Baked Oatmeal

I've had a couple people ask me recently about this recipe, and as I looked up the post to share the link, I took a look and realized that my measurements have evolved since first posting it here a few years ago.  If anything, I think the recipe has improved, and it's one of my family's most favorite breakfasts.  It's also a breakfast you can be sure I will serve whenever we have overnight guests.  So I thought it was worth sharing the recipe again, but with my current measurements and ingredients of choice!
 

2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 cups milk
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2" slices
1 cup berries (strawberries and/or blueberries are our favorites)
maple syrup, for drizzling


Preheat oven to 375.  Butter an 8-inch square baking dish.

Combine the oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl.  In another bowl, whisk the milk, egg, and vanilla.

Arrange bananas on the bottom of the coated baking dish and cover with the oat mixture.  Slowly drizzle milk mixture over the oats.  Gently press down oats with the back of a spoon to make sure everything is wet and the liquid is evenly distributed.  Drizzle coconut oil on top and then scatter berries.

(*You can do all of the prep the night before, cover tightly, and refrigerate for the next morning.  I almost always make it the night before.  In the morning I turn on the oven, pull the dish out of the fridge, uncover, and stick it straight in without waiting for the oven to preheat.  If you do it this way, it will take 45-50 minutes to fully bake.)

Bake for 40 minutes (unless it's been in the fridge overnight *see note above), until the top is nicely golden and the oat mixture has set.  Drizzle with maple syrup if you want to make it taste extra special.  Serve with milk and enjoy!

Apple Squash Bacon Pizza

Since Jessie introduced me to spaghetti squash pizza, I have ventured off into the world of pizza toppings.  What goes well paired with bread and cheese?  A lot of things!  Of the combinations we've tried recently, this is our current favorite.  It's pretty much taking this soup, and turning it into a pizza (or two!).  The combination of apples, butternut squash, bacon, and cheddar cheese is delicious either way if you ask me!  What are your favorite pizza toppings?

5-7 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled (Have you ever used kitchen shears to cut your bacon into 

                                                               pieces before you cook it?!)

1/2 butternut squash, peeled and chopped roughly into 1-inch chunks

1 large apple, cored and thinly sliced (I didn't use my corer-peeler-slicer because I wanted super thin 

                                                   slices, but in retrospect, I think the thicker slices would have worked 

                                                    just fine and the prep would have been much easier!)

10-16 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated (depending on how cheesy you like your pizza!)

2 balls of pizza dough

olive oil

black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450.  If using a stone, make sure you preheat the stone a good thirty minutes.

Cook bacon in a large frying pan.  Remove to a paper towel and set aside, leaving the grease in the pan.

Saute squash cubes in bacon grease over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.  You don't want to cook the squash completely.  It will finish cooking on the pizza.  But give it just enough time in the pan to start softening and take in the yummy bacon flavor.  

Roll out one pizza dough.  Brush lightly with olive oil.  Spread half the apple slices on dough.  Sprinkle just a little cheese over apples.  Then top with half the squash, more cheese, and finish with bacon crumbles.  Sprinkle with black pepper (if you want to) and bake for 12-15 minutes.  

I had enough toppings to make two large pizzas.

Enjoy!

Pomegranate Taco Chicken in the Crockpot

If you decide to make the Pomegranate Beef recipe I posted a few days ago,  (and clearly, I think you should!), then you are on the right track to making this as well!  This is another meat in the crockpot that uses pomegranate juice!  The juice is not cheap.  I get it.  But I think these two very different and very delicious recipes are worth that $5 small bottle of POM sitting there on the shelf.

We first tasted this chicken while having dinner with friends.  They served chicken tacos, and the meat was perfectly flavored for tacos, but tasted much better than if they had just dumped some chicken and a packet of taco seasoning into the crockpot.  Turns out they did just dump chicken and a few things in the crockpot!  The idea was so simple, and the chicken so good, I repeated the meal the following week with my family.  You can use the meat for all sorts of dishes: tacos, burritos, a salad, quesadillas, grilled sandwiches, nachos, as a chip dip mixed with some sour cream and salsa . . . you get the idea!


2-4 chicken breasts (I only used two, but they were very big)
1 onion, chopped
1 cup pomegranate juice
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cumin
pepper, to taste (optional)


Place everything in a crock pot.  Cover.  Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5.  Shred with two forks and serve.