I woke up this morning craving a warm,hearty breakfast.  The boys were kind enough to sleep in past 7 and I am finally starting to feel a little better after over a week with a cold.  So, I decided today would be a good day to break out of our usual fruit, yogurt, toast, cereal rotation and try something new.  I looked up a few baked oatmeal recipes and then thought why not be adventurous and adapt a recipe a little to my own pantry and current cravings.  I’m generally not one to create my own recipes, so it’s always a bit of a risk, but this time it paid off!  Not only did it satisfy my cravings, but the kids liked it too.  Win!

I present to you my Spiced Apple Baked Oatmeal recipe:

(Inspired by a recipe from The Oatmeal Artist)

Spiced Apple Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients:

2 cups 1% milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups oatmeal (not instant)

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1 Tbsp brown sugar

Pinch of salt

2 apples cored and chopped

¼ cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and spray an 8×8 glass dish with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl mix together first 8 ingredients (through salt).
3. Fold in apples and raisins.
4. Pour into dish and bake for 25-30 minutes.
5. Enjoy!

I enjoyed mine with a nice hot mug (courtesy of our trip to visit friends in Tlayacapan, Mexico last spring) of vanilla rooiboss red tea (courtesy of my momma).

The boys went with milk.

Either way it was a nice warm way to start an otherwise cool, rainy morning here in Mexico.