

Peach muffins.  Ugly, but yummy!

Flourless chocolate chip cookies from this recipe, made for my friend who recently had to start following the FODMAPS diet to deal with health issues.  Next time, to keep her stomach happier, I might try substituting white sugar or maple syrup for the brown sugar.  We used these cookies to scoop up banana soft serve ice cream!  It's the easiest thing in the world to make: just freeze a banana, put it in a food processor with a little splash of milk and maple syrup, and process until it turns into the consistency of soft serve ice cream!  You can put the concoction back in the freezer to harden up a bit, or just dig in right away.  You can make all sorts of flavor variations on banana soft serve, by adding delicious things like coconut, peanut butter, chocolate chips... the possibilities are endless.

Espresso brownies.  Some girls that I work with came over to bake last night and, being baristas, we had to make something coffee-flavored!  Seriously, next time you make a batch of brownies, try adding a tablespoon or two of ground espresso to the batter.  We topped the brownies with a homemade coffee-buttercream frosting (again, just ground espresso stirred into a typical chocolate buttercream frosting recipe) and they were unrreealll.

One reason that I've been baking so much food lately is to spend time with my friends at school before I leave in five days to spend the semester in Costa Rica!  I find that preparing and eating food is one of my favorite ways to catch up with old friends and connect with new friends.  The sense of pride and accomplishment that comes from preparing a delicious meal or treat and the pleasure from slowly savoring your creation over a conversation foster such a sense of community.  This, for me at least, strengthens my relationships with others in a way few other activities can.

Putting effort into preparing our own food from scratch, instead of buying only processed and packaged meals with ingredients that are unrecognizable from (and hundreds of miles away from) their original, natural forms, also builds important connections between food and farming.  When I buy a can of soup from the grocery store, I consider only my hunger and my wallet.  When I buy fresh vegetables from the farmer's market with dirt still on them, and turn them into homemade soup, I can appreciate the immense effort that it takes to feed a human being.  I can picture the farmer who grew those vegetables, and can relish in my food knowing that he/she and I both invested time and care into the final product.  Of course, we can't all eat this way all the time, but I feel so fortunate that I have the time and the means to put effort into making delicious food.  Homemade food truly does taste better - and Wendell Berry, in his essay "the Pleasures of Eating," offers an explanation for why: 

"The pleasure of eating should be an extensive pleasure, not that of the mere gourmet. People who know the garden in which their vegetables have grown and know that the garden is healthy and remember the beauty of the growing plants, perhaps in the dewy first light of morning when gardens are at their best. Such a memory involves itself with the food and is one of the pleasures of eating"

(If you have a few minutes, check out the essay.  It's really interesting)

Ok, enough words.  Here's a yummy cookie recipe!

 

Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are chewy, banana-y, and so so so yummy.  Makes about 2 dozen small cookies.  But the dough doesn't have any eggs in it, so feel free to eat some (a lot).  In which case it won't make that many cookies ;)

adapted from this recipe

 1-2 very ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup canola oil (or coconut oil, which adds a delicious flavor and makes the cookies more crispy)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup chocolate chips (which aren't always vegan, so check the label if you care about that)

1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.  
• Combine mashed banana, sugar, and oil in a large bowl until well combined, then add vanilla and salt. 
• In a smaller bowl, stir together the flours, baking soda, and ground cinnamon, then add to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.
• Fold in the oats and chocolate chips until just combined.
• Wet your hands, and roll dough into balls approximately an inch in diameter.  Transfer to the baking sheet and flatten slightly with your hand.  You can place the cookies quite close together, because they don't spread out much at all while cooking
• Bake for 12 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges.  Let cool on baking sheet for a couple of minutes before moving them to a cooling rack.

-Emma

Chocolate Chip Apricot Cherry Scones

There is always a new excitement that arrives with the beginning of each semester and the hustle and bustle of figuring out your new set of classes and reconnecting with friends after our long winter break.  Or in my case being reunited after a long 8 months with many of my close friends after their semesters abroad.  Let's just say, it's been one of those weeks where I find myself walking around campus with a silly grin plastered on my face for no real apparent reason.  The air has most certainly been filled with excitement and newness on many fronts this first week back at school, so why not find something exciting and new to bake to celebrate?!  Chocolate Chip Apricot Cherry Scones was the perfect fit!


