My sixteen year old son baked a few large pans of Amish oatmeal for the yeshivas bein hazmanim breakfast that he organized for the Sukkos vacation and it was a big hit. It’s one of several baked oatmeal recipes that I have – they’re all good but more dessert-like than I prefer to serve for a regular breakfast.

Here’s a healthier version that I jotted down ages ago and finally made this week – I made it the evening ahead so it would be ready for breakfast the next day, but half the pan was gone before everyone had gone to sleep! This has a mellow sweetness that my family enjoys; it’s gluten free and sugar free.

For me this was a very frugal recipe, but please don’t make the blanket assumption that if I say it’s frugal, then it will be equally inexpensive for you. I use a lot of strategies that keep my food costs down that you may not use, and have different resources available that you may not have. And you have frugal resources and options that I don’t have! If the exact recipe doesn’t work for you, take the general principal of frugal cooking – use ingredients that are inexpensive for you to make meals with.

Baked Oatmeal

• 1 c. applesauce
• 10 large Medjool dates
• 4 eggs
• 4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. juice
• 2 T. baking powder
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 6 c. rolled oats
• 1 c. fresh or dried fruit, chopped

Blend the dates with the milk, juice, applesauce and eggs. Mix the dry ingredients, then add the applesauce mixture to the dry mixture. Fold in fruit.

Pour in the pan, and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, you can top with nuts if you like. Bake at 350 degrees F/180 degrees Celsius for 35 – 45 minutes, and serve warm.

My cost breakdown:

• applesauce – I got the apples free, and cooked and preserved the applesauce when I got them last season
• dates – free (my son picked them locally)
• 4 eggs – 3 shekels
• milk – I used a half of a carton of coconut cream, 7.5 shekels (purchased at restaurant supply store I told you about; at Shufersal I saw it for double the price I paid). Dairy milk would be cheaper.
• juice – didn’t use it, instead I cut the coconut cream with water
• baking powder, cinnamon – purchased in bulk bags of 1 kg each, don’t know how much a spoonful would be but let’s say .50 for both
• 6 c. rolled oats – 6 shekels
• dried or fresh fruit – I left this out

Total: 17 shekels for a deep 9″ x 13″ pan or two shallow 9″ x 13″ pans; this makes a generous amount for two breakfasts for a family of six.

Avivah