Bears favorite baked oatmeal

I researched a lot of baked oatmeal recipes the last few days and this is the one I came up with for my family.

Ingredients

• 3 cups gluten free quick oats
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup Chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Beat in milk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract. Stir in chocolate chips, shredded coconut and pecans. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Parmesan Chicken Pasta with a kid friendly twist.

This easy pasta dish combines several wonderful ingredients combined to make an irresistible one dish meal.

½ pound bacon

2 chicken breast cooked and shredded (I use rotisserie chicken)

¼ teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1 pound Penne Pasta

½ cups Heavy Cream or half and half(I’ve used both. It just depends on how creamy you want it.)

¼ cups Cream Cheese

¼ cups Grated Parmesan Cheese

2 whole Eggs

¼ teaspoons Freshly Ground Black Pepper

1 small bunch of broccoli cut and lightly steamed

1-In a skillet, fry the bacon. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes. When done, remove bacon until cool enough to handle and roughly chop.

2-Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water until done (according to package instructions).

3-Place cream and cream cheese in a small saucepan. Heat over low until cream cheese is melted, and whisk until smooth. Remove from heat. Add the parmesan cheese, eggs, and pepper and whisk until blended.

4-Drain pasta (reserving 1/2 cup of hot water) and return to pot. Immediately add the white sauce and toss to coat. The hot pasta will cook the eggs.

5- Stir in the bacon, broccoli and add some reserved pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce.

Meatloaf your kids might even LOVE!

There are thousands of meatloaf recipes out there. It took me almost eight years to put this one together using a little of this recipe and a little of that recipe. My boys absolutely love this one and ALWAYS ask for seconds!

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

2/3 cup bread crumbs (gluten free peeps can make your own using gluten free bread)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp rubbed sage

dash of pepper

1-1/2 pounds ground beef

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp vinegar

1. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk, breadcrumbs, onion, salt, sage, and pepper. Add beef and mix well.

2. Shape into an 8-1/2 in x 4-1/2 in. loaf in an ungreased shallow loaf pan.

3. Combine remaining ingredients (honey, ketchup and vinegar); spread the mixture over meat loaf.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes or until no longer pink; drain.

5. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

makes: 6-8 servings.

I would post a picture of the finished product but it turns out meatloaf is not very photogenic :0)

Really? Gourmet...Soccer Mom?

I guess that depends on your definition of "Gourmet". My boys(ages 3,5,and6) think everything I make is gourmet, so that's what I'm running with.

I love food and I love cooking it. It brings me joy to take a recipe that I know my boys wouldn't generally like and "jazz it up" a bit so they love it. You have to know that not every recipe I post is going to be super healthy but they aren't all going to send you to the cardiologist either! Due to some special needs in my family my first instinct was to make this blog 100% gluten free. I then realized that I have several friends that don't have to eat that way so if I do post a recipe that isn't gluten free I will try to post a little note that will show you how to make it gluten free. It's much easier than people think. Just because you have to live gluten free doesn't mean you have to live with out flavor.