Oatmeal Banana Breakfast Muffins...

Well, it's been a while since I've cooked with oatmeal.  I saw these muffins and they looked pretty delicious, so I thought I'd give it a go.  The comments on the original were full of people that substituted half of the ingredients and then were irritated that it didn't turn out right.  Aren't those people annoying?  I mean, someone tested a recipe, discovered it worked, and posted it as they made it for your convenience.  Please do not complain when you changed the ratios and ingredients and then it didn't turn out...that was NOT what they posted.  *sigh*  Anyway, I made it as posted, and it turned out just fine.  I always try to make it as posted at least once, and then I can tweak from there the next time I make it, since I know how it's SUPPOSED to turn out.  Maybe next time I'll use the vanilla greek yogurt...or add some honey...we'll see.  Anyway, the original can be found at c&e if you want to check it out.  Here we go:

Oatmeal Banana Breakfast Muffins
12 muffins - 157 calories each

Ingredients
2 1/2 c. old fashioned oats
1 c. plain greek yogurt
2 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 ripe bananas

Directions
Pulse the oats in a food processor till they get to a more flour-like consistency and then pour into mixing bowl.  Pulse bananas in food processor until smooth and then pour into mixing bowl.  Add remaining ingredients and stir until well-mixed.  Divide into greased muffin tin and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  And that's it :)

Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins...

Holy chocolatey goodness.  This recipe has been making the Pinterest rounds for a while, and I've had it bookmarked for ages.  It's pegged as being healthy...in my case, they're really not any better or worse for you than the just-add-water muffins I usually make.  HOWEVER, it's hard to find a just-add-water variety that is chocolate.  Blueberry...yep.  Cranberry-orange...you betcha.  Banana nut...sure, why not?  Chocolate...NO!  The added bonus of this is that it doesn't take eggs (which I sooooo rarely have either a) on hand, or b) that aren't expired).  And it DOES take pumpkin, which I almost always have on hand (those of you who know me, know that I keep it on hand for my dog...but who says I can't borrow some for muffins, right?).  Anyway, this was super easy, and EXTREMELY moist and delicious (yeah, I snuck one when they got done cooking...they looked/smelled to good to pass up, and it was all I could do to not scarf down 3 more...yeow!  You really can't taste the pumpkin at all...just delicious chocolatey goodness).  The original recipe can be found at Sweet Verbena if you're interested.  Here goes:

Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins
12 muffins - 172 calories each

Ingredients
1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 - 15 oz. can pumpkin
1/4 c. milk

Directions
Mix all ingredients together.  Divide into cupcake tin.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  And that's it!  Enjoy :)

Baked Honey Oatmeal w/ Raspberries & Pistachios...

First off, can I just say that I don't get peoples' obsession with pistachios?  I mean, yeah they taste good, but seriously.  It's the same problem I have with chicken wings.  It's a lot of work for not a whole lot of payoff.  That said, they are quite good in this recipe, so I guess I'll consider dealing with the shells again to have this recipe again (or perhaps I'll try another nut in there altogether).  I've been obsessed with trying to find a go-to oatmeal recipe for the freezer rotation, and I do believe this might be it.  I gave in to temptation and ate one while they were still warm and ohmigosh...soooooooo good.  I'll definitely be making them again.  The original recipe is on Munchin with Munchkin.  I used 2% milk and just went with generic honey, but otherwise I pretty much followed the recipe exactly.  Here goes:

Baked Honey Oatmeal with Raspberries & Pistachios
6 servings, 223 calories each

Ingredients

1 c. rolled oats
2 T. honey
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. applesauce
1/2 c. raspberries
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. pistachios

Directions

Mix all ingredients together.  Spoon into greased muffin tin.  Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.  Let cool for 10-15 minutes before carefully removing from tin.  Try not to eat them all right away :)

Apple Pie Oatmeal...

I finally got around to making it!  Woot!  So I found this recipe at Cooking with Jax and it just looked good.  I'd never cooked with steel cut oats before, and was somewhat curious at the difference.  It seems to me that they're mostly just a little heartier texture, and there is a little bit of a nuttiness to them (I didn't come up with the nuttiness part of that description on my own...I saw it on a website, but it's actually true too.  lol).  Anyway, it was easy, and smelled delicious when I woke up to the completed dish in the morning.  I think it'll reheat okay, since the texture is firmer than rolled oats.  I would recommend that you actually do stir it every hour, and do not oversleep if you're doing this overnight.  I may have hit the snooze button for about an hour extra (whoops) and burned the edges a little bit.  Still good though :)  Also, I forgot to take an ingredient picture, so sorry about that...rest assured, it's not too many ingredients.

Apple Pie Oatmeal
6 servings - 159 calories each

Ingredients:
1 c. steel cut oats
3 diced apples
1 c. apple juice
3 c. water
1/2 to 1 tsp. cinnamon, to taste

Directions: 
Put all ingredients in the slow cooker, and cook 2-4 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low till it reaches the consistency you like.  (That's it!)

I discovered that if I keep doing these little breakfast-y dishes that tend to be smaller, I should probably get some new gladware for the job.  I used just whatever little dishes I had leftover today, but it's going to make stacking the freezer an issue, since they're all different and won't stack together as easily as if they're all the same.  Anyway, it's a total of six servings for 159 calories each :)

Baked Oatmeal with Fruit...

I was so anti-oatmeal for the longest time.  I think it was from years of glue-y textured microwaved packets of oatmeal.  But when McDonalds (yes, McDonalds, I know how bad that sounds) started serving oatmeal last year, I found that with all of that fruit in there, I really like it again.  So I've been seeing oatmeal recipes popping up on Pinterest, and I settled on this one from Annie's Eats for round one.  I'm interested in trying a Steel Cut Oats recipe next time, but for this time I settled on rolled oats (impatient this week...remember?  Steel Cut takes longer to cook).  The calorie counts I'm using are from the original recipe...I changed the fruits I was using, so I'm sure they're a little different, but at least it gives you a general idea.  It turned out really tasty, and I think it'd be good for breakfast or for dessert with a little ice cream (yum!).  I used strawberries and blackberries this time, but next time I'm thinking maybe apples and cranberries...or peaches and blackberries maybe.  Mmmm...so it's pretty versatile...and fresh or frozen fruit works fine.  I used frozen because it was a little cheaper this time of year for what I wanted.  So here's the recipe:

Baked Oatmeal with Fruit
8 Servings, 211 Calories Each

- 1 c. old fashioned rolled oats
- 1/4 c. chopped pecans, toasted (I forgot to toast mine and it was still really good, but it'd probably be even better toasted...I'll remember next time!)
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- 1/4 c. maple syrup
- 1 c. milk
- 1 egg
- 2 T margarine, melted
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 1/2 c. strawberries
- 1 c. blackberries


Directions:

Mix oats, half the nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk together syrup, milk, egg, margarine, and vanilla.  Grease a 9"x13" casserole dish, and put the strawberries in a layer on the bottom of the casserole.  Put half of the blackberries on top.  Pour dry ingredients evenly over the fruit.  Pour wet ingredients evenly over dry ingredients.  Add the rest of the blackberries and nuts on top. 

Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes until browned and oatmeal is set.  Looks yummy!

I would probably serve it with a little honey on top for breakfast.  Or a little whipped cream or ice cream if you're going for dessert :)