Oatmeal is a great food, nutritious and inexpensive.  But most parents don’t consider serving oatmeal to their kids for breakfast -they insist their kids wouldn’t touch  it.  I’ve given my kids cooked oatmeal on a regular basis for breakfast for years, but there are many ways to use oats that can be more appealing for kids than as a simple cooked cereal. 

I have a page of recipes in  my notebook of breakfast ideas that use oats as the main ingredients, and rotate through them regularly.  When I see something new that looks good, I add it to the list.  Because I want to encourage moms to use inexpensive ingredients, I’ve already posted several recipes using oats, and here’s another one that we enjoyed for the first time a couple of mornings ago. 

Amish Oatmeal 

• 1 1/2 c. quick oats
• 1/2 c. sucanat
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/4 c. melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 t. baking powder
• 3/4 t. salt
• 1 t. vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients, mix the butter and egg, and then add the creamed butter and egg to the dry ingredients.  Spread in a greased 9 x 13 pan, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes.  Spoon into bowls, and serve warm with milk. 

If you want to soak the oats the night before, what I do is use kefir or buttermilk as the acidic medium, counting whatever I use as part of the milk called for, mix it up with the oats, and soak them overnight.  Then when I mix it up the next morning, I add the milk so it adds up to the total amount called for.   (I hope this makes sense – I realize that if someone hasn’t read what I’ve written about soaking oats in the past, this is probably confusing.)

Enjoy!

Avivah

Here’s another breakfast loaf that our family enjoyed last week.

Strawberry Bread

• 3 c. flour (we used freshly ground spelt)
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 T. cinnamon
• 1/2 – 3/4 c. sucanat (originally this recipe called for 2 c. of sugar, but this was waaaay too sweet, so we adapted it – we prefer to use the lower measurement)
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 c. oil
• 2 – 10 oz package frozen strawberries, slightly thawed

Combine dry ingredients, separately mix wet ingredients, and then combine the wet and dry.  Bake in two greased loaf pans at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.

Avivah

We made these for the second time for breakfast yesterday morning – they’re a definite hit around here!  We’re able to buy frozen blueberries for a pretty reasonable price ($1.49 for 12 oz, enough to double the recipe below), so it’s an affordable breakfast for us.  But if you can’t and you’re looking for a frugal breakfast, either substitute something else for the blueberries or wait until you can pick them up cheaply.  Don’t assume that just because I’m making it, it must be an inexpensive recipe for anyone!

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

• 2 c. flour (we used spelt)
• 3/4 c. sucanat
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1 c. milk
• 1/4 c. oil (coconut oil or butter)
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 1 egg
• 1 t. grated lemon rind (substituted homemade orange zest instead)
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1 1/3 c. frozen blueberries, unthawed

Mix all the dry ingredients, then separately mix all wet ingredients (except blueberries).  Combine the wet and dry mixes, being careful not to overmix.  Add in blueberries last.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden.  We doubled the recipe, and baked half as muffins and half as a breakfast loaf (and my kids said we should make more next time since everyone likes it so much – to which I replied that I thought that considering they had apples and milk with their muffins, they had enough even if they wanted more!).  I’d estimate that this recipe makes about two dozen muffins.

By the way, muffins make a wonderful breakfast for Shabbos – much nicer (and cheaper) than bowls of cold cereal, and obviously lots healthier than cake.   They’re quick to whip up, and freeze well if you double the recipe and want to put some away for another meal.

Avivah

I made these last week, after many months since last having served it.  When I served it then, my son’s friend was here for dinner and kept exclaiming at how our food was so much better than theirs (this had my kids looking skeptical, since his family often goes out to eat and a lot of what they eat is processed healthy food, the kind of food my kids know of as ‘treat’ food).  We served it at that time with soaked cornmeal corn cakes and several kinds of fermented vegetables – so it was a thoroughly healthy meal.  I don’t know why it took me so long to put them on the menu again!  My ds10 enjoyed them so much last week that he asked me to put them on this week’s menu, too!  It’s a quick, easy, and inexpensive dish, so I’m sharing it here with you.

Honey Baked Lentils

• 1. c. dried lentils
• 2 c. water
• 2 T. honey
• 2 T. soy sauce
• 2 T. olive oil
• 1/2 t. ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped

Put everything into a covered pan, and bake at 350 degrees until tender.  I’d estimate this serves about 4 people; I think we use four cups of dried lentils for our family.

* I start preparing for this dish a couple of days in advance, by soaking the lentils overnight.  Then I drain the lentils off, and let them sit in the bowl for the rest of the day.  Before I go to sleep, I rinse them in a strainer again.  Even in this cold weather, they started to sprout within this period of time.  If you do soak your lentils first, you won’t need nearly so much water, since it’s already absorbed so much water through the soaking – we cut it down drastically, to maybe a 1/2 c. for the entire quadrupled recipe.  Though this isn’t necessary, it’s what I try to do with bean and lentils to maximize the nutritional value. 

Avivah

Chili is one of those flexible things that works well for improvising with whatever you have on hand, so you don’t have to be exact.  But I’ll share a couple of the recipes that I initially based mine on (and mine varies every time I make it, depending how much I have of what in the fridge :)).

Very Easy Vegetarian Chili

• 1 c. chopped onion
• 3/4 c. chopped carrots
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 c. chopped green pepper
• 1 c. chopped red pepper
• 3/4 c. chopped celery
• 1 T. chili powder
• 1 1/2 c. chopped fresh mushrooms (I don’t think I ever used mushrooms)
• 1 – 28 oz. can whole tomatoes, chopped, or 1 – 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 – 19 oz. can kidney beans (I cook them from dry, so about 2 cups cooked)
• 1 – 11 oz. can corn (I use frozen, about a cup and a half)
• 1 T. cumin
• 1 1/2 t. oregano
• 1 1/2 t. basil

Saute the onion and garlic until tender, add the carrots, celery, pepper, and mushrooms, and saute until all are soft.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer twenty minutes more until done.

