Our oatmeal consumption is about to skyrocket

Oh dear... I started this blog post 2 weeks ago and never finished. Drat. I guess at this point it's like reading yesterday's newspaper, but oh well. Here ya go....

In case you hadn't heard (how could you NOT have, though?) this weekend is the Minnesota Valley Mothers of Multiples bi-annual sale. Hundreds of women are selling their gently used goods to all us bargain hunters. It's a big deal. It's a lot of work. It needs some sustenance in your belly to get said work done! (edited after the fact - It was a LOT of work. I think I'm still tired from working 24 hours straight. But, lucky for me, I thought it was pretty fun - I have to do it again in March).

This morning my friend Kat and her precious girls came over to do some preparing for the sale - printing tags, cutting tags, hanging clothes, pinning tags, gossiping, and playing. I decided last night to assemble a baked oatmeal, put it in the fridge, and enjoy a warm, tasty treat with my & the babies' friends (because yes, whether they like it or not, B&H are going to be friends with Kat's girls. And, I even suspect her girls will fight over Ben. He's the Ladies' Man around them!).

The recipe was really very easy, the ingredients things I have on hand, and the dish turned out delicious - and pretty healthy, too! The recipe comes from Good Cheap Eats, a nice blog for finding healthy, simple food for grown ups (and many babies can eat too!)

Doesn't it look good - and it's not even baked yet!

Raspberry Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup nonfat milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups raspberries
• heavy cream, whipped or plain

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
4. In a second mixing bowl, whisk together the applesauce, yogurt, milk, oil, vanilla, and eggs.
5. Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry, and add the raspberries.
6. Fold gently to combine.
7. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan.
8. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden.
9. Serve with cream, whipped or not.

I wish I had a photo of it all baked and delicious looking, but I didn't take one. Boo! But, photo or not, I can attest that Kat & I each had a piece and if I must say so myself, it was SO delicious! I'm already thinking of other baked oatmeals I could make - apple & cinnamon, pumpkin, cherry, peach. Mmm. I think we'll have a very hearty winter around here.

Of course, by the time we got around to eating, B&H were already in bed for their morning nap. So they at theirs for lunch. What a fun mess!

Mmm. Baked Oatmeal.