Food for Thought and Baked Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal

Tommy in the sun

Life.

Family tragedy and drama, the family cat off to kitty heaven after a good old life of 13 years, and a friends sudden passing way before her time have pretty well summed up the major events of the month since my last post.  On top of that the first two weeks of July had me fending off the remnants of the awful flu bug that got me back in May!  However, despite it all I feel like I am back in the saddle again and ready to take on life.

Life.

For some reason,  every so often, life tends to smack us up on the head.  Yeah, there are tragic things that happen around the world and in our cities that have us appreciate our own little worlds, but when they knock on your own front door…well there’s no escaping reality.  We can’t turn back time to find what we missed along the way, we can’t do things over to make changes, we can only learn and hang on to the new appreciation for the family, friends and things around us.  Life is way too short to waste it!

After a good nights sleep, I suggest starting a new day pondering life over fresh Baked Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal.  Feeding the mind is one thing but the stomach is a whole different matter.  I was thrilled to come across recipes for  Baked Oatmeal and couldn’t believe I had never heard of it before.  One recipe contained a fruit mixture of blueberries, chopped apple and peaches and eggs.  The other recipe had nothing added to it and did not have eggs.  I took the liberty of taking what I liked from each recipe and came up with my own of sorts.  I had small portions of leftover dried cranberries and chopped walnuts that I used in place of the fruit, used brown sugar instead of white, added vanilla and cinnamon and one egg.

The kitchen smelled wonderful as it baked and I couldn’t wait for it to come out of the oven.  The texture of the Baked Oatmeal is light thanks to the baking powder and not at all muffin like in texture as I had imagined it might be.  You could certainly use your choice of raisins, nuts or other fruit to create other tasty variations, but I must say I loved the tang of the cranberries and the warm walnuts…it was like having a cookie in a bowl for breakfast!

Baked Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal...cookie in a bowl for breakfast...yum!

Baked Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal

In a bowl combine the following:

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 chopped walnuts

In another small bowl or measuring cup, stir together the following ingredients:

1/2 cup milk

1/4 melted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 beaten egg

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until blended.  Pour mixture into a greased 8-inch square pan or casserole dish.  Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Spoon hot oatmeal into bowls and pass the milk or cream!  Serves four to six.

If you love oatmeal you have to try this recipe!  It might also be a good way to coax the kids into eating porridge for breakfast.  Whoever you choose to enjoy breakfast with may you appreciate the moment and have a sunny day!

Good Day and Good Eats!

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