Here’s the next one – it has fewer ingredients and that makes it quicker and easier:

Vegetarian Chili

• 4 potatoes, chopped
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 yellow bell peppers, chopped
• 2 – 15 oz cans garbanzo beans (4 c. cooked)
• 2 – 15 oz cans kidney beans (4 c. cooked)
• 2 – 28 oz cans whole tomatoes, undrained
• 2 T. chili powder
• 2 t. cumin
• 2 zucchini, sliced

Cook everything except zucchini until tender.  Add zucchini and cook ten minutes more.  Serves 8.

I prefer the second recipe, but combine elements of both.  For example, I use carrots (like the first) and potatoes (like the second) when I make vegetarian chili.  I tend to leave out the zucchini, especially since I make chili much more frequently in cold weather, when zucchini isn’t seasonal.  I also like to use stock instead of water (which doesn’t make it vegetarian), but it tastes good, or the pan drippings from Shabbos chicken.

Avivah

I realized last night that I never posted two recipes that Dina requested a few weeks ago  – I’m sorry about the oversight!  So I’m posting them now. 🙂  The adaptations I make are in the parentheses.

Pumpkin Bread

• 15 oz canned pumpkin, or 2 c. cooked pumpkin
• 4 eggs
• 1 c. oil (we use coconut oil or butter)
• 2/3 c. water
• 3/4 – 1 c. sugar (I use sucanat and usually reduce the amounts of sweeteners called for, so I wouldn’t use more than 1/2 c. probably)
• 3 1/2 c. flour (whole wheat)
• 2 t. baking soda
• 1 1/2 t. salt (sea salt)
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1 t. nutmeg
• 1/2 t. cloves
• 1/4 t. ginger

Mix the pumpkin, eggs, oil, and water.  In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients.  Then mix the wet and dry ingredients together until just mixed – quick breads will be tough if they are overmixed.  Put in three greased loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. 

Avivah

This is a recipe that I’ve seen in several places, but I don’t know where it first came from.  It’s a nice afternoon snack, and is gluten free.  It’s also quick to put together if you already have cooked rice on hand.

Brown Rice Crackers 

• 1 1/2 c. brown rice flour
• 2/3 c. cooked brown rice
• 1 T. flax seeds (optional)
• 1/4 t. sea salt
• 1/4 c. oil (I used olive oil)
• 1/3 – 1/2 c. water

Mix all the ingredients until combined, adding the water last a little at a time until the dough holds together.  Roll or pat out thinly onto a baking sheet.  Score into 1.5″ pieces.   Bake at 375 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

We tried it a couple of days ago for the first time, and everyone was generally happy with it.  My inspiration for making it was having a couple of cups of brown rice left over, and I thought it’d be more fun to make crackers than to have to remember to use it for something else!  We made four times the recipe, but the recipe as written yields 3 dozen crackers.

Something I’d suggest being careful of is to be sure that your brown rice flour is fresh.  Usually I’d grind it fresh myself, but I happened to have purchased some rice flour when our grinder was being repaired a couple of months ago.  So I used that, but I think it must have been slightly rancid, because the kids commented on a slight bitter flavor at the end of chewing.  It didn’t stop them from enjoying them, but I’d want to avoid that next time. 

Also, I added sesame seeds to it – the flax seeds had been misplaced so I thought I’d use sesame seeds instead, and as I was adding the sesame, someone found the flax seeds.  So I used both. 🙂

Avivah

Tomorrow my son will be turning ten, and we spontaneously decided to make tonight his birthday dinner night.  It worked out well, since I had scheduled baked salmon for dinner, which I usually save for light holiday meals or other special occasions.  With it, we had hush puppies (everyone in the South knows what these are, but for the rest of you, they’re fried cornmeal dumplings), sauteed yellow summer squash, and then two special desserts.  (We don’t usually have desserts for dinner.)

One of the desserts was cinnamon rolls, which I’ve shared the recipe for in the past (check the recipes link on the right if you want to see it).  My kids were going to make brownies also, but I wanted something that even the child who doesn’t eat sugar could enjoy – it’s not fun watching everyone else eat delicious treats and not being able to have any.  So I thought it would be a good time to try a new recipe, almond power bars.  These were a big hit, they’re very healthy, easy to make, and they’re gluten free to boot!  Believe it or not, we actually have all of the ingredients in our house all the time, so we didn’t need to run out for specialty ingredients to make this.

Almond Power Bars

• 2 c. almonds
• 1/2 c. flax seeds
• 1/2 c. shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 c. unsalted almond butter (we used peanut butter)
• 1/2 t. sea salt
• 1/2 c. coconut oil
• 1 T. honey
• 1 T. vanilla

Process the first five ingredients together in a food processor for about ten seconds.  We used almond flour (already ground), and had plain flax seeds (which should be ground before being mixed into the other ingredients, otherwise they won’t grind finely), and used the same measurements called for above.  In a small pot, melt the coconut oil, and add in the remaining ingredients.  Add the oil mixture to the mixure in the food processor, and pulse until mixture forms a coarse paste.  Press the mixture down in a 8 x 8 pan, and chill.  These are very rich and candy-like.

Yield: 20 bars

Enjoy watching your children eat them, knowing that every bite contributes to their health!

Avivah