Kristen (my great friend and baking buddy here at Pomona) and I found a recipe on a blog called Eat, Live, Run, which was perfect for us as avid runners and food lovers.  The original recipe was just for chocolate apricot scones, but we spiced things up with the addition of dried cherries.  It would definitely be interesting to try out some different dried fruit/chocolate/nut combos in with the basic scones recipe provided... be creative with it!  But I do have to say, the apricot-cherry-chocolate combo we made turned out really well!

Chocolate Chip Apricot Cherry Scones
(recipe adapted from http://www.eatliverun.com/chocolate-chip-apricot-scones)


2 cups all purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
6 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons cream

• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/2 cup chopped dried cherries (we used Bing cherries)
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in the butter with your fingers and work mixture together until it resembles coarse sand. Add the chopped apricots, cherries, and chocolate chips.

Add the cream and mix with your hands until a dough forms. Make two six inch circles dough and slice each into 8 small wedges. Place wedges on a baking sheet and bake for 16-18 minutes, until golden brown.

Slicing the disk of dough into wedges 

Take out when slightly browned around the edges

Last step: Make some tea, open a bottle of wine, slice up some cheese, share with friends, be happy!

~Juliette

Bread: Back to beginnings

Freshmen year rolls :)

          When I think of home, I think of bread. For those of you who know my family, you know that my father's "Marty bread" has been a staple in our household. Usually it involved a thick crisp crust (usually with some cornmeal) and a rich hearty center. Since I got to college and realized that bread wasn't a mystical substance that only big men in chef's hats could create, I've had a fascination with making my own bread. Freshmen year I used to get up early to make rolls in the little shared kitchen downstairs. At first, I loved to experience making rolls. This way I could knead in whatever seasoning I wanted. I tried raison, cinnamon raison, italian spice, cheesy bread, and even chai bread (thank you Trader Joe's Chai Tea Mix).

          Now I've become a fan of honey wheat and oatmeal breads - big enough that I can cut slices for sandwiches or toast in the morning. Luckily I'm living with two roommates who appreciate and make bread themselves. I made this bread yesterday afternoon at my brother's apartment in Jersey. Despite the fact that the yeast was pretty old and consequently the bread did not rise as much as it should have, it turned out well by my standards. The recipe (like most of my other recipes) was adapted from a white bread recipe from allrecipes.com. I like to make it differently each time I make the bread. This version of the bread recipe turned out a little sweeter than I originally intended,  but it was delicious!


        A word on flours. It is best to use a bread flour, as it has a higher gluten content (12.5-14% gluten protein) than regular all-purpose flour (10-12% gluten protein). The more gluten protein in the flour, the more the protein can bind to the flour and give you a better rise. Thus, bread flour = better rise. I've also found that bread flours keep the bread together better when you slice it up. However, if you don't have bread flour, that's fine! Your bread will still be delicious. Wheat flour has an even higher protein content than bread flour, but you need to be careful you don't add too much or your bread will become hard. A great website if you're looking to get into breads is: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/


                          Bread Recipe (white or wheat)

-2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)

• -for this step I just tell the temperature by touch. If it feels slightly warmer than your hand when you dip it in, it should be good. If you want to be a pro (or are unsure) you can take the temperature.
• -2/3 cup white sugar/honey/agave
• -for wheat breads I like to use honey or agave. The agave is a little cheaper and I really love the flavor!
• 2 packets dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• -make sure you get enough salt, but don't oversalt. Salt is a surprisingly important part of the process.
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 cups bread flour
• -you can always do 4 cups white and 2 cups white/wheat. However the number of cups should depend on how the dough feels as the process goes on. 
• -Any herbs/spices you want to add (for example oregano, thyme, rosemary)
• 
  

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar/honey/agave in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam. This process takes about 10-15 minutes and you'll see the yeast foaming. If it doesn't foam well this probably means the yeast is too old or the water may have been too cold or hot. 
2. Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. You can alternate between white and wheat flours. You may not need all 6 cups or you may need more. You want the bread to be elastic so it doesn't quite stick to your fingers anymore when you knead it, but at the same time not too dry. If you want to add herbs/spices, add them to the dough as you add the flours. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.  Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a little bit or saran wrap and top with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. I always make sure to keep the bread in a warm place, as this helps with the rising process.
3. Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans. (this is important! Let the dough rise in the pan before putting it in the oven).
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Kate

