Almost One Bowl Berry Mini-Muffins

My current favorite muffin recipe because of how easy and yummy it is:

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup berries (I typically use frozen mixed berries from Costco)
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1 egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a mini-muffin tin.

In a food processor, process the rolled oats into a fine flour. Add the baking powder and salt and pulse to mix in.

Pour dry ingredients into another bowl so you can process the other ingredients (this is why these cannot be called one bowl muffins). Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until everything is smooth (takes longer if you use frozen berries).

Add dry ingredients back in with the wet ones and pulse until everything is wet.

Spoon into muffin tin, and bake for 15 minutes.

Blender Pancakes

Our current favorite breakfast (because they are yummy and easy and quick).

In a blender or food processor, add:

4 eggs
4 bananas
1 cup coconut oil (or applesauce, or pumpkin purée, or a combo of 2 or 3; just get to one cup total of whatever you use)
1 t salt
1 T cinnamon

Blend together until smooth, then add 2 cups oats. Blend again until combined (you may need to scrape the sides down a little). Cook on a griddle and serve.

Delicious, plus really quick and easy.

*For "Fall" use pumpkin, and add chocolate chips while cooking on the griddle-a big hit for us.

Baked Oatmeal

This is my favorite way to eat oatmeal.  Since I'm not a fan of mushy textures, this has become a common breakfast for me (plus the eggs make it a little more filling). I love that I can mix this all in one 9 by 13 the night before, throw it in the oven without preheating the next morning, and have a warm, nourishing breakfast ready an hour later. The original idea came from here. 


Ingredients & Instructions:

Grease a 9 by 13 pan. Fill the pan with rolled oats an inch or so high (about 5-6 cups). Add the following (to the pan-this is a one pan recipe):

1 t baking soda
1 T salt
1 T cinnamon

Mix those dry ingredients together and then add:

1 cup milk (we use coconut or almond)
1/3 cup melted coconut oil or butter
4 eggs
Up to half a cup of sweetener (maple syrup, honey, brown sugar, etc); we have cut back on our sugar intake recently, so I usually make mine without any sweetener, and then drizzle some maple syrup on top afterwards. But if I'm entertaining (or if you like things on the sweet side) definitely add the extra sweetener now.

Stir everything together well, cover with foil, and put in the fridge overnight. The next morning, pop the covered pan in the cold oven, turn on to 350 degrees, and set a timer for an hour (yes, there is no need to preheat the oven on this). Serve with maple syrup drizzled on top, fruit, nuts, anything you  like on your oatmeal. 

French Toast

Another easy, filling breakfast we eat often.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1+ c milk (we use rice or coconut, and I just eyeball the amount - want it thin enough to soak into the bread quickly but not runny))
• 1 t cinnamon
• Whole wheat bread (usually around 10 slices, depending on how much liquid each slice soaks up)

Directions:

Preheat griddle to 350. In a mixing bowl combine the eggs, milk, and cinnamon. Dip each slice of bread and cook on the griddle. Our favorite way to serve is with coconut oil, maple syrup, and fruit.

Honey Bunches of Oatmeal

Totally a cheesy name, I know, but Honey Bunches of Oats has always been one of my favorite cereals and it has taken me a long time to make a habit of eating oatmeal regularly (it's so much better for me than the boxed cereal, and keeps our bellies full a lot longer too). So I created my own version of the cereal using oatmeal and named it this to remind me:).

Ingredients:

• Bowl of oatmeal (cook with water or milk)
• 1 T coconut oil
• 1 T raw honey
• Dash of cinnamon
• Good handful of slivered almonds (I like lots of crunch - not a mushy oatmeal fan at all)

Mix together and enjoy.

Preschool Pancakes

We eat these probably 3 mornings a week or more. I started making them when Austin started preschool and would not eat anything "filling" for breakfast...he just wanted a piece of toast every morning and I knew that would not keep him powered up. So I tweaked a German pancake recipe we had a bit and came up with this. I usually top each piece with coconut oil and give my kids a little pure maple syrup on the side to dip their's in. I usually eat my piece with a little coconut oil and fresh fruit.

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup milk (we use rice or coconut, but any should work)
• 1 cup flour (usually whole wheat or spelt here which makes them more dense, so use white if you want them super fluffy)
• 1-2 t salt

Mix everything together and pour into a greased baking pan. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Cut in pieces and top with whatever sounds good that day.