Baked Oatmeal

It has been WAY too long since my past post and I officially have no excuse not to anymore. Spring break is here, exams are done (and have been for about a week) and i have plenty of time on my hands.

Every time I go out to breakfast I always judge just how good a place is based on their oatmeal. I'm can imagine this doesn't make much sense since oatmeal is just cooked oats right? There really is a difference though. I can say that the best oatmeal I've ever had was high spot cafe in Madrona. It's a pretty plain breakfast item, but it is one of my favorites. I was searching around for something exciting that had oatmeal in it and I came across this baked oatmeal. I'm not sure if you can count this as traditional oatmeal, but if so this has become my new favorite and I had to share it.

2 cups uncooked oats (not instant)

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1-2 tsp cinnamon depending on how much you like it (i liked the full 2)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup raisins

2 tbsp dried cranberries

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup applesauce

1 1/2 tbsp melted butter

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

-Preheat oven to 350F

-Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl (this includes the brown sugar). Then mix the applesauce, egg, butter and vanilla in a separate bowl. Add the two mixtures and stir well to coat.

-Pour mix into a greased 8 inch square baking dish

-Bake for 20 minutes or until golden

-Serve when its still warm

*I found it was even better with a little warm milk poured over top with any extra added toppings. ENJOY!

-Mel

Reese's Peanut Butter Squares

It's almost Easter...St. Patrick's Day is over and the grocery stores have piled their aisles full of chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. My parents came to Seattle a few days ago to drop my brother off for a visit, and before they left they took me grocery shopping. What more can you ask for! But anyways, they told me to pick out some Easter candy since I wouldn't be home for the holiday and I was overwhelmed. They make EVERYTHING into some form of Easter candy now! They had Easter JellyBeans, Easter Mike & Ike's, Easter Reese's...i guess the traditional chocolate Easter bunny doesn't always cut it now. But nevertheless, my brother picked up the 6 pack of Reese's chocolate eggs. By far my fave. When I was still in elementary school I found a recipe to make Reese's peanut butter squares. They taste exactly the same so if you ever have want to make them i'll give you the recipe.

Spring Break has yet to officially begin, but I've been done my exams since Monday. Last weekend we went to the Seattle Dog Show. I probably enjoyed myself way more than I should have haha. So many dogs to see, I'm never going to pass up a dog show again! My brother came up on Tuesday morning and left Wednesday night so I made sure to fill up the 36 hour period with as much as I could. We went to see the Matt Damon movie, Green Zone. I enjoyed it, wasn't sure what to expect but once I left the theatre I knew I liked it. Went to the Space Needle on Wednesday morning...BEFORE the sun came out! I have bad luck. It was still nice, but it would have been nice to see Mt. Rainier and the Olympics. Then we took a walk past the Fremont Troll, down to GasWorks and then went for lunch at Aqua Verde. It was fun...gotta get him to come back and visit!

Here's the Reese's recipe...

Reese's Peanut Butter Squares

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

1 cup butter

12-oz. chocolate chips (milk chocolate)

Combine crumbs, sugar and peanut butter. Mix well. Blend in butter until well combined. Press into 9 x 13 pan. Melt chips in double boiler and spread over peanut butter mixture. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into squares with a warm knife (put it into warm water before you cut with it).

-Anita