Lavender Chocolate Cupcakes

I'll be honest with you, when I first saw this recipe I was skeptical.  Lavender?  When I think of lavender I think of a bar of perfumed soap sitting in a flowery ceramic dish next to Grandma's pearls by the wash bowl. Yeah, I most certainly do not jump to "chocolate cake."  Yet when Sam (a lovely friend of ours, also a fellow cooking/baking newbie) and I got to work on these we found that we had made ourselves a delightful surprise!  These cupcakes are hard to describe... they are simple, yet intriguingly good.  Hard to put the taste into words.  Perfect for a tea time treat to satisfy your sweet tooth without overwhelming you with a rich chocolate taste.

What I liked the most about this baking experience was the strong scent of lavender that lingered in the warm kitchen air.  This recipe reminded me how specific scents can take you back so vividly to a certain memory.  Lavender is used in potpourri and as a soothing fragrance in many soaps and lotions.  In fact, Ancient Romans placed a steep price on lavender and used it in their baths to scent the water probably for its fresh soothing effect (thank you, Wikipedia).  And so when I first whiffed the steeping lavender tea (from the some of the same tea leaves used in the recipe) my mom made as we were baking these cupcakes I was abruptly brought back to my chemotherapy days because of a set of lavender lotions used to help ease you to sleep I had been given (by Kate and Emma, in fact!).  It shocked me how quickly the memories of those days, so much forgotten in my life today, flooded back to me; it was bittersweet.  But it felt overwhelmingly comforting; many memories of being taken care of, even if it had been a tough time.


And so for me, that's how I would describe these delicious little desserts - they tasted of memories and nostalgia mixed into a airy, fresh chocolate batter.  A perfect treat for a warm evening in a cozy kitchen on a January night with a lovely friend and a cup of tea.

Lavender Chocolate Cupcakes

(adapted recipe from www.thepastryaffair.com)

Makes about 14 cupcakes

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 
2/3 cup hot water 
8 tablespoons butter, room temperature 
1 cup granulated sugar 
2 large eggs 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 tablespoon lavender (we couldn't find dried lavender, so we used lavender-tulsi tea leaves in teabags)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon salt

Powdered sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line the cupcake tins with cupcake liners.

2. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together cocoa powder and hot water.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. Cut open tea bags and add the tea leaves to the mixture.  Add vanilla extract.

4. Slowly add flour, baking powder, and salt. Finally stir in the cocoa mixture. Mix until smooth.

5. Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 full of batter, and bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

6. After cupcakes have baked, dust powdered sugar over the top.

And finally sit back and enjoy!

~Juliette

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Koftas

I'm lucky enough to live in a house at school with ten other women who love food just as much as I do!  We live in an "honor house," which is owned by our college and requires us to carry out a project built around a theme of our choice.  Our house draws inspiration from Wendell Berry, a farmer and author.  We are focused on building community around local and sustainable food.  As part of our project, we cook meals together as a house 2-3 times per week.  We take the time to cook food from scratch, sit down and eat together, and talk about our days.  The bonds that we form through this weekly ritual are an important factor in allowing eleven girls to live together (mostly) peacefully!

Tonight was one of our meal-cooking nights, and we made a delicious dish that I had to share.  This is one of my favorite recipes to make, it's really simple, AND it meant that I had a chance to use my new food processor!  We adapted a recipe from Molly Katzen's cookbook Vegetable Heaven to make it gluten-free for my housemate who is allergic to wheat.

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Koftas

Koftas are a traditional East Indian dish that is usually deep-fried - this recipe calls for sauteing them instead.

