Healthy Cooking – Definitely Not My Mother’s Oatmeal

Asalaam ‘Alaikum,

I think I’ve mentioned it in a previous post that I’ve been trying to eat more healthy – and one of the things I mentioned was oatmeal. I actually don’t like oatmeal (we ate it a lot as kids and it was always the kind you just pour the packet and add water). I can stomach eating those – but I can’t fathom the idea of eating that much sugar anymore – besides, I am finding that healthier means homemade. I then got my husband to purchase some steel-cut oats, thinking that it would solve the problem. They definitely taste better, but still it’s not something I crave. On occasion I will eat steel-cut oats but I now I have a healthy version of oatmeal that I actually WANT TO EAT – and the kids beg me to make it everyday too, masha’Allah.

I have searched high and low for recipes online that were for baked oatmeal, but didn’t like the ones I had found – plus, many of them just were too unhealthy. However, I did find one recipe that we use every time we eat oatmeal now. I found it online – and I will share the original recipe with you but I have altered it to make it more healthy – and (at least I think) with pretty good results.

Definitely Not My Mother’s Oatmeal

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Quick-cooking oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Grease an 8 x 8 baking pan and set aside. In a mixing bowl, mix quick-cooking oatmeal and brown sugar. Mix in milk, egg and melted butter. Add baking powder, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Mix together. Place mixture into the baking pan. You can bake it now or refrigerate overnight and cook it the next day. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cut into squares and place on individual bowls (if you would like, you can let it cool for 5 minutes but we like ours hot). Top with desired topping (more details to follow).

Now, as I said, I did alter the recipe – I wanted to see how much healthiness I could sneak into this thing without making it turn into a brick or to taste like one :0

So – these are my adjustments:

• First of all, I hate having lots of dishes to clean up. This recipe can actually be mixed in the pan you are going to cook it in – just make sure to grease the pan first.
• I love to double and triple this recipe – it helps when you have a house of five hungry people.
• Instead of using 1/2 cup of brown sugar – I will often get away with using just 1/4. Also, I have used honey instead of the sugar as well.
• Instead of the 1/4 cup of melted butter, I use 1/4 cup of applesauce. I think it works well with this recipe.
• I also add chopped nuts like walnuts to this recipe.

For the topping:

For the blueberry topping, we top the oatmeal square first with plain yogurt and then top with blueberries. We buy frozen blueberries in bulk – so they are ready whenever we need them. I just heat them up in a pan with a bit of water and a bit of honey (I don’t have exact measurements because it really relies on taste – just taste it to see if it is sweet enough for you).

For the strawberry topping, we chop up frozen strawberries (you could also put it into a small chopper instead – just don’t cut them down too much or it will be all watery). I then heat it up with a bit of water and a bit of honey (I don’t have exact measurements because it really relies on taste – just taste it to see if it is sweet enough for you).

Here’s a picture of the strawberry version:

I have also made this with apple topping. I cut up some apples and heat them in a pan with a bit of water and honey (or sprinkled sugar) and cinnamon (to taste). You could sprinkle a bit of apple pie spice on it instead. I also added a bit of chopped nuts (walnuts).

I have also made this with banana topping. I cut up a few bananas in rounds and placed them in a pan with a bit of honey and cinnamon. I cooked them until browned. After placing the bananas on the oatmeal square, I drizzled honey over it. While I personally don’t like bananas much – my husband does and I wanted to surprise him (he liked it, alhumdulilah).

So, if you try any of these recipes – please let me know. I’d love to hear how it turned out. Do you like it? And – do you have any healthy recipes to share???

Asalaam ‘Alaikum,
Sumayyah Umm SAA