Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Oatmeal, Granola Bars

Homemade Instant Oatmeal
1 Packet:

1/4 c. quick oats
1/4 c. powdered oats (put 1/4 c. of regular oats into a blender or food processor until they are blended into a powder--not as fine as flour, but just enough to break down the oats)
1 t. powdered milk (dry)
1 t. sugar or honey powder (you could omit this if you want to just season the oatmeal yourself)
1/8 t. salt

Mix all together and then pour into a microwaveable bowl. Add 2/3 c. milk or water to the oatmeal. Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes and then serve with dried or fresh fruit, brown sugar or honey, and a little extra milk.


Amounts to make a container full of oatmeal mixture are below. I am going to keep a #10 can of this mixture in my pantry so the kids before school can scoop out a heaping 1/2 c., put into their bowl, add the milk, microwave, and breakfast will be served. Every few times you use this mixture, you will want to stir what is on the bottom to the top to make sure all of the powder, milk, salt, and sugar gets evenly distributed. I think this will be easier than making several bags of the 1 packet amounts. But, either way will work.

Large Batch of Instant Oatmeal:
5 c. quick oats
5 c. powdered oats
1/3 c. powdered dry milk
1/3 c. sugar or honey powder
2 1/2 t. salt

Mix all together and put in a Tupperware or #10 can for later use.

**For different variations, add cinnamon and dehydrated apples (I used my apples from the LDS Cannery and it was AWESOME!), or you can add dried fruit or other flavorings to make different types of oatmeal.

Another recipe I made today was homemade granola bars. I have seen this recipe on several blogs, but I wanted to try it before I recommend you making them. If this recipe was judged on how easy they were to make, this would be a winner. I made my homemade instant oatmeal, granola, and granola bars in only about 1 1/2 hours. 

Here is the original recipe for the Regular Granola Bars and below is the recipe I came up with for Peanut Butter Granola Bars (I couldn't bare to add 1 c. of butter. For some reason the 1/2 c. butter and 1/2 c. peanut butter sat better with me).

Regular Granola Bars

5 c. quick oats
1 c. krispy rice cereal
1/2 c. coconut
2 T. dry powdered milk
1 c. brown sugar (I cut back a little and they still worked fine)
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips, raisins, or dried fruit (craisins, blueberries, etc.)
1 t. salt
1 c. melted butter
1/2 c. honey
1 t. vanilla

Mix all of the above ingredients together until all of the oats are coated in the honey and butter. Spray a 9x13 or 11x14 pan and put mixture into the bottom of the pan. Spread the oat mixture into the bottom of the pan until flattened. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and cut into desired shape (rectangle).



*One trick with these granola bars is to make sure they are sticky before you bake them. If you think they need more butter, peanut butter, or honey to make sure they stick together, do it! They will be crumbly if they are not sticky enough.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars
5 c. oats
1 c. krispy rice cereal
1/2 c. coconut
1/4. c. chocolate chips
1/4 c. peanut butter chips
2/3 c. brown sugar (I used even less)
1 t. salt
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/2 c. (plus another 2 T. or so) peanut butter, melted (just put the butter and peanut butter in the microwave for a few seconds until soft)
2 T. corn syrup
1/2 c. honey
1 t. vanilla

Mix together and bake same as above.


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