Banana Nut Muffin Oatmeal

The other day I ran into a friend at the grocery store and we started talking about oatmeal (I know a strange topic). Both his family and our family eat a lot of oatmeal because it is cheap, healthy and tastes good - just don't ask my kids about the last part. I noticed he had banana's also in his cart and it got me thinking.

Banana's are one of my favorite fruits. A little bit of tropical delight for the palette that is high in potassium (and slightly radioactive). Despite common misconceptions, banana's don't grow on trees, but are actually one of the largest flowering plants on the planet. Anyway, I digress.

After our meeting, I got to thinking about other ways to make oatmeal more edible for the kids. They love banana breads and muffins. And muffins and breads are a good way to hid oatmeal. But my chosen task was to make a traditional porridge that they would not only eat, but also like. I knew I wanted to use bananas and oatmeal but what else. So I began my quest where it all started, by wandering the isles of the grocery store.

I started with the rolled oats (not instant) and bananas but I kept coming back to banana muffins and so decided to make a banana muffin porridge. I needed to change not only the flavor of the oats but the texture as well. So here is a recipe that not only tastes good (according to the kids), but will warm the heart and fill the belly.

Banana Nut Muffin Oatmeal

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

4 cups Rolled Oats

8 cups Water

3 Banana's cut into slices

1 cup Grape Nuts Cereal®

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp Banana Extract

Glazed Pecans to top

Directions

1. In a food processor on pulse, cut the rolled oats to a med-fine texture. (An optional step to make the oatmeal smoother but can easily be skipped).

2. Add brown sugar and banana extract to the water and stir to dissolve. Bring to a boil. Slowly add rolled oats (to avoid clumping) and Grape Nuts Cereal® to water and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add desired amount of cooked oatmeal, sliced banana's, glazed pecans and top with heavy cream and/or milk.

Enjoy

Apple Butter Baked Oatmeal

If Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, why does it seem like the busiest day of the week? Between choir practice, getting kids ready for church, church, church meetings after church, home (and visiting) teaching appointments, and family dinners it seems like it's go, go, go, with no rest for the Saints. (By the way, a good friend of mine, Cory Milligan, posted the other day about what a Latter Day Saint really is... a Latter Day Sinner who keeps on trying). So in the spirit of D&C 59:13 "...only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart" I give you this recipe, Baked Oatmeal.

When you think of oatmeal what comes to mind? The slimy, soggy hot cereal you mom made you eat with milk and sugar? The slimy stuff that comes in those flavored packets loaded with preservatives and ingredients you can't pronounce? Or something different?

For the first 19 years we were married, my wife would make the first and occasionally we would would relent and get some of the second. She would add all kinds of things to get the kids to eat it, apple pie filling, cherry pie filling, peaches with whipped cream on top, pumpkin, cranberries, etc. You get the idea; it would all end the same. Our children would eat a few bites, pronounce they were full and the throw the rest away.

But in going through a new cookbook I got for my wife last year for her birthday she found this recipe for Baked Oatmeal. Not only did the kids devour it, but they wanted more. It was easy, just combine the ingredients, put in a cake pan in the oven and walk away (don't forget to time it or you'll have blackened oatmeal). We still add different things to the oatmeal, but now it's easy, fun and the children eat it.

Baked Oatmeal

1/2 cup Melted Butter

3/4 cups Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 cup Milk

3 cups oatmeal (old-fashioned, not quick cooking)

1 tsp Salt

Opt. your own "secret ingredient(s)" like dried cranberries and apples, cinnamon apples, peaches, cherries, blueberries, strawberries (I use freeze dried), etc.

In a large bowl mix oil, sugar, and eggs. Add remaining ingredients and pour into a greased 9 x 13 can. Baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve hot with with milk. Serves 5-6. We double when all six of our children are home. Enjoy.

(The recipe originally came from "Worldwide Ward Cookbook, Secret Recipes, by Deanna Buxton". The recipe was submitted by May Fitzgerald, Taos Ward, Santa Fe New Mexico Stake, Angle Fire, New Mexico). She writes, "This is the only way we make oatmeal at our house...[This] is a time saver and tastes so much better tan making oatmeal on the stove or in the microwave..."

English Scones

My youngest daughter has been asking me to make scones for breakfast for several days now. She's wanting the American / Mexican variety also know as Indian Fry Bread, Fried Scones or Sopapillas. However, I don't want to deal with the greasy mess frying up scones produces, so I opted for the English variety. This type of scone is more closely related to a biscuit (and in fact uses the biscuit method to mix) and in England is commonly found during tea time served with Clotted Cream or Jam.

We used to offer these on our catering menu and they were a big hit. Back then we could produce several hundred at a time for a large gathering, and so, we would buy them pre-made (but uncooked) and bake them as needed. So, of truth, I've never made these from scratch. But like many things we as a society now buy in a box or jar, they are actually very easy to make, taste better and take just about as much time and effort as the boxed mixes.

