My New Favorite Oatmeal

During the week I barely make it out of bed with enough time to shower before work. Making breakfast for myself is therefore out of the question. I usually end up making instant oatmeal when I get to work. As you can imagine, after a while, it gets a little old. But this weekend I had some time to finally try out a new oatmeal recipe I’ve had my eye on for a while now. It’s fast, simple and really good for you. I recommend you try it ASAP!

Baked Apple and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Ingredients (makes one individual serving, but is easily doubled):

½ a whole apple, chopped
¼ cup oats
¾ cup milk (I used skim)
1 tablespoon peanut butter (I used organic)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Pinch of cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a small or shallow oven-proof bowl, mix the apples, oats and milk.

Pop it in the oven for half an hour.

After you remove the oatmeal from the oven, mix in the peanut butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Enjoy warm!

Oat and Wheat Gooey Bites

I hate Wheat Chex. I think it tastes like dirt. I make it a habit of picking it out of the Chex mix, and when I make Chex mix I leave it out completely. Did I mention I don’t particularly care for it?

That is…until I saw this recipe. I’m trying to make more of an effort to eat healthier foods. It’s a little rough for me considering all the recipes I’m drawn to include insane amounts of sugar and/or cream and/or chocolate. But I saw this recipe, and even though I can’t stand Wheat Chex, I figure I dislike it so much because it’s supposed to be healthy. I thought if it’s smothered in something gooey I could handle it. I was correct. Again :)

¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup butter
1/3 cup honey
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup dried fruit (I used blueberry flavored Craisins)
2 cups Wheat Chex cereal
1 cup oats
½ cup sliced almonds

Line a baking pan with parchment paper and set it aside.

In a pan on your stovetop, melt your butter. Add the sugar, honey and cinnamon and while whisking continuously, bring the mixture to a bowl. Continue to whisk and boil for one minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add the dried fruit. Lastly, add in the Wheat Chex, oats, and almonds and mix quickly but thoroughly.

Pour the mixture into the parchment lined baking pan. Using a spatula (or your fingers) press the mixture together in a thin layer. Allow it to cool for ½ an hour.

Once cool, break it up into bite-size pieces and store in an airtight container for about a week.

Recipe adapted from Vanillajoy.com

Chewy Granola Bars

Ahhh, it’s that time of year. Time for New Year’s Resolutions (aka: to-do lists for the first week of January). Why not add attempting to eat semi-healthy to this list? Don’t judge me; I’m being realistic here with “attempting” and “semi.” In an effort to do so…I tried out this granola recipe my mom uses. She first saw it as a granola bar recipe. But every time she made it, it crumbled, so we got used to eating as cereal. It tasted good, so I thought I’d make a batch for healthier breakfasts. And wouldn’t you know? When I made the recipe, I ended up with the intended outcome: bars. Neither one of us got what we were going for. It looks like I’m eating bars instead of cereal for a while!

3-1/2 cups oats (not quick-cooking)
1 cup sliced almonds
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup butter, melted
½ cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup unsalted sunflower seeds
½ cup coconut
½ cup dried apricots, chopped if whole
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. (It’s helpful if your cookie sheet has a lip on it).

Spread the oats and almonds evenly on the cookie sheet, and put it in the oven to toast for about 10-15 minutes. You’ll want to stir this a few times, and watch it carefully to make sure it doesn’t burn.

Remove the toasted oats and almonds from the oven and allow them to cool.
In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients, including the oats and almonds once cooled.

Pour and spread the mixture on the parchment-lined pan, and press it down firmly.
Bake in the oven for 18 minutes. It will be golden brown when done.
Remove the pan from the oven, and allow it to cool completely before cutting into bars.

To store, layer the bars in an air-tight container. The bars will be chewy and slightly sticky, so place parchment paper between layers of bars.

If you are like my mom, and end up with loose granola, enjoy over yogurt or as a cereal with milk!

Oreo Brownies

Between traveling for the holidays, my birthday, and New Year’s Eve, I wasn’t left with a lot of time to whip up something sweet for a NYE gathering at a friend’s house. All I had time for was jazzing up a boxed brownie mix. I should run out of time more often – this was really, really good! I layered whole Oreo cookies on top of half the brownie batter, and then covered it with more batter. Once baked, the Oreos lost their shape and melted into the brownies, creating a dark chocolate center. (Sorry guys, with all the NYE celebrating, I forgot to take pictures of the brownies once they were cut. Forgot…or had too many libations to remember how to use my camera…)

Ingredients:

Boxed brownie mix, family-sized (enough for a 13x9 even though we are using a 9x9 pan)
2 eggs
¾ cup water
¾ oil
1 package of Oreo cookies

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch x 9 inch baking pan with cooking spray and line with parchment, leaving some of the paper to hang over the edges. Set the pan aside.

Prepare the brownie batter according to the package instructions using the eggs, water and oil. Use the amounts of egg/water/oil as instructed on the package. The amounts above are what my package called for.

Once the batter is made, pour and spread half of it in the bottom of the pan. Place whole Oreo cookies side-by-side on the batter to create one layer of cookies. Pour and spread the remaining batter over the cookie layer. Crush up 7 Oreo cookies and sprinkle over the top of the brownies.

Place the pan in the oven and bake according to the package directions for a 9x9 pan. Mine took approximately 45 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of the brownies. If they are done, the pick will come out clean.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool. To remove the brownies effortlessly, pull up on the overhanging parchment paper. Cut and serve.