Baked Oatmeal for Breakfast

I love oatmeal. My husband loves oatmeal. My kids think it's okay, but it's not their favorite. They'd rather have cold cereal any day. Usually though, if Andy wants oatmeal for breakfast before he heads to work he uses those microwave packets. Not all of them are bad- but not all of them are good, and since he is a big guy, he needs at least two packets to give him sustenance. He doesn't care to take the time to cook up a bowl of oatmeal on the stove- and who can blame him! At 4:30 in the morning, I don't want to be cooking up oatmeal either!

So this week I made up a big pan of Baked Oatmeal for him to eat all week. I love making baked oatmeal. I doubled the batch and baked it in a 9x13 pan, and he's able to lob off chunks of it all week and heat it up in the microwave before work. It works beautifully. He gets homemade, whole grain oatmeal with fruit and no preservatives, for the same amount of work as an instant packet.

In menu planning news this morning, I have a one-week dinner plan up at Menu Planning 101, so be sure and check that out if that interests you this morning.

Also, a big Happy Birthday to "The Mom"! I'll stop by later with some prune juice for you!

Baked Oatmeal
3 cups milk, plus more for serving if desired
6 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons margarine
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
3/4 cup dried cranberries, raisins, or other berries
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Combine milk, brown sugar, margarine and cinnamon in a saucepan. Cook, stirring frequently, until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

In a mixing bowl, combine the oats, apple, cranberries, and nuts. Add the hot milk mixture and stir well to combine.

Spray a 9x9 square baking dish with cooking spray. Pour oatmeal into the baking dish and bake in a 350º oven for 30 minutes.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate and heat up individual portions in the microwave.