Homemade Instant Oatmeal: 4 flavors

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is that I can take the time to ensure my family is getting a good breakfast to start the day. That being said, I can't spend the entire morning cooking, so I still cook the same things I did when my kids went to public school. One of our favorites is this create your own easy oatmeal. Life would be just as easy if I made a big batch of oatmeal in my rice cooker or on the stove top, but not everyone wants the same flavor.

I begin each bowl with 1/2 C instant oats then add one of the following sets of ingredients

Almond Joy
2 TBSP shredded sweetened coconut
1 TBSP sliced almonds
1 TBSP mini chocolate chips (add after oats are cooked)

Raisin and Brown Sugar
1 tsp brown sugar (more or less to taste)
1 heaping TBSP raisins

Cinnamon and Sugar
1/8-1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar

Plain
smidgen salt
1/2-1 TBSP granulated sugar

If I'm just making one or two bowls, then I add enough liquid to cover the oats (water level should be at the very top of the oats, but not much higher) and then microwave for 1 minute.

If I'm prepping for the whole family, I boil a kettle of water and allow the hot water to cook the oats. I aim for the water level to almost cover all the oats (as in the picture shown).

I don't have water measurements for you, because my family has different preferences when it comes to the thickness of their oatmeal, so I imagine everyone else does too. If you don't have enough liquid, you can always add a little more, but if you know you prefer thin oatmeal, I suggest adding more water than I've described.

What's your favorite way to eat oatmeal?

Baked Oatmeal

We've been on a baked oatmeal kick around here. There's something about winter that makes me eager to start my day with some nice hot oatmeal. If you aren't so sure about eating oatmeal, try this recipe. This is the base recipe for the following variations: Nuts About Oatmeal Muffins, Oatmeal Pumpkin Muffins, Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies. I have been making this recipe for years now and have tweaked it a bit, but I originally found it on Mel's Kitchen Cafe.

Click here for a printable version.

 Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine 3 C oats, 1/2 C brown sugar, 1/2 C applesauce, 1 C milk, 2 beaten eggs, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 T baking powder, and 1 tsp salt.

 Mix thoroughly.

 Add 1/2-1 C raisins or any other desired add-ins.

 Place in a baking dish and about 20-25 minutes, until top is lightly toasted and does not look wet. Slice like cake or scoop it out into a bowl and enjoy!

Click here for a printable version.

What's your favorite comfort breakfast?

Nuts About Oatmeal Muffins

If you're looking for a protein packed muffin, this is it. I like to have recipes that use some of my lesser used, but still necessary food storage items, so periodically you'll see recipes calling for powdered milk. Feel free to substitute milk for the powder and water using the water measurement.

Yield: 12 muffins
Time: 10 minutes prep time + 25 minutes cook time

Ingredients:
3 C rolled oats
1/2 brown sugar (loose, not-packed)
1/3 C powdered milk
1/2 T baking powder
1/2 C applesauce
1/2 C peanut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C water
1/3 C walnuts, chopped (feel free to substitute a different nut)
1/3 C cashews, chopped (feel free to substitute a different nut)
1/3 C dark chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tins with paper liners (or spray).
Stir together oats, sugar, powdered milk, and baking powder in a large bowl, set aside.
Beat together applesauce, peanut butter, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl.
Mix in oat mixture and water until thoroughly incorporated.
Fold in nuts and chocolate.
Spoon into prepared muffin tins (the batter won't rise much, so fill the tins all the way)
Bake in 350 F oven for 25 minutes.
Enjoy!

This post originally appeared on 5/2/12 @ oneincomefamilyliving.blogspot.com. I wrote, edited, and transferred it here.

Oatmeal Pumpkin Muffins

 My kids love oatmeal muffins! I came up with this pumpkin version about 3 years ago and it has been a regular favorite at our house every fall since. We usually stick with the plain version instead of adding the craisins or chocolate, but I wanted to show you some fun variations. (yield: about 12)
Printer friendly version

 To get started you'll need to preheat your oven to 350 F, grease a muffin tin, grab a big mixing bowl, and add in all the ingredients.

For the plain version, you'll need:
1 1/2 C rolled oats and 1 1/2 C quick oats (or 3 cups of just one- I prefer the texture from including both)
1 C brown sugar (gently resting, not tightly packed)
1 C pumpkin puree
1 C milk
2 eggs
1/2 TBSP pumpkin pie spice (I make my own- it's loads cheaper)
1/2 TBSP baking powder,
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla.

Mix it all up and divide it amongst your prepared muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until completely cooked.
Enjoy!