1 medium-sized sweet potato or yam*

1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (if using dried chickpeas, use around 1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked)

1 large clove garlic

2 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces (sometimes I use a bit of diced onion instead)

2 tsp. lightly toasted cumin seeds

1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Black pepper to taste

6 Tbsp brown rice flour (I found this in the bulk bin at my local coop)

1 cup fresh or frozen peas (you don't have to defrost the frozen peas before adding them)

Oil for sauteing

  

1. Poke the sweet potato a few times with a fork, then cook in the microwave until soft (around 5 minutes, depending on your microwave) and peel.  This should yield about 1 1/2 cups of cooked sweet potato, but the recipe is very forgiving and any amount in that ballpark will work.  Transfer to a food processor.
2. Add the remaining ingredients except flour, peas and oil.  Puree until fairly smooth and transfer to a bowl.
3. Stir in the flour until it is thoroughly incorporated, then gently stir in the peas.  Form into patties.
4. Over medium-high heat, heat up some oil in a skillet.  Add the patties and saute for a few minutes on each side until lightly browned and heated through.  Depending on your sweet potato, they will probably still be very soft and will fall apart easily, but that's okay.  You just want them to be warmed through. 

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Koftas

Molly Katzen recommends serving these in pitas with tomatoes, cucumbers and yogurt.  We used them in a delicious salad that included

• Mixed greens and spinach
• Roasted zucchini and red peppers (roasted on an oiled baking sheet in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes)
• Koftas
• Cucumber yogurt dressing (I put some plain yogurt, sliced cucumbers, dried dill, toasted walnuts and a pinch of salt in the food processor and pureed the sauce until it was smooth)
• Crumbled feta cheese

Enjoy!

-Emma

Hello from the land of pop, hot dish and bubblers

... otherwise known as the Midwest!

I'm Emma, and I didn't stray quite as far from home as these other two ladies, as I'm currently living it up in Minnesota.  I guess I'm the hippie/nerd of the group, getting way more excited than normal about biking to work in the dead of winter, cooking with weird foods like coconut oil and chia seeds (yes, the same ones that grow into chia pets), and discussions about sustainable agriculture.  Just like my friends, I absolutely loooooooove food -- eating it, making it, looking at pictures of it... I got a food processor for Christmas and just about died of happiness.

Cinnamon rolls from this recipe

I'm really interested in nutrition, and I love the challenge of coming up with healthy meals for one on a college student's tight budget of money and time.  Still, I have a major sweet tooth and I relish the days when I have time to make delicious sweet treats.

I work at a coffee shop that sometimes requires me to work reaalllly early in the morning -- so early there's no way I'm setting the alarm clock back an extra 15 minutes to make a pot of oatmeal-- but I don't like to miss out on making breakfast, my favorite meal of the day! 

Thankfully, I've come up with a few great breakfast recipes that are ready to eat in the morning before work!  They require a little bit of preparation beforehand, but making breakfast is the perfect homework break when you're already in the kitchen scrounging for study snacks at night.

Here are a couple of my favorite oatmeal breakfasts:

Overnight Oatmeal

1/3 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup milk (or nondairy milk)

1/3 cup yogurt (I use plain, but flavored would be yummy too!)

~1/8 tsp vanilla

pinch salt

Mix all ingredients together in an empty jar (I use my old peanut butter jars), cap the jar, and place in the fridge overnight.  In the morning, the oats will have soaked up the liquid and will be soft and delicious!

Slow-cooker Steel cut Oats
heaping 1/4 cup steel cut oats
1.5 cups water, milk, or nondairy milk
~1/8 tsp vanilla
pinch salt 

Mix all ingredients in a glass jar (again, empty peanut butter jars come in really handy!) and set in a slow-cooker without capping the jar.  Fill the slow-cooker with enough water that it comes to about halfway up the jar.  Set the slow-cooker on low heat, and go to sleep.  In the morning, the oats will be cooked and creamy!  

Both of these are basic recipes that you can play around with by mixing in different additions.  Some combinations I've come up with:

• mashed banana, cocoa powder, and a scoop of peanut butter
• raisins, walnuts, and a sprinkle of cinnamon
• canned pumpkin, dried cranberries, and a pinch each of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves
• raspberry jam and peanut butter
• shredded carrots, dried coconut, and a bit of maple syrup 
• peanut butter, dark chocolate chips, and crumbled pretzels
• ... the possibilities are endless!  Experiment with adding some ingredients at night, and others that you don't want to get soggy (like granola or pretzels) in the morning before you dig in.

Happy oatmeal-ing!