When you start trimming the family budget, you may decide to decrease visits to fast food restaurants. The easiest way is to develop a list of acceptable snacks that your children will enjoy because you don’t have time to figure it out after the munchies hit.
I have a recipe that sounds wierd but most children keep coming back for more. Why not try it and see how they respond?
Baked Oatmeal
This recipe bakes to a cake like consistency that my kids and grandkids love.
3 cups oats
½ cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
½ cup applesauce (1 snackcup works)
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs or egg replacer
1 cup milk (or rice or soy)
½ cup raisins or craisins or blueberries
I mix it all up in my food processor making sure to add the dried fruit last so that it doesn’t get too chopped up. Put it into a 9×9 pan that is sprayed with Pam. I sprinkle brown sugar and more cinnamon on top.
Bake 350F for 20 to 30 minutes.
As you can tell, this is a very forgiving recipe. You can add nuts or sunflower seeds to it. If you want to increase your children’s fiber intake, add some flax seed meal or bran. If they like bananas, mash one up and mix it in. This really is a basic recipe that can become your family’s favorite.
Note: You can use quick cooking or regular oats. If I use the regular ones, I usually run them in the food processor for a minute to break them up before adding the rest of the ingredients. It would probably work fine without it but gives a finer consistency this way.
Tags: baked oatmeal, baked oats. snacks, family, oats
