A Love Affair with Oats

Oats, oats, oats! They're so healthy and yummy and a wonderful addition to many baked goods! It seems nowadays everything I make has oats in it! Just passing along a few of my favorite recipes that I make regularly here...

Healthy-ish Oatmeal Cookies

3 T. butter (room temp.)

1 egg

1 T. water

1/4 c. honey

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. wheat flour

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. baking soda

1 1/2 c. rolled oats

chocolate chips or raisins to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together. Grease cookie sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Best Ever Granola Bars

4 1/2 c. oats

1 c. chopped nuts

1 c. flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. honey

1 c. butter

1-2 c. chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bar

(can add shredded coconut, seeds, raisins, etc. I also like to put in wheat germ or wheat bran for added nutrition!)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients and place in a greased 9X13 pan. Press with a metal spatula or back of a wooden spoon. Bake 30-35 minutes until edges are light golden brown. Remove from oven press again to condense. Allow to cool. At this point, you can cut into bars and eat them and they will be sort of like cookie bars. But I prefer to chill them in the fridge until they're hard, then cut into bars and wrap individually with plastic. They're much harder to cut once they're chilled but they hold together well. I store them in the fridge and grab one for a snack or when I am on the go. Delicious!!!

Baked Oatmeal

3 c. oats

2 tsp. baking powder

1 c. milk

2 eggs

1/2 c. oil

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. brown sugar or honey

1 tsp. salt.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Pour into a pan so batter is 2-4 inches deep. Bake 40 minutes or until golden brown. This is a big hit with the children of the household!

Katrina's Power Smoothie

Soy milk

Spinach (washed)

Frozen bananas

Wheat germ/bran

Oats

Honey

Flax seeds (sometimes)

Put into a blender whatever amounts of ingredients you like to get the taste and consistency you desire. Blend on high speed until the texture is creamy. Oh so delicious and super-duper healthy! A great way to start the day!

Chocolate Granola

(I make the half batch size for me and it usually lasts me about 2 weeks. If you have a big family, you can double these ingredients.)

6 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. cocoa

1/2 c. sunflower or flax seeds

1/2 c. honey

1/2 c. oil

2 T. cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Melt honey and oil in a saucepan and pour over mixture. Stir well. (I sometimes have to add a bit extra of the liquids to get the oats coated.) Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Stir well. Bake another 10 minutes. Let sit to crunchify. (I made that word up.) :)

Modifications: I often add shredded coconut and wheat germ/bran. You can add whatever ingredients you are interested in including. Just make sure to compensate with more liquid and possibly more cocoa!

Voeller Family Granola

(Taken from the cookbok A Satisfying New Approach to Slimness, Vitality, and Health. This is the full version recipe but I only make a half batch.)

1 c. honey

3/4 c. oil

3/4 c. butter

3 T. molasses

4 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

11 c. oats

2 c. coconut

1 c. wheat germ

3/4 c. sunflower seeds

3/4 c. chopped nuts

1/2 c. sesame seeds (I omit these since I don't have them here in Bolivia)

(Just a note: I added chopped nuts to my granola for added protein. I highly recommend doing so!)

Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients and pour over dry. (Again I cooked mine on the stove, but you don't have to!) Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Stir. Bake another 10 minutes. Let sit. Store in an airtight container. Delicious with milk!

Leftover Cooked Oatmeal

We recently had a big batch of leftover cooked oatmeal (thanks to yours truly making way too much!), so I got online and looked up ways to use it. I tried a muffin recipe that was super yummy but way too crumbly. What ended up working best was to fry patties of the oatmeal like polenta in a greased skillet and eat with honey! It is super easy, VERY tasty, and had my kiddos coming back asking for more!