Up & At'em: No Cereal Breakfast

Baked Oatmeal Muffins

We are getting creative as a family as we look for solutions to meals on the go and no-cereal breakfasts!  Last weekend we experimented with baked oatmeal together.  As a family we worked together to create 4 varieties of baked oatmeal muffins.  Below are recipes for our baked oatmeal.  Please understand that if you are the type of person that needs specific measurements for cooking, this recipe will not appeal to you.  I do not bake with measuring cups, rather with what looks and tastes just right.

The boys loved helping to pour, mix, smell, taste, and sample our baked oatmeal muffins as we tested out a variety.  We made approximately 2.5 dozen muffins in a very short amount of time and with very little material.  Just start thinking about what you like in your oatmeal - mix and bake.  We baked at 380 for about 20 minutes - or until the muffins were dry and stuck together.  Recipes for our muffins are below Azariah.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pie

Oatmeal

Applesauce

Chocolate Chips

Canned Pumpkin

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Apple Pie

Oatmeal

Finely diced Apple

Applesauce

Cinnamon

Brown Sugar

Clove

Ground Flax Seed

Banana Dream

Oatmeal

Pureed Banana

Unsweetened Dried Coconut

Chocolate Chips

Walnut Chunks

Pumpkin Pie

Oatmeal

Pumpkin

Pureed Banana

Pumpkin Pie Spice

Nutmeg

Cinnamon

Get'em Moving: No Cereal Breakfast

By now you know I'm weird.  There's no doubt about that.  Among my weirdness is a desire to teach my children not rely on cereal for breakfast.  Quite honestly it has taken more training for me than for them.  Cereal is easy, and we received WIC for quite a while, which provided WAY too much cereal and made it very easy to slip into the unhealthy trap of serving it every morning.

We have been working on modifying diet at our house, and breakfast has been a big part of that.  In fact, I would say that breakfast tends to be the most tricky part for me.  Why?  I'm diabetic, so I prefer low-carb meals.  Cassius is allergic to eggs and peanut - that knocks out most granola bars, waffles, and pancakes.  So we look for other options.  I've decided to spend a few posts sharing some of our favorite non-cereal breakfasts with you.

Graham Cracker Sandwiches got my boys moving this morning.  Literally.  Manasseh was snuggled up in my lap, he did NOT want anything to do with waking up.  I told him what his brother had gotten for breakfast and he jumped up and began to follow instructions immediately.  So here they are:

Graham Cracker Sandwiches

1 Graham Cracker

Peanut Butter (or other nut butter)

Craisins (or raisins)

Banana slices

Seriously - it's that simple.  The boys at them quickly and felt satisfied when they were done.  They had fruit, protein, and a bread.  They ate them with a side of almond milk.  A complete breakfast!

Keri Jo's Champagne Chicken... with a few revisions

Thanks Keri Jo for the excellent recipe for champagne chicken... I don't eat mushrooms, so I made a few revisions to come up with this fantastic crock pot chicken meal.

1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of cream of celery soup
4 chicken breasts
1 package of cream cheese
a scoop of sour cream
1 packet of italian seasoning mix
1 soup can of milk
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped (I've got to use up some of my veggies before they go bad)
2 carrots, sliced
1 cup of rice


Okay, so I added a few different veggies, but it's mostly the same, it smells delicious, the sauce is thinner than I expected (because of the added milk) so I added rice to thicken it... can't wait to share it with my family tonight.

Best of all - Monkey got to help with cooking this super easy meal!

Low Budget Menu: Week 2

Okay, so the goal for my menu this week was $50, but we were nearly out of everything at home.  I stocked up more than I had planned, BUT... it means that I've got some things that will carry over to next week, so I think it will even out.  I also included snacks on my menu this week.  My boys get an afternoon snack every day that their daddy works (because we have a late dinner), sometimes on other days too.  I have not been including them on my menu, then I get stuck and have to try and come with a quick solution --- I am done with crackers and cereal for snacks!

2 days late, but here goes:

Monday
Oatmeal with Craisins
Sandwich wraps, celery, grapes
Cheese Crackers
Italian Chicken, Broccoli, Oranges

Tuesday -
Rice Cakes, Bananas
Soynut Butter & Jelly on the hotdog buns I found in the back of the freezer, Apples, Carrots
Granola Bar
Tacos

Wednesday -
Rice, Oranges
Taco Salad
String Cheese
Stir Fry Veggies (Onion, Pepper, Carrots, Corn)

Thursday -
Poptarts, Nectarines
Stir Fry & Rice
Bananas
Chili, Apples, Grilled Cheese

Friday -
Eggs (Rice Cake for Crackers), Bacon
Chili
Applesauce
Chicken Crousant

Saturday -
Pancakes (woot, we found an egg-free mix)
Sandwich Wraps, Carrots, Celery, Plums
Raisins
Burgers (no bun), Sauted Peppers & Onion

Sunday -
Sausage Cheese Sandwich
Dinner out (maybe - "if the planets are aligned")
Meatloaf, Oranges, Green Beans

Onion Pie

*This is not an egg-free recipe.

