This cherry almond baked steel cut oats is a great breakfast to prepare ahead of time and have ready for the whole week.
You ever have one of those weeks coming up where come 3pm on Sunday this nagging sense of dread just starts to build up knowing Monday is inching that much closer?
That would be this week for me.
And it’s stupid too because the reason for it all is a long weekend vacation (for my 30th birthday on Saturday which, now that I think about it might actually be adding to the whole dread thing) that I know will be fun.
But all the preparation leading up to Friday morning just makes me completely want to stab my eyeballs out over the next 96 hours.
There’s to-do lists in my head, to-do lists written down on paper, to-do lists on my phone and probably about 20 things that haven’t even made it onto one of those lists yet.
And none of it is stuff that I can easily ask Ulysses to help out with because he’ll just look at me like I have 5 heads when I explain that yes, cleaning the house is a necessity before we leave because otherwise I’ll be dreading a dirty house the entire 7 hour car trip home next Monday and that won’t be fun for either of us.
This is a glimpse into my psyche…it can get a little crazy up in here.
So, instead of having to waste precious brain power on what to eat for breakfast for the next few days, I took care of that with these baked steel cut oats.
It’s got the flavors of this breakfast bake, but with the awesome chewy texture of steel cut oats.
The cherries definitely funk up the color but don’t be scared, they do wonders for the taste.
This is one of those things where if you invest a little bit of time on Sunday preparing (most of which is inactive), it’ll more than pay off for the rest of the week.
I love oatmeal bakes for that exact reason, they’re the perfect breakfast meal prep!
Try this baked turmeric oatmeal or this baked apple oatmeal for other variations.
Or, better yet, chocolate baked oats which are basically cake in breakfast form!
Then you can spend what time you would’ve been thinking about breakfast (which, if you’re like me is an embarrassingly long amount) figuring out what day and time you can fit in a manicure with the least chance of it being ruined before the trip even starts (highly unlikely).
Cherry Almond Baked Steel Cut Oats
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup steel cut oats
- 3 cups milk, any combination will do, I used 1/2 coconut from carton & 1/2 almond milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 cup frozen cherries, chopped
- 1/4 cup dried cherries
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×12 or similar sized baking pan.
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix together.
- Pour into baking pan and bake for about 50-60 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.
- Either eat warm immediately (oats will be a bit more liquidy) or, refrigerate overnight to set and serve in the morning either cold or warmed up with a bit of milk.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
I’m also a checklist maniac!! At least I know someone else is addicted like me.
A big hint: Get a gel manicure. There is no drying time (aka – no chance to mess it up) and it lasts for weeks!
your recipes alwyas rock Gina…how am I not following you on Twitter? That’s going to change right now!
I totally hear you on cleaning before a trip. My husband always thinks I’m nuts…until we come home to a sparking apartment and everyone is happy. Good luck getting through the busy week!
Love this idea!
I always clean the house before I go away because the last thing I want to come home to is a stanky stale mess on top of the mess that will come from unpacking and settling back in. You’re in the right. Boys are just weird.
I love baked oats in every which way, ESPECIALLY since they keep for a few days and make life easy!
Ohhh yum. This would be an awesome thing to make for brunch or something where you can make it ahead and all.
Also – yay on your 30th this weekend! I actually LOVED celebrating the big 3-0, had so much fun doing it up big on my birthday weekend, so I hope you have something SUPER fun planned. (and also, hoping this week goes by wicked fast for you so you can enjoy the party! :) )
This sounds so yummy, Gina! I’m all about to-do lists too and sometimes they get to be overwhelming! But then I remember to just breathe and take it one item at a time! …And I’m with you on the clean house before the trip. The littlest things like that stress me out and bring out the worst OCD in me :-X
Yum! Your oatmeal bake looks good!! Just think, all the preparation your doing, you’ll probably have the best weekend!!! Don’t stress!!
Wow this looks so good…cherries, coconut, all baked up…YUM!
Ooh, this looks yummy! I’ll have to add some stuff to the grocery list!