English Scones

Yield: 1 Doz Scones

Prep time 15 Minutes, Baking time 10-15 Minutes, Total time 25-30 Minutes

Ingredients

2 cups All-Purpose Flour

2 Tbsp Baking Powder

1 pinch Salt

1/4 cup Butter (1 stick), cubed and cold

2 Tbsp Sugar

1/2 cups Milk

2 Tbsp Milk (for brushing the scones).

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F and Line a Baking sheet with parchment paper

1) Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl

2) Cut in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs (Biscuit Method)

3) Stir in the sugar and enough milk to mix to a soft dough

4) Turn onto a floured surface, knead lightly (don't over knead or they won't rise or be flaky) and roll out to a 3/4 inch thickness.

5) Cut into 2 inch rounds, triangles or squares and place on prepared baking sheet.

6) Brush with milk to glaze.

7) Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes than cool on a wire rack.

Serve with butter, clotted cream or jam.

Note: Feel free to add your favorite spices and fold in your favorite indredients like Orange Zest, Strawberries (dried work great), Apples and Walnuts, Chocolate Chips, Blueberries, Raisins, or Cranberries.

Enjoy

Pictured: Cranberry Walnut Scone, courtesy AnjasFood4Thought.com

Cherry-Peach Buckle

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Well I say that dessert can be a meal in and of itself. So this morning I made a breakfast that could be a dessert or a dessert that could be a breakfast, a Cherry-Peach Buckle. By definition a buckle is a dessert which combines fresh seasonal fruit, a rich cake batter and a streusel topping. The result is a dense cake with a moist crumb, sometimes compared to a coffee cake.

My inspiration came for today's breakfast came from one of my favorite TV chef's, Alton Brown but with my own variations. It was also a good opportunity to teach my son, Josh about scaling recipes (basic algebra, fractions, decimals, and critical thinking) and my sweet wife about two different baking methods, creaming method and the biscuit method. I adjusted this for a 9x13 pan.

Cherry-Peach Buckle

Spray a 9 x 13 cake pan with pan spray and pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Batter:

13 oz Cake Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

3/4 tsp Salt

3/4 tsp Ground Ginger

3 oz Butter, softened

7 1/2 oz Sugar

2 Eggs

3/4 cup Milk

21 oz Fruit (your choice, frozen is best).

Mix first four ingredients in separate bowl.

In mixer (using the creaming method) mix butter, sugar and eggs.

Slowly add flour mixture and milk 1/3 at a time.

Fold in fruit and put into your greased cake pan.

Topping:

5 oz Brown Sugar

2.2 oz Flour (About 1/2 cup)

1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

3 oz Butter, cut into pieces

Blend topping ingredients by hand (don't warm butter) to a crumbly texture.

Cover cake mix with topping

Bake for 35-40 minutes

Best served warm with Vanilla Ice Cream or Whipped Cream.

Enjoy

Pancakes with a Mandarin Orange Reduction Sauce

I woke up this morning with Mandarin oranges on my mind (yes I'm strange). Becky had called out to everyone that pancakes were cooking and to get up or eat them cold. She had told me last night that she was going to fix pancakes for breakfast, and is often the case, they were the 'normal' variety that you put sugar or syrup on.

Not being normal, I guess, is what caused my creative side to emerge from the cobwebs of sleep and inspired this morning's breakfast variation. Mandarin oranges are a staple in our house, and many time the kids will open up a can and eat them one by one. Oranges in general are also high in vitamin C and with several kids down with colds this seemed like a fun way to incorporate today's secret ingredient (I guess I watch too many cooking shows).

I have to thank a good friend, Lisa Luke with DoTerra Essential Oils, for giving me the Wild Orange Oil I used. If you don't have any, you can use an orange extract, orange zest or just omit, but for the health benefits and fullness of flavor, I do recommend finding some food grade essential oil.

Pancakes with a Mandarin Orange Reduction and a Wild Orange Cream

Make your favorite pancake mix or waffles according to package directions.

Mandarin Orange Reduction Sauce:

2 (11 oz) cans of Mandarin Oranges (including juice)

1 (11 oz) can of Mandarin Oranges, drained and set aside

5 drops DoTerra Wild Orange Essential Oil

1/8 tsp Nutmeg

1/8 tsp All Spice

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

2 Tbsp Agave Nectar (you can substitute honey or sugar)

Combine all ingredients (except 1 can of oranges) in medium sauce pan and boil on med-high heat until reduced to a syrup (about 7-10 minutes). Add remaining can of oranges. Chill and reserve.

Wild Orange Cream:

2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream

8 drops DoTerra Wild Orange Essential Oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp Splenda (or Powdered Sugar for non diabetics)

Whip until peaks form.

Ladle Mandarin Orange Sauce over Pancakes and top with Wild Orange Cream for a delicious morning breakfast. Enjoy.