Old Favorites

One of my guilty pleasures is to stockpile recipes. I may have acquired this knack from my Mama, who has a conglomerate of old recipe books, recipe index cards, and recipes scribbled on scrap pieces of paper. However, one of my all time favorite foods generally needs no recipe card, it’s easy and quick to fix, and oh so satisfying. I am talking about oatmeal. Those warm, softened and slightly nutty oats combine their goodness with raisins and there you have it- my first food love. If you don’t believe me, there are multiple pictures of plump little Rachel munching up oatmeal with raisins, as if a child this large needed to munch anything:

Here are some variations of my old stand-by favorite:

Gingerbread Apple Oatmeal

Scant ¼ C. of homemade or homestyle applesauce (the homemade, or at least homestyle kind, is so hearty and is much more flavor rich than the store bought kind)

1 T. Gingerbread coffee creamer

2 packets of Splenda, or if you prefer, ½-1 tsp. Brown sugar

A bowl of your favorite oatmeal (I stud mine with raisins)

Mix all together and feel free to adjust to your taste preference. I love this oatmeal blend-it’s so flavorful and so surprisingly delicious.

Pear and Walnut Oatmeal

1 cored and sliced ripe pear (I like Bartlett pears)

1-2 T. walnuts (or pecans)

Sugar or sweetener to taste

1 T Half-and-Half

A bowl of your favorite oatmeal

Toast the walnuts at 400 Fahrenheit until just toasty. Mix together all ingredients. This recipe is so tasty because the pears soak up some of the warmth of the oatmeal and soften, and the nuts adds a joyful crunch.

Also, check out this chocolate chip cookie oatmeal recipe, this recipe for cherry and tangerine oatmeal, and these pumpkin pie oatmeal and simple pumpkin oatmeal recipes.