Another Hearty Breakfast

My kids are tired of oatmeal. I allow them to put raisins, dried cranberries, dates, figs, dried apricots, cinnamon, vanilla, milk, berries, nuts, or any combination of those in it (endless options, if you ask me). But they just sit at the table forEVER lately when it's what's for breakfast.

I want them to get the health benefits, but they are just burnt out on it, I think. (Maybe this has something to do with the giant Costco-sized box we keep buying and the fact that I refused to buy cereal for about 6 months?)

Anyway, I decided to look at some different recipes to get them to eat oatmeal again. I read through about a million oatmeal recipes, and tried some really gross ones, before developing this Baked Oatmeal recipe. It comes out as bars, and we serve it in a shallow bowl with maple syrup on top. The kids will actually eat it! I like it because I can put it together the night before, pop it in the oven in the morning about a half hour before waking up the kids, and then by the time they are showered and ready to eat, breakfast is ready.

Baked Oatmeal Squares
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4 cups old-fashioned oats (the kind that cook in about 5 minutes)
1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1/2 cup Splenda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 cup nonfat milk
1 cup water
2 Egg Whites
1 Egg
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup raisins

Combine oats, brown sugar, Splenda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl.

Mix together all wet ingredients (milk through vanilla) in a small bowl. Pour over dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Gently stir in raisins.

Mixture will look dry. Spread in a 13x9 glass dish. Refrigerate covered overnight.

In morning, cook in a 350F oven for 35 minutes. Allow to set for a few minutes before cutting into bars. Makes 8 servings.

Recipe: Choco-PB-Banana Oatmeal

So I decided to run later and to make oatmeal for breakfast. Since I'm not sure how long it will be before I have lunch (gotta squeeze in that baby visit and a 4-mile run before then), I'm going with one of my favorite higher-point breakfast recipes.

You can cut the points down if you like by omitting the Fiber One, using less oatmeal, or less peanut butter. If I put the ingredients into the WW online point tracker individually, I get 5 points. If I add everything up and figure out the points that way, I get 7 points. So I guess I will count 5 and let you decide for yourself. Inspiration is owed partly to Lisa at www.hungry-girl.com who makes something similar (but without the PB).

I LOVE peanut butter. I LOVE chocolate. This recipe has both. It feels decadent and naughty but has a lot of good stuff going on in it. Fiber, Protein, and Potassium make this a smart pre-workout meal. I should have my kids try it and see if they like it. They get tired of plain Malt-O-Meal and oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins in it. (I decided I was tired of spending so much money on cereal all the time, so we hardly ever have it).

Admittedly, this looks like a bowl of dogfood in the picture, but it doesn't taste like it, I swear! (Hmmm, although, like a dog, I'm always tempted to lick the bowl clean when I'm done).

--Choco-PB-Banana Oatmeal--

- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, cooked to package directions
- 1 Tbsp. peanut butter
- 1/2 ripe medium banana, mashed
- 1/4 cup Fiber One Original cereal (you can use another high-fiber cereal if you don't like F1 or can't eat aspartame)
- 1 packet diet hot cocoa mix (I use Swiss Miss 'Sensible Sweets' at 25 calories)
- Splash of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond milk

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Easy, huh?

Nutritionals: 360 calories, 11g fat, 14g fiber, 285mg sodium, 12g protein

WW points: 7