3 onions, thinly sliced.  The original recipe recommended vidalia onions.
1/4 c butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
1, 9 inch pie shell, baked
1/4 c parmesan cheese
1 pinch paprika
2 tbsp hot sauce
1/4 c parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375.  Cook onions in butter until soft, reserve juices.  Mix onions with eggs and sour cream.  Add in juice from onions, butter and cheese until well blended.  Pour all ingredients into pie shell.  Top with cheese and paprika.  Bake 20 minutes.  Turn heat down to 350, bake an additional 30-40 minutes, until lightly browned on top.  Allow to cool before serving.


*** I am NOT a direction follower when it comes to my food.  This is not exactly how I made mine, I forgot things like "put cheese on top..." and "allow to cool".  I thought it was good warm, I enjoyed the onion pie.  Others were not quite as sold on it.  I think we would have preferred a little more egg, and we might have liked a crust - ours had no crust, as crusts have carbs!

My Egg-free, Peanut-free, Gluten-free, Low Carb Life: Menu 5

Truth be known, I did NOT follow my diet this weekend.  Am I proud? No, but I'm also not frustrated with myself.  I took a 3 day break and am starting fresh.. right now.  My no carb (or ultra low carb) diet is working for me right now in the way I want it to work, so it's back on for another week.  Randy is done with it, but he'll still be eating low carb (because his wife packs his lunch).

Without further adieu, here is the menu for this week:

Sunday - Onion Pie - I'll be posting the recipe and pictures for this one soon, hopefully tomorrow
Monday - Broccoli Casserole - this keeps showing up and getting pushed off for other things
Tuesday - Veggie Soup with tomato base
Wednesday - Curried Chicken, broccoli (rice and oranges for the carb eaters)
Thursday - Sausages, Peppers, and Onions
Friday - Stuffed Peppers (filled with ground turkey and veggies)
Saturday - Cheese Quesedillas, guacamole, salsa, (pears for my carb eaters) - I'm giving myself a scheduled break for dinner on Saturday (=

My Egg-free, Peanut-free, Gluten-free, Low-carb life: Menu 3

Here is this week's menu for our house - some day I'll get it figured out BEFORE the middle of the week.  This week Randy and I are going carb free (or at least as much as we are able) - no fruits or breads at all.  Oh my do I want some chocolate! I did not include breakfasts and lunches, as lunch is always leftovers.

Monday - Zucchini Lasagna in the crock pot (sounds gross but my is it great)
Tuesday - Green Peppers stuffed with ground turkey and veggies, topped with cheese
Wednesday - Boca Burgers and Brussel Sprouts
Thursday - Chicken and Green Beans
Friday - Broccoli Casserole
Saturday - Soup
Sunday - Taco Salad (minus chips or tortillas)

My Egg-free, Peanut-free, Gluten-free, Low-carb life (did I mention we don't eat much meat)

Okay, so a couple of months ago we found out that Cassius is allergic to egg whites and peanuts, since I breastfeed, I had to avoid those foods for a period of one month, then try eating them again to see how he reacted.  He reacted with some pretty good congestion.. no more eggs and peanuts for me until he is done nursing!

Several years ago I was confirmed to be diabetic... that means, low carb goodness for me.  Not an easy task, especially for a bread lover in a family of bread lovers!

A couple of weeks ago Cash's therapist recommended that we try a gluten-free diet with Manasseh to help with "hyperactivity" (for the record, I don't think he's hyperactive.. I think he's 2 1/2).  I did a little bit of reading about gluten free diets and symptoms of gluten intolerance and I wonder if he might have some difficulty with gluten.

SO... officially today, we start our new diet.  It's not as bad as it sounds, it just takes some creativity!

Tuesday night - Chili and broccoli (the chili had soyrizzo in it instead of meat)
Wednesday - Breakfast: Yogurt, Lunch: Cocktail wieners, carrots with taziki sauce, tomatoes, and bananas, Dinner: Hot Italian sausages with sauted onions and peppers.
Thursday - Breakfast: Bananas and Blueberries (yogurt for mama, no fruit), Lunch: Cheese Quesedillas on corn tortillas, tomatoes, frozen veggies, Dinner: Veggie Stir Fry with Brown rice and oranges
Friday - Breakfast: Egg (for Manasseh), Oatmeal for mama and Cash, Lunch:  Cheese soup, salad, yogurt Dinner: Meatloaf with applesauce and cornbread instead of eggs and crackers, Mashed Garlic Cauliflower,  Chinese green beans
Saturday- Daddy date with Manasseh for breakfast and Lowes, Mama and Cash will eat cereal while Nasa's away, Lunch: Parmesan breaded chicken, salad, oranges, Dinner: Tacos with beans (not meat) and corn tortillas, applesauce.

Not so bad, huh?