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On The Subject of Breakfast

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On The Subject of Breakfast
It has been my observation that most people have sort of a ritual when it comes to their breakfasts. And if their meal is not a ritual, per se, then it is the meal of the day that is the most regimented and perhaps the one that is most often repeated day after day.

Case in point. My grandmother has eaten oatmeal for nearly every breakfast of her life. She’s 97 and claims to have no pain. Maybe we all should take note of that?

I, on the other hand, have never much cared for oatmeal. Actually, I should qualify that statement. I have never much cared for oatmeal that I’ve made for myself. Even when I have come close to making oatmeal that was decent it never seemed right. I always had to end up adding sugar and other stuff to make it good enough to eat and that didn’t seem worth it to me.

Until now.

This is delicious. This is easy. This can be made and then eaten for days after. This is adaptable. This is inexpensive. This is what I’ve eaten for breakfast for the past 2 weeks.

Baked Oatmeal
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup (or less, to taste) brown sugar
2 (heaping, for me) teaspoons cinnamon
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup oil or melted butter
2 t. vanilla extract
3/4 – 1 cup dried fruit (I used craisins.)

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, mix together oats, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. In another small bowl, first beat the eggs a little and then add the other liquid ingredients. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and mix it all up. Then stir in the dried fruit. Put it in a 9 X 13 or similarly sized baking dish. Bake for about 35-40 minutes.

This is great served with some yogurt. If I’m planning to eat my oatmeal with yogurt that has some sweetener (like vanilla flavored, for instance) then I would use even less sugar in the original recipe. However, I don’t usually like sweet things for breakfast and therefore you should take my advice on the sugar lightly. My inclination is to always use less sugar. You can always add more later but can’t take it away once it is in there.

Makes 6 big servings. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

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