I have no idea what else to call this. I picked up 0% cottage cheese, telling myself to get over the looks and TRY it. I went for the 0% for the low calorie content. If I can’t have it for low calories, then I’m not going to waste my time with the fully-loaded varieties. I googled for ways to do this and some delightful person likes adding strawberry jam to hers and spreading it over a bagel. Claimed it to be like strawberry cream cheese.
Omg–I LOVE strawberry cream cheese, I thought very smartly to myself. I’ve learned that bread doesn’t really encourage weight loss, so I’m off those fluffy kind of carbs for now. but I still like cream cheese! So I tried it. It doesn’t taste like strawberry cream cheese. HOWEVER, on a toasted bagel? I could see this working. When you’d have the crispy bread to mix with the cream cheese curds in your mouth. But as the mix alone? I tried. The taste was fine. The cheese curds were too firm. I felt like I was swallow handfuls of frozen peas. I tossed it in a blender thinking it would be like a smoothie. It came out just like that. Like a smoothie….with grains of sand in it. *sigh*
Before buying, I knew I could do muffins and pancakes, so I was determined! Again tho, there’s that whole bread issue and flour, yadda. I came across a recipe using whole rolled oats tho. The recipe originally called for a banana and a tsp. vanilla. Since I didn’t have a banana, I left that and the vanilla out. but I think it would work as a really good with those ingredients added in.
When I made this, I halved the recipe since it was just me. Honestly, I could have eaten just 1/2 of what was cooked! so when I do it again, I’ll do it even smaller
1 Cup Rolled Oats
1 Cup Cottage Cheese
1/4 Cup Egg Whites
1/4 Milk (I used almond milk, came out just fine)
Preheat oven to 325*
Mix all your ingredients. Spray a small oven safe dish with nonstick spray. Pour the mixed ingredients in and put it all in the oven!
(forgive the picture. I must have held my camera at a completely weird angle) Let it bake about 15 or so minute. You can see where I tested a piece off the side to make sure the liquid cooked.
Yay! all the firm curds melted! I put it out on the plate and wasn’t sure how to eat this thing. It tasted very similar to plain oatmeal or plain grits. I broke it apart and topped it with different things with varying success
Honey topping was my least favorite. It just…I don’t know. It didn’t work for me.
Since I was reminded of grits, I tried butter and salt. My fav way to eat grits! didn’t really work on this. maybe if the butter had baked in it from the beginning. (I don’t know why it looks upsidedown. It’s not. I don’t think.)
I tried a little Jam. It was just okay. I would eat it again this way. (I think this is the worst picture taking day I’ve ever had in my life)
I also topped with cheese. Definitely the best way to do this, I think. I will do this again, and I’ll just top with cheese next time. With the ingriedients/brands I used, it was about 155calories (before the toppings). that’s not factoring in how calorie content changes as it bakes. I don’t go that scientific.