Baked Oatmeal with all the Good Stuff

Eating breakfast makes me a better person.   That's all there is to it.   

Aside from the whole not eating breakfast keeps your body in starvation mode after a night of sleep thing, it also just makes me hangry.    By 10am if I haven't had breakfast, the cranky comes out, and no one needs that.    Least of all me.

Making baked oatmeal is another way to keep the breakfast game fresh and this recipe  makes enough that you can have breakfast for a few days.

What You Need

2 cups old fashioned oats

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

the good stuff

1 cup berries, divided  I used strawberries and blueberries

2/3 cup chopped walnuts, divided

1/4 cup shredded coconut, divided

1/2 cup chocolate chips, divided

2 cups skim milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter/margarine, sliced into small pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ripe banana, sliced thin

What You Do

Preheat the oven to 375.    Spray a 9x9 pan with cooking spray.

Combine the oats,sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and then half of all the good stuff (1/2 cup berries,  1/3 cup walnuts, 1/8 cup coconut,  1/4 cup chocolate chips), in a medium bowl.    Pour this dry mixture into the bottom of the 9x9 pan.

In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk  together the milk, egg, butter, and vanilla.   Pour over the oat mixture, then add the other half of the good stuff.  Finally, top the whole thing with the sliced bananas.     

Bake for 30-40 minutes.    It's delicious right out of the oven with the melted chocolate chips and all the other good stuff.       Slice what you don't eat into breakfast sized pieces and put in an airtight container, using wax paper to separate the layers, and store in the fridge.  


Meanwhile in Maui

Did you know that Maui has Rainbow Eucalyptus trees?    You'll catch these on the Road to Hana.

How do you feel about oatmeal - baked or otherwise?

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and have a great week.    Next Sunday I'll be landing in Hong Kong for a week of vacation.   And possibly eating all the things.

Peanut Butter Nutella Popcorn

World Nutella Day was on February 5th.    Somehow this notable and edible holiday escaped my notice until I saw it all over social media.   Nutella is loved all over the world.  As it should be.  

I wanted to make a little Nutella snack:  a little more than just eating it out of the jar, and a little less than turning on the oven.    This recipe is a small batch, if you share with a friend, you'll probably eat it in one sitting.   That's ok.   It's Nutella we're talking about here.

What You Need

1/4 cup popcorn kernels (or 7-8 cups popped corn)

drizzle of oil 

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tablespoon Nutella 

What You Do

Use the kernels and oil to pop the popcorn on the stove - or use your favorite corn popping method.   Pour popped corn into a bowl.   

In a small or medium sauce pan, combine brown sugar and corn syrup, bring to a boil over medium high heat while stirring frequently.     Remove pan from heat and whisk in the peanut butter.  Reserve 1/4-1/3 of a cup of the peanut butter caramel mixture and  pour the remaining over the popcorn and toss to coat.    

Mix the tablespoon of Nutella with the reserved 1/4-1/3 cup of peanut butter caramel mixture.   Take one cup of the coated popcorn and add it to the Nutella mixture to coat it.   

The popcorn will be sticky.  Cool all popcorn on waxed paper.   Break up the pieces that are too big and make sure the Nutella pieces are evenly disbursed.   We don't want any Nutella envy, do we?

Meanwhile on Maui

It's whale  season!   

Have a great week and be sure to eat all the Nutella.