We’ve got a whole week of school under our belts! Phewf!
This is my first year as a REAL school mama. Our international student arrived on the 2nd and began her junior year of high school last Wednesday. Dominic takes her in the mornings and I pick up every afternoon. Which is reeking havoc on our nap routine, I need to make some adjustments here which just may include Max dropping down to one nap. Which I’m so not ready for! And Miss Jemma has started two afternoon/week preschool. She is is heaven. Like, the girl was meant to go to preschool. And now I’m left wondering about my well laid future homeschool plans … another story for another day.
The biggest adjustment to back to school has been the return of my PSL addiction and thus the disappearance of my meager monthly allowance. Well, that and meal planning.
I went MIA on meals over the summer. We ate out far too much and had too many nights of me saying, “Everyone ok with cereal?” School has brought about some routine and therefore, I’m back to meal planning. We’ve had curry and pad thai, parmesan chicken and chicken Caesar salads. It’s good eats around here people. Granted, we still have designated “leftover” nights and I pull the “breakfast for dinner” card twice a month or so. But that doesn’t mean anyone is starving. It just means I’m laying low on occasion.
A recent “breakfast for dinner” win was this baked oatmeal inspired by Urban Nester. I had initially pegged it as a great back to school breakfast since I could prep it the night before and just pop it in the oven while sipping my coffee and yawning, but it turns out our international student and Dominic aren’t hearty breakfast folk and Jemma sleeps in the latest of us all. So … breakfast for dinner it is!
Toasted Coconut, Pecan, Flax, Chocolate Chip and Banana Oatmeal Casserole
Ingredients
2 C rolled oats
1/3 C brown sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
4 T ground flax seeds
1/2 t salt
1 C pecans, chopped
2/3 C toasted coconut
1/4 C chocolate chips
2 C milk
1 egg
1 T vanilla
2 bananas, sliced
Directions
- In a large bowl, mix oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, flax and salt. Set aside.
- Chop pecans, and toast coconut (here’s steps from another fave recipe if you need them – I’ve been using toasted coconut so much lately that I’ll do up a whole batch and keep it in a mason jar so it’s ready to grab and use all the time!). Add pecans, half of the toasted coconut and chocolate chips to dry ingredient mixture.
- In a corner of your dry ingredient bowl pour milk, egg, and vanilla. Whip together and then fully incorporate.
- Slice bananas and gently fold into mixture.
- Thoroughly cover the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish with Country Crock. This is a really important step because it reduces sticking. Plus, Country Crock has 0g trans fat per serving, no partially hydrogenated oils and no cholesterol.
- Pour oatmeal batter into baking dish and sprinkle with remaining coconut and a few dashes of cinnamon. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 375 degrees. Or, refrigerate uncooked, but covered, overnight and bake in the morning!
So, tell me … are you a breakfast for dinner kind of person? I totally am! Plus, adding a side of eggs and bacon even made this a husband approved meal :)
Connect with Country Crock on Facebook and Pinterest for other great back to school Quick Fix Casserole tips and tricks!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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this recipe looks DELICIOUS! I am curious if you'll share if you're using a curriculum with Jemma or how you are choosing to go about doing preschool w/her? :D
I just finished our preschool post! In short, we opted for a local preschool … at least for this year. It was the best decision for our family right now :) I do hope to look into the Before Five in a Row curriculum and maybe give that a try at home at some point. Mostly, I felt Jemma was excelling at education type stuff and needed more growth in social skills so a preschool class seemed to be the best fit for her.