Your Questions, My Answers

I scrolled through the comments, looking for questions I’ve missed answering while I’ve been at work.

And here’s the whole collection!

Kristen, I have a question about the blueberries in your pancakes- is it that you always have fresh blueberries on hand? Or do you use frozen blueberries on occasion as well?

I would make blueberry pancakes more often if using frozen regular or wild is actually an option.

-Tamara

I do prefer to use fresh blueberries, and as long as the price isn’t crazy at Aldi, I usually pick up a container when I go shopping.

But occasionally, fresh blueberries are way more expensive than at other times. In those cases, I begrudgingly use frozen berries.

My method is to put the pancake batter in the pan, and then sprinkle some berries onto each pancake. This way, they don’t turn the batter blue (which is what they do if you mix them in with the batter).

You do have to cook the pancakes a little longer, since the frozen berries are obviously…cold. So, it’s not as easy as using fresh berries, but it does work.

(This is the 100% whole wheat recipe I use for my pancake base.)

Just curious, do you grate the orange peel yourself, or buy it dried? If you grate it, do you have any tips? I’ve never liked grating fruit skins.

-Price Chopper Shopper

I do grate it myself; I think the dried variety loses a lot of its flavor, compared to fresh.

I actually find it super easy to grate citrus peels by using the fine grater side of my box grater. A few swipes and poof! I have a nice little pile of grated peel.

To me, this is way, way easier than using a little zester or microplane grater, and since I’m already grating carrots, my box grater is out on the counter. 🙂

Do you have a julienne veg grater? It makes all the difference in the beetroot and carrots you add to your salads –

-JNL

I don’t! I do have a food processor, which I get out when I want to slice or shred large quantities of vegetables.

But for my small batches of overnight oats, I just use my box grater and a little bit of muscle. 😉

Do you eat the overnight oats cold or hot?

-several readers

I always eat mine cold. I am not too sure what would happen to the protein powder when heated (would it congeal oddly?)

And I am positive that the yogurt would do something weird when heated. I don’t think yogurt is supposed to be hot!

If there were no protein powder and especially no yogurt, then heating would be a perfectly fine option!

Is the hospital dog a permanent employee?

-WilliamB

Haha, well, he is really more of a volunteer than an employee. 😉 There is a rotating group of human volunteers, mostly retirees, who come to the hospital with various dogs, and I assume the dogs are volunteering too. Hehe.

I’m not too good with dog breeds, but I know several poodle-ish varieties come and visit too. The golden retriever is the best therapy dog, though (in my humble opinion as a non-dog-lover). 😉

My green onion confusion: I’ve looked at a whole bunch of different posts, and what it seems like is people don’t use the white part. I use the white part and the green and just cut off the little bit of roots. Can I still plant that little bit? Because if I have to cut off the whole white part to regrow it, it is not accomplishing anything for me!

-Carol

Oh, no, as long as you have a tiny part at the bottom plus the roots, they will grow. Maybe…⅛ inch? ¼ inch?

I’m not a huge fan of the white part of the onion, so I typically use the green parts and then plant the white parts.

Do chia seeds add any flavor to what you add them to? Just curious. I’ve never tried them.

-Liz

Nope! To me, they are quite flavorless. They mostly add some interesting texture.

And of course, they add dietary benefits, such as fiber. 🙂

Alrighty! I think I got caught up on questions now. If I missed yours, though, add it in the comments.

(Also: have you tried heating up oats with yogurt or protein powder? What happens?)