Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you for taking the time to come by my little piece of the internet every day.

Mindy

Baked Oatmeal With Roasted Banana Compote

I've been seeing the baked oatmeal thing over the last couple of years and decided, with the kids home from school this week, I'd give it a go.

I tried a recipe out of our paper, but there's tons of them out there.  I figure the base is the same, then you can throw in whatever spices and goodies you like.

The only thing I'd change about this recipe is the baking soda.  It left a funny aftertaste every once in awhile, so I don't know if I didn't get it mixed in good, or what.  I'd just leave it out next time.

The banana and nut topping was delicious.  But you could just as easily throw some fresh or dried fruit and nuts on top when serving it up.

Here's the recipe with my notes:

Baked Oatmeal
Printable Recipe

3 C old-fashioned oatmeal, uncooked
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda (I'd leave this out next time)
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 C milk
3/4 C real maple syrup (I subbed 1/2 C of the fake stuff)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 2-quart baking dish.  

In a large bowl, combine the oats, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk eggs.  To the eggs, add the milk, maple syrup, and vanilla.  Whisk well to blend ingredients completely.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir well.  

Pour the oatmeal into the prepared baking dish and carefully slide the dish into the oven.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.  The oatmeal is ready when it is golden brown on top and the center feels firm to the touch.  To truly test doneness, wiggle the baking dish.  The oatmeal will jiggle slightly but should not slosh around.

Roasted Banana Compote
(I cut this recipe in half)

6 large, ripe bananas, halved lengthwise
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
3 Tbsp lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/2 C chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
1 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Arrange the sliced bananas, cut side up, on a rimmed baking sheet.  

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.

Scatter the chopped nuts on top of the bananas then sprinkle the sugar mixture over the top of everything.

Dot the butter on top.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the nuts don't brown too quickly.  When the compote is ready the sugars will be thick and caramel-like and the bananas will be kissed in spots with a gorgeous golden brown color.

Remove baking sheet from the oven and stir the bananas until they bread apart and the walnuts are well dispersed.  The more you stir, the smoother it gets, so if you want some chunks, go easy.

Leftover compote can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Note:  I cooked the bananas at the same time as the oatmeal.  When the oatmeal was done, I cranked the heat up to 375 and baked them for about another 6 or 7 minutes.  That way, everything was done at about the same time.

Here's breakfast at my house:

I put what was left of the compote on top of the leftover oatmeal and we've just been heating up single serve portions this week.

Good stuff, kids.

For those celebrating tomorrow, have a happy Thanksgiving!

Please see my sidebar for the parties I link up to.

Life Snippets #4

I suppose, technically, you could call this quality sibling time.

Anyone else have a fabric stash that looks like this?

Gad, what a nightmare.

And that's only about 1/3 of it.

I went through all of it, folded everything, and put it away as nicely as possible in its home in the attic.

Maybe someday I'll have a craft/sewing/project room.

Someday.

In the end, I got some curtains for the kitchen made, some Christmas presents done, and new striped pillow covers for the couch.

The stripes were two napkins I had, and they matched the existing floral patterned ones exactly.

Meant to be.

Or maybe that just means I'm completely predictable when it comes to buying anything made from fabric.

The Dog had to break them in for me.

Look at that sunshine.

Clear skies all last week, but cooooold.

The Dad got all the under-cabinet lighting installed in the kitchen last weekend.

I haven't taken any "fancy" photos of it yet, but here it is, in real life.

That's her, is-she-gonna-do-anything-about-me-touching-this-when-she's-holding-her-camera, look.

I know you're lovin' my toaster cozy.

More randomness.

Cinnamon & Clove Bud candle from Bath and Body Works.

Man those things smell good.

The Kid's school award he received at an assembly last week.

Speaking of kids, they both had their school conferences last night.

I'm not sure it would be possible for us to be more proud of them.

They're both model students and so dang smart.

I know everyone says that about their kids, but they really are.

The Girl is only in kindergarten, but her teacher says she's already ahead of the game academically.

Reserved, but self-confident when it comes to participation.

She said the other kids look to her as a leader, even though she isn't outwardly telling them what to do.

Shy when it comes to her feelings and emotions (have no idea where she gets that, ahem), but exudes confidence in her abilities.

Not a bad thing for a girl to have.

Then there's The Kid. 

Oh that kid.

He is so damn smart.

His teacher gushed so much, it almost made me cry.

She said things about him that have been true since his first day of life.

So sweet and mellow.

Friends with everyone.

Always ready to help.

His reading and writing are phenomenal.

He's in the 97th percentile.

98% average on spelling tests.

And then there's math.

Again, 97%.

His average on tests is 100%.

She and another 2nd grade teacher are working on coming up with more challenging math for the kids who need it.

He's constantly wanting us to give him problems to do in his head.

The latest is square roots.

I swear, you show him how to do something once and it sticks.

So smart.

Okay, I'll stop bragging.

We're just so proud of them and the little people they're becoming.

Even that little one, who I'm almost certain will have the biggest personality of all. 

Look at this little ham.

Grammy and Grandpa are comin' to hang with all three of them today, so The Mom can run Christmas errands.

Let's get this thing done!!!

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