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Confessions of a Reformed Breakfast Skipper (Part 2)
Date: Feb. 5th 2009
Category: Brunch
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I had intended January to be a month of breakfasts. As I explained in my first post in this series, after many years of ignoring the most important meal of the day, I was looking forward to sharing my newfound love for breaking the fast, so to speak.
And then January disappeared.
So I’ve decided to continue my little series into February in the hopes that we can all enjoy some special breakfasts!
Had I not wanted to continue the title for these series, I would have instead called this post, “Oatmeal, How Do I Love Thee, Let me Count the Ways!” To be frank, I cannot imagine my fall/winter without bubbling pots of oatmeal.
Oatmeal, of course, is the product of cooked oats. Whole oats (often called groats) are one of the most beneficial whole grains known to humans. Among numerous benefits, oats are packed full of fibre, provide calcium and are an excellent source of protein.
Okay. Now that the health information is out of the way, let’s get to the real reasons why oats are a true blessing.
To begin with, that bubbling pot of oatmeal that I referenced above would probably fall into my top five list of favourite things to eat. It is comfort with a capital C-O-M-F-O-R-T. I have been known to eat oatmeal not only for breakfast, but for lunch and yes, occasionally, for dinner. Said pot of oatmeal can be made at the beginning of the week and sustain you throughout the next five to seven days. One spoonful of warm oatmeal (with a touch of cinnamon and brown sugar, thank you very much), is akin to a hug to start the day.
The next reason to love oats is that with oats, you can make oatmeal cookies. I believe that on this point, no explanation is required.
Oats are also to be loved because when ground, you get oat flour that you can use to make bread, cookies and all sorts of other wonderful things.
I assure you that I am not on the payroll of any major oat company (not that I wouldn’t mind it). Rather, I just want everyone to know that Cream Puff loves her oats and by extension, her oatmeal.
My favourite brands of oats are the usual suspects: Quaker Oats, McCann’s Irish Oatmeal (for steel-cut oats) and when it’s on sale, Oats from Bob’s Red Mill.
To showcase my love of oatmeal for breakfast, I was going to prepare my standard oatmeal but as luck would have it, I have recently become enamoured of baked oatmeal.
Baked oatmeal uses all the same ingredients and add-ins that stove-top oatmeal does the difference being that baked oatmeal tends to have a slightly different texture. Depending on what you add, it can be airier and at times slightly cake-like. Baked oatmeal, in general, is also not as liquidy as stove-top oatmeal.
Awhile back I found a terrific recipe for Baked Oatmeal with Apples that I fell in love with. You can make this on a Sunday night and enjoy it for breakfast every day of the week. You can add all sorts of things to the recipe and of course you can use any fruit you like including pears, bananas and berries.
As you look towards next week and as you plan your meals, I hope you’ll consider this an option for breakfast!
Ciao!
Baked Oatmeal with Apples, Bananas and Walnuts
Based on this recipe from Kickpleat of Everybody Loves Sandwiches.1 cup whole rolled oats
1 tsp. cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tbsp. grated orange zest
2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled and diced
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1-1/4 cups milk (use any type you like)Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease a 9-inch pie plate (you can use any baking dish you like) with butter.
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
Pour into the pie plate and place on a baking sheet in case of spills.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed (but don’t cook it for too long or it will dry out too much).
Remove from the oven and let cool. Serve warm with yogurt and honey.
Enjoy!
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02/5/09 at 10:57 pm
I love oatmeal and it that cereal a lot. That dish looks delicious!
Cheers,
Rosa
02/6/09 at 12:17 am
lately I ve been a sucker for oatmeal I just love it This is a nice and interesting recipe I ll sure have to try.I like mine with coconut and honey. yummy Thanks for sharing this nice recipe.
02/6/09 at 3:40 am
Mmmmmm! I eat breakfast at work so am limited into what I can prepare. I am making this for sure on Sunday and bringing it in with me. Bye bye boring toast…
02/6/09 at 3:47 am
I I LOVE baked oatmeal! It’s a weekend thing for me.
02/6/09 at 4:54 am
oh wow, that’s easy. i can do this when i’m all groggy with a mug of coffee in one hand…
thanks!
