oatmeal, take 3 and 4

Who knew I was such an oatmeal fan? (Especially considering our current heat wave…)

I mean, I know I’ve gotten way more into oatmeal since I discovered Kath’s blog, but that’s not saying a whole lot since it was never more than an occasional winter breakfast for me before.

I found a recipe for Baked Oatmeal on Nourished Kitchen’s website and have been meaning to try it ever since. It intrigued me that I could make oatmeal in bulk, essentially, and freeze ‘grab and go’ portions for busy mornings.

It calls for an overnight soak, so I prepped that the night before and whipped it up (along with eggs, grapefruit and cut-up Trader Joe’s Mango Chicken Sausage–which Andrew didn’t eat) for breakfast yesterday. Sadly, I didn’t take any photos.

I did, however, take some (dark) ones this morning at O-dark-thirty when I was up having the leftovers before swimming.

Here’s a side view–you can see the square shape. I topped mine with a little peanut butter and half a banana for added energy in the pool. A drizzle of maple syrup topped it all off.

You can see the hunks of dried apricot and cinnamon on top.

I made a lot of notes on this one. Andrew liked it (his exact words were “I would eat this again” without being overly excited about it), so I definitely filed it away.

It calls for steel-cut oats, but I was hoping for a creamier texture (as opposed to their chewy, crumbly texture), so I think I might use rolled oats next time and skip the overnight soak. Also, apparently Andrew isn’t a fan of dried apricot (it calls for cranberries as well), so I think I might go the traditional route and use chopped apple and raisins next time.

Other than that, it was great. Relatively easy with fantastic results. We were both able to have breakfast yesterday, breakfast today (well, Andrew will when he gets up) and three more servings went into the freezer. (And that was only half the recipe.) Hurray!

Is it crazy that I’m making MORE oatmeal tomorrow? I found “citrus-scented oatmeal with apricots and orange zest” in my Ancient Grains cookbook…

too much of a good thing?

Heck no!

I found myself at Starbucks (this time at the one in Target) after swim practice for breakfast… Oatmeal (again), with a tangerine from home and another coffee–this time the new Veranda roast. Yum!

I was über-productive yesterday! My whole-wheat sandwich loaf turned out perfectly (hallelujah!), my Texas sheet cake tasted great (I might have gone out of control with the sampling) and I spring-cleaned the heck out of the house. Let’s just say the amount of hair I removed was criminal.

I’m running some quick errands this morning before heading back to make more bread ( this time a fruit and nut loaf for dinner) and tackle some school work.

….and I might make some granola bars…

spring break

Finally! I made it….

I’ve been crazy busy the last few days with school works (stats homework done-check!), article-writing and visiting with the fam since Abigail was home this weekend.

I started my spring break with a relatively early workout, and here I am now:

I had a coupon for a free oatmeal and decided to take my breakfast at Starbucks after the gym. Conveniently, my. Ext stop is Wegmans, which is just down the road.

Today I’m spring-cleaning the house (I cannot stand the hair and dust another minute more!), and making a Texas sheet cake for bible study tonight.

In true holly-fashion, I’ve already made to-do lists for each day that include housework, schoolwork (I have a TON) and, of course, baking.

On the docket: a fruit and nut loaf for tomorrow’s dinner, wheat sandwich bread for lunches, baked oatmeal, cinnamon raisin swirl bread, yogurt, regular oatmeal, granola bars and maybe some muffins. My goal is to stock the freezer with grab-and-go breakfast items and extra bread. Also on the list is yogurt–gasp! We’re out–and Mac and cheese for my lunch on Wednesday 🙂

So, I’ll be a happily busy girl this week 🙂