Optional add ins(keep it between 1/2 and 1 C total):
chocolate chips
white chocolate
dried cranberries
pecans

Printer friendly version

This recipe originally appeared on 10/27/11 @ oneincomefamilyliving.blogspot.com. I wrote, revised, and transferred it here.

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies and Tasty Tuesday Linkup

My kids love cookies! These cookies were one of the steps I took to get my kids to actually like oatmeal and these days, I can hand them a bowl of oatmeal no problem. When I made this batch last night, the kids were going crazy asking for the cookies. Perhaps taking pictures in front of them while telling them they were actually for breakfast wasn't the nicest mommy move. I ended up caving and letting them have a couple each. Zeke even packed a few in his lunch.
This recipe is pretty flexible, so feel free to adjust the add-ins, type of milk, seasoning, etc.

For a printable copy click here.
makes 2 1/2 -3 dozen

Base Ingredients:
3 1/2 C oats (quick or rolled work, but I prefer a mix of both- the more rolled oats the runnier the batter will be)
1/2 C applesauce
1 C coconut milk
2 eggs
1/2 C honey
1/2 T baking powder
1 heaping tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Add-ins:
3/4 C raisins
3/4 dried cranberries

Preaheat oven to 350 F.
Mix base ingredients together until completely incorporated.
Stir in add-in ingredients.
Spoon heaping tablespoons onto parchment lined cookie sheet 1/2 inch apart.
Bake 12-15 minutes.
Allow to cool on pan.
Enjoy!

This post was originally published on 3/4/13 @ oneincomefamilyliving.blogspot.com. I wrote, revised, and transferred it here.

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Homemade Baby Cereal: Oats

Claire has been licking her chops around food recently, so I finally decided to make and give her some of her own last weekend. She loved it! She has allergies, so her pediatrician recommended starting with oatmeal or rice.

I am not opposed to buying the baby cereal, but it's just as easy to toss ingredients I already have in the processor. This also comes in handy with allergies, because you don't get the random ingredients thrown in. I actually looked at a box of rice cereal, and it had soy lecithin in it. Claire may be allergic to soy and while the lecithin doesn't usually cause issues with allergies, I didn't want to risk it.

4+ T quick oats
food processor
boiling water

Process oats until it's as flour like as possible. (Mine is a it old and doesn't get as fine as I'd like, but it works)
Using a 2:1 ratio, add boiling hot water (2 parts) to desired amount of processed oats (1 part) and stir.
The oats should cook if the water is hot enough. Add additional water until desired consistency is achieved. For beginners, I use 1/2 T oats and 2-3 T water.
Allow cereal to cool to a baby safe temperature and serve.

As you can see Claire is a fan.

Have you ever made your own baby food?

Stretcher Foods

The secret to low-cost meals is easy: stretcher foods. Stretcher foods are inexpensive foods that "stretch" your expensive ingredients, your meal, and your budget.
My favorite stretcher foods are beans, rice, pasta, oats, and veggies. They can be used with just about anything if you use your imagination. In fact, there were a couple semesters in college that I cooked almost exclusively with these stretcher foods.

If you're wondering how they work, think stir-fry, and chili. Still confused? Allow me to explain. 
In stir-fry you take meat and seasoning then add some vegetables to make it more balanced and filling. Then to make it even more filling you serve it with rice or noodles. Chili is made with a little meat, a little seasoning, a lot of beans, and some vegetables. To make it even more filling, some people add pasta.
These are such common examples, that it's easy to overlook their "stretching" ingredients.

If you're still confused allow me to break it down:

• Beans are a great additive to ground meat. You can use as much as a 2:1 ratio meat:bean and still have a predominately meat feel to your dish. I use this most often on taco/burrito night and always have plenty of leftovers to freeze and/or have for lunch the next day.
• Veggies are so versatile! When you pair them with meat (any cut) you get a meal that is more filling and visually satisfying. I've actually found that most recipes can be modified by increasing the amount of vegetables and cutting the amount of meat.
• Rice and pasta are similar in how they are used. You can add them as a side or mix them right into lots of dishes to fill you up and "stretch" the meal.

Oats aren't quite as versatile, but they pair well with ground meats. I use them regularly in sloppy joes and meatloaf. If you don't want to be too obvious about using oats, simply cut the oats up in a food processor first. Adding oats will make the dish more filling/ rib-sticking and in some cases less messy.

What's your favorite meal that utilizes stretcher foods? 

 This post is a revised compilation of two posts I originally published in October 2011 @ oneincomefamilyliving.blogspot.com.