Baked Oatmeal

Breakfast is one meal I am always looking for a quick wholesome meal for Nugget during the week.  As everyone knows getting up and out of the house is a challenge during the week.  Before Nugget I often used to pack my breakfast as well as lunch to school.  I can still do that for me, but I like to know that Nugget has had something good before he goes to day care.

Last week I was reading some new food blogs and saw a post about baked oatmeal on the blog Finding Joy in My Kitchen.  I thought it would be perfect.  I knew that Nugget would enjoy the recipe.   Ever so slowly Nugget is starting to expand his food tastes past scrambled eggs and mac & cheese.  I'm finding that if he can feed it to himself he is much more likely to eat something new.  Nugget likes oatmeal, so I knew he would like this for breakfast.  

Nugget is always a little leery with the first bite.

By the second bite you know what he thinks!  :o)

The biggest surprise with this breakfast was that Bear liked it too!  He does not like oatmeal, so I didn't think he would enjoy this breakfast, but he did.  Bear even ate the last piece that I was going to have for breakfast on Monday morning.

This was a great recipe because it was healthy and I could use it for breakfast one day, and the next day Nugget had a piece for a snack in the afternoon.  Then it packed nicely in Nugget's lunch on Monday.  Perfect.

The recipe calls for mixed berries, but I am not a fan of raspberries so I only used blueberries.  I think this is a very versatile recipe and you can add any fruit you may have on hand.  Next time I make it I am going to substitute bananas for the applesauce.  A small piece of this and some yogurt makes a perfect breakfast!

Berry Baked Oatmeal 
Adapted from Finding Joy in My Kitchen

1/2 C applesauce
1/2 C brown sugar
1 egg
3 C oats (quick-cooking)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 C milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 C  fresh or frozen

Combine the dry ingredients together in a bowl and stir well.

Add in the milk, vanilla, egg and applesauce.

Stir until moistened.

Then, gently stir in the berries.

Pour into a lightly greased 8x8 inch glass baking dish.

Bake at 350 for  35 minutes, until center is set.