Soaked Baked Oatmeal

This is a recipe that my dear friend Sarah Kouba at Bread and Honey shared with me and I just had to pass it on. It is always devoured with delight at our gatherings along with tea.

It really can be enjoyed anytime of day, breakfast, a snack or over tea!

INGREDIENTS
2-1/2 c. oats
1-3/4c. buttermilk*
1/2 c. coconut oil
4 eggs
1/2 c.sugar, maple syrup or honey (I use raw honey)
1tsp. baking powder
1/2tsp. salt
2tsp. Cinnamon (I don't use this if using a different fruit ie. strawberries, blueberries etc)
2tsp vanilla
2c. raisins**
2c. chopped apples or pears**
Optional: 2c chopped nuts mixed in or sprinkle on top.

METHOD
Soak oats and buttermilk covered on the kitchen counter overnight. In the morning, beat oil, sugar and eggs until glossy. Add baking powder, salt, cinnamon and vanilla; beat. Stir in oats, raisins and chopped apples/pears. Pour into 9x13 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (Sarah I generally find in needs 25-30 minutes, but 20 is what the original recipe states)

*Sarah's notes!

Instead of buttermilk, use the same quantity of coconut milk plus 1-2 tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. Also, you can use as little as 1/4 cups of honey.

** Rosie's notes!

You can really substitute the raisins/apples for any fruit/nut combo you fancy. I loved it with strawberries and blueberries. Josh wasn't a fan of the texture so I substituted for:

1 cup of dried cranberries
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
1/2 cup of sliced almonds

You can see I have used less fruit etc than the original recipe as a personal preference, but you are welcome to double my quantities if you would like!

Crockpot Roast Beef: The Busy Mom's Lifeline

It's been a busy year. A VERY busy year. Especially the fall. We moved, we had a baby, Josh started a new job, thanksgiving, Christmas... I have been busy, tired and not had much time to cook and still haven't established a routine.

One thing that is important to me, amongst the craziness is to provide my family with healthy meals each day.

Crock pot beef has been my lifeline. It's so easy, it wins you mega mommy points and you can do so much with it. Sure, I enjoy being more creative at meal time, but with change and a new baby, that is going on the shelf and we're in survival mode when it comes to meals.

Here's what I do and it tastes great every time.

1. Buy an enormous pot roast
2. Cover the roast in flour
3. Sear both sides very lightly
4. Put in crock pot
5. Add 2 cups of beef broth, some salt, pepper, garlic, oregano and half a chopped onion
6. Put on low, I normally leave it on the 12 hour setting. Walk away and don't worry about dinner.

There is so much you can do with this, to make it last several meals. Here are some I have come up with so far, that can get you through 2-3 days.

Beef, Gravy, Roast Potatoes, peas, carrots
BBQ Beef, baked potatoes with sour cream, corn
Beef sub sandwiches, mustard, provolone.
Use it for a soup.
Use it for a pie.
Use it in a salad.

In the past, I had avoided the big roasts because they seemed so exspensive, but they are not, because you can make them work through several meals and it saves a lot of time, which is important, because there aren't many minutes in the right now that I am not attending sweet little ones.