Breakfast

Have you ever pondered how much money you spend on breakfast cereals? Have you actually looked at the label and figured out what you're spoon feeding to your children? The ingredient list on some of the "healthy" cereal choices (Cheerios I'm looking at you!) will shock you!

I removed, quite a while ago, the typical boxed cereals from my home. Breakfast, in my opinion, should be something cooked. Why? Because when you have to prepare your food, you think much more about what you are consuming.

Breakfast in our home is often Oatmeal. There are a thousand different ways to flavor it: apples, pears, cranberries, nectarines, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, cinnamon, sugar, honey, milk, almonds, real maple syrup, and on and on. It's also cheap. I buy one box of oats for $6.99 a month and that feeds all of my children. You can scarcely pay that amount of money for one box of Cheerios nowadays! Plus, I control the sugar amount in their cereal (and often times I don't put any sugar at all!). Oatmeal can be made in the refrigerator (refrigerator oatmeal) overnight, in the crockpot (overnight), or in a pot in the morning (takes approximately 15 minutes from start to finish). You can use frozen fruits (I buy fruit in season, wash and freeze it myself, and use it as needed throughout the year), fresh fruit, and more. You can create a breakfast buffet with oatmeal toppings and allow your children to pick their own.

The possibilities are endless! So think about making a breakfast change and put some more change in your pocket! ;)

Thanksgiving Breakfast

It's Thanksgiving Day! In honor of this, my favorite holiday, I will share one of my secret recipes with you. Enjoy!

My attempt at food photography

Apple Cranberry Oatmeal (AKA Thanksgiving Breakfast)

Ingredients:

Oats (I prefer not instant)

3-4 large apples (I use Golden apples)

1/2 Cup Prepared cranberry sauce (you can also use canned, if you didn't make your own. It doesn't matter if it's jellied or not)

1 TBSP Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1/4 Cup of butter

Prepare Oats per package instructions. I make enough to feed six people.

Finely dice apples. You can peel the apples, but I do not. Melt butter in a saucepan on the stove. Bring butter to boiling, and immediately add the apples. Cook for 1-2 minutes while the butter is boiling. Reduce heat to low-med. Add brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir. Leave apples to simmer on the stove for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove apples from heat. Add cranberry sauce to apples and stir well to combine. Pour over prepared Oats and enjoy!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!