Besides the fact that these are baked in a muffin ti, they really don’t have that much in common with muffins. But kids don’t have to know that!
This is actually 2-in-1 meal suggestion. First, they will feed them in the morning and the leftovers will make a base ingredient for dinner. So what is the key ingredient? Steel cut oats! Yes, those oats – full with fibers and bursting with healthy benefits.
Step 1 – soak them overnight. I usually soak one cup of oats in 2 cups of water. Maybe you think this is a pain or “how will I remember”, but I promise you, it will become a routine. Benefit of this is two fold: (1) cooking time in the morning will drastically reduce and so will (2) phytic acid, which is not good for you.
Step 2 – in the morning, you rinse your soaked steel cut oats. Add water (enough to cover the oats; if all the water gets absorbed too fast, next time add a bit more) and a dash of salt (this one is a game changer, trust me) and put them on the stove. Start with high heat and reduce heat to medium-low after it boils. After ~10 minutes, they should be done.
Step 3 – I like mine with blueberries and almond butter, but that is somewhere old news. My kids like it savory – with table spoon of butter, overflowing table spoon of cottage cheese and yogurt (each). I started with butter, when my kids were barely 1 year old. And they hated milk from the bottle. Meaning, I had to introduce fatty milk products however I could. That is how I came up with these. Now my husband started having breakfast too!
Step 4a – save leftovers in the fridge. And if there are only couple of table spoons left, that is still awesome, we can make magic out of those in step 4b.
Step 4b – it’s dinner time! This step can be done in so many different ways. For any of those ways, the base is leftover oatmeal and eggs (I use 3-5 eggs). Some of our favorite additions to the mix are listed below. Once you add them (and you do not need to add any spices), pour your mix into a muffin tin and bake it on 400 F for ~40 mins. I kid you not, we eat this dinner 4-5 days a week.
- You have leftover chicken? Dice it and add it to the mix.
- My kids favorite addition is crumbled feta cheese.
- Sautéed d bell pepper and onion.
- Bacon.
- Spinach (frozen works just fine).
- Sesame seeds on top.
Enjoy!