02/6/09 at 8:04 am
I can’t go ONE DAY without my morning bowl of oats - love your baked oatmeal
02/6/09 at 8:39 am
This looks fantastic, Ivonne! I’ve never had baked oatmeal before, but I’ll have to give it a go since I’m feasting on porridge every morning just now. A perfect start to the day in this cold weather!!
02/6/09 at 10:18 am
I’m a reformed breakfast skipper too
This oatmeal looks delicious!
02/6/09 at 10:26 am
I share your love of oatmeal too but have never been able to express it so eloquently. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
02/6/09 at 11:36 am
Oh! That has just moved to the top of my list (says the girl who didn’t eat enough breakfast this morning)!
02/6/09 at 12:07 pm
Oh man - THIS one I’m printing!!!
02/6/09 at 7:27 pm
This is like having a oatmeal cookie for breakfast buy way, way better. My husband, the work-out-aholic, just found out he has high cholesterol. I’ve been giving him oatmeal every day. This dish will be a welcome change to the normal pot of oatmeal!
02/6/09 at 9:52 pm
My husband is a big oatmeal fan–I usually prefer the bready breakfast foods, but this looks so tempting! I’ll have to try this out!
02/7/09 at 5:17 am
ooooo gorgeous! Nothing like porridge as we call it here to start the day!!
02/7/09 at 6:33 am
[…] Cream Puffs in Venice - Ivonne piques my curiosity with a “must-try” - baked oatmeal. […]
02/7/09 at 6:57 pm
My take on baked oatmeal: 1 cup steel-cut oats, 2 cups water, 2 cups milk. Pour into a pan, leave in the over overnight at about 200, enjoy in the morning. For variety, add dried fruit, sugar to taste, cinnamon and/or nutmeg before cooking.
02/7/09 at 10:33 pm
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’m a regular breakfast skipper (bad me) but I made your baked oatmeal this morning: substituted pecans for walnuts and threw in a few frozen blueberries from our summer bounty. Yum!
02/8/09 at 12:05 am
My breakfast was a Snickerdoodle Blondie…I think I need to do something more like this.
Looks tasty. P.S. Go Leafs…way to beat the Habs tonight.
02/8/09 at 11:58 am
I haven’t really eaten oatmeal since December, so this is definitely going on my to-do list for this week!
PS: I’ve added you to my blogroll. I’m a huge fan now
02/8/09 at 12:42 pm
This looks so pretty - I tend to be a savory breakfast kind of person, but I will give this a try!
02/8/09 at 2:23 pm
And oatmeal is so good for lowering my cholesterol!
Beautiful.
02/8/09 at 3:13 pm
I skip breakfast all the time. This sounds like a great recipe to start making amends for my breakfast skipping ways!
Thanks Cream Puff!
02/10/09 at 4:50 am
Thanks! I’ve been looking for a good baked oatmeal recipe!
02/10/09 at 5:13 pm
I love oatmeal too! This sounds amamzing…have never had it baked!
02/12/09 at 1:41 am
i came back to tell you that i made this this morning. it was superb! i’m on top of the world after eating this.
:-)
02/12/09 at 10:09 am
Hey, that recipe you used was my recipe….it was taken word for word from my blog! Anyway, glad you loved the breakfast oatmeal, it’s a good one
02/12/09 at 8:50 pm
[…] A few posts ago, I gushed about a recipe that I’d found on-line thinking that I’d found it on some site that I’d never visited before. Well it turns out that said site had posted the entry and recipe for Baked Oatmeal with Apples (word-for-word) originally from the lovely Kickpleat of Everybody Likes Sandwiches without crediting her. […]
02/16/09 at 7:42 pm
I am in love with this recipe! I have made it everyday for the past 4 days. It is easy to change the ingredients to what you have on hand or just what you are in the mood to eat. Thanks for such a great and easy recipe!!
04/25/09 at 9:28 pm
[…] The BEST Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies, Baked Oatmeal with Apples, Bananas & Walnuts, Donna’s Carrot Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies and Irish Breakfast Scone Cookies. […]