Berry Banana Oatmeal

If you can believe it some mornings I’m just too lazy to make a smoothie. I know, throwing things in a blender is tough. Besides boring old cereal I wanted to make something for breakfast that was quick and easy.

Now let me side track a moment. When I was a teenager I was a lot pickier than I am now. In fact, in my high school yearbook from my graduating year my Words of Wisdom (written in ink, beside my photo, forever) were “Listen to John Mayer and never eat.” I’ll forever be remembered as the anorexic girl! This is funny because 1. I may have been picky but I was definitely NOT anorexic and 2. What I was trying to say was “Listen to John Mayer and never eat OATMEAL.” Never eat OATMEAL!!

I hope the yearbook editor was fired.

Well, I’m eating my words now because I do enjoy a bowl of oatmeal! To make my life super easy in the mornings I decided to make an oatmeal bake. It’s easy to make batch one night and reheat some in the morning for brekkie – instant oatmeal!

Those store bought packages of oatmeal are filled with sugar and never really fill you up. By making it at home you have control over the ingredients and I can be sure that this will keep my going until lunch time.

As usual, using what I had in the freezer I modified an oatmeal bake recipe to suit my needs. Feel free to do the same! Sub in apples, peaches or even cranberries for something different.

Berry Banana Oatmeal

Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup walnuts & almonds, chopped
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup milk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, sliced into 1/2-inch thick pieces
3/4 cup frozen mixed berries
Ground cinnamon to taste
Pinch of salt

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease or spray a 1 and 1/2-quart casserole dish with either butter or spray.
3. In a bowl, toss together the oats, half the nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
4. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, milk, egg, melted butter, and the vanilla.
5. Place half the sliced banana in a single layer in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Cover with half your berries and half the oat mixture. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
6. Layer the nuts on top with another pinch of cinnamon.
7. Drizzle the milk mixture over the oats, making sure to distribute the milk as evenly as possible.
9. Bake the oatmeal for 35-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the oats have set.

Now I messed up a little and forgot step three completely! So, I threw all the nuts and cinnamon on top. I whisked the baking powder and a pinch of cinnamon and salt in with the milk mixture. It all goes down the same way right!