Amish Baked Oatmeal

I've made baked oatmeal once before and it turned out kinda cake-y and we didn't love it. I kept reading about people making it and making it regularly because it was really good. I came across this recipe again recently and it seemed different than what I made before and was described as "like a cookie". And because I don't turn down a cookie, it was a go!
Here is the original recipe. And the following is the recipe with adjustments and approximate cost:

• 3 cups old fashioned oats 0.75
• 1 cup brown sugar 0.50
• 1 cup milk 0.25
• 1/2 cup butter melted 0.50
• 2 beaten eggs 0.25
• 1 tsp. baking powder 0.05
• 1 tsp. salt 0.05
• 1 tsp. cinnamon 0.05
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract 0.10
• milk, nuts, fruit for toppings 0.50
• Total cost: $3.00, (and probably less, but I guessed on the high side)

Directions: Combine the ingredients and mix well. Spread evenly in 2 greased 13x9 baking dishes. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. (mine was done at 25m) Serve warm.

Everyone loved this. Some ate it with milk and fruit and nuts, some just plain. But, everyone loved this. I am serving a lot of oatmeal and this will be a regular on the menu.

I poured about an inch of milk in my bowl and warmed it in the microwave, then spooned in the baked oatmeal and topped with coconut and walnuts. YUM!

This post is a part of Frugal Friday.

Who Needs IHOP...?

I'm always looking for ways to treat my family without breaking the budget! A meal out for nine people is just not practical when I could buy four or five bags of groceries for the price of one meal that only satisfies for a couple of hours. And frankly a meal out with a 1, 3, and 4 year old is not relaxing;) I do like a bit of a break from cooking once in a while though.

I have and answer to all of this with brunch on Saturdays. We hold off eating much until closer to lunch and whip up pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. YUM! It doesn't take much effort to make pancakes from a mix that you only need to add water. EASY! The strawberries come frozen, clean and already sliced. I just sprinkle with a tablespoon or so of sugar and let them thaw into their wonderful topping goodness. YAY! And I don't even "whip" the cream. WOOHOO!
We eat 'til our hearts content and I don't even think about cooking again until dinner. Homerun for Mama!!
Here's the math:
All the ingredients for a month of Saturday Brunches....
From Sam's Club(rounding up prices)

• Pancake Mix(just add water)-$6
• Frozen Strawberries-$9
• 3 large cans of whipped cream-$7
• total of $22.00
• $5.50 per meal for all of us (if I could think of another word to cap and ! I'd throw it in here, wink, smile)

This post is a part of Frugal Friday and Weekend Fun Food.

Frugal Friday

I love the frugal Friday posts at Crystal's blog. I have learned so many neat things from all the creative women that participate each week.

I have a simple tip that helped me this week. I made two pans of lasagna one evening and the directions say to bake them covered with aluminum foil. I have not had any foil for a while now. I normally pick this up at the dollar store. It's one of those things that I would rather not spend money on. Instead of foil I covered the two 9x13 glass pans with two cookie sheets and it worked great! The lasagna baked up perfectly. Like I said, simple, but I was happy not to have dry lasagna! I will share this recipe soon too, because one of the ingredients is one of my new favorite things!

Frugal Friday

It seems that between maintaining a home and two vehicles that there are always needed repairs. It's been one thing after another lately. This week it was the car.
The passenger window had been making a terrible "crunchy" sound for a while and it finally quit working completely and happened to be about four inches down! A couple of days later the fan on the heat would only blow on five, the highest setting. I guess this could be considered a good thing with the window being stuck open in winter;)
The car was due for an inspection and oil change, so we sent it in to be fixed and serviced. Well to get to the point of the story, we got a call from the mechanic that the repairs and maintenance work would total around $700. I didn't know what to say, but in my mind I was thinking they could replace the whole door plus some for that amount of money! I had my husband call him back from work. He asked if this issues were a common problem. The mechanic checked with his supervisor and told us that the repairs would be covered by GM.This was great news! We paid for the maintenance work only.
It's a good idea to develop a good relationship with the dealership or your local mechanic. Don't be afraid to ask questions. I think in this case since we were dealing with the service dept. of a Chevrolet dealership where we have our vehicles serviced regularly they were eager to please to keep our business. God is faithful in the ways he provides in big and small ways everyday.

Read Frugal Friday for more tips!
Photo from Freefoto.com

Our Granola Recipe

(with approximate cost)

1 cup honey (have used browm sugar) $1.00

1 stick of butter (have used canola oil) $0.50

6-7 cups old fashioned oatmeal $1.50

1/2 box Multi-grain flakes (great value brand from W-mart) $0.75

Cinnamon $0.05

Total $3.80

Melt the honey and butter together in a large stock pot over low to medium heat. Add in oats and flakes and toss to mix well. Spread onto cookie sheets. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 250 degrees for 20 to thirty minutes, until toasty and slightly browned. Let cool completely(try to keep your kids from eating half of it before you can get it put away:) Store in an airtight container.

Some great ideas for add-ins, after it is baked

raisins

nuts or seeds

coconut

banana chips (with walnuts makes a great banana bread flavor)

Another tip for larger families...Use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to help the kids practice portion control. This is such a hit around our house it rarely last more that a couple of days!
Visit The Natural Mommy for the recipe swap!

Abby and Anna Made Bread

Abby age10, Anna age 8, and Wendy age 3

Abby and I have talked for probably a year about teaching her to make homemade bread. Time really flies! We normally make whole wheat bread when we bake. Although taking time to grind flour is not very time consuming, it is something the girls are not confident about doing on their own yet. Our grinder is called a Whisper Mill, but it is very loud. Since I knew the girls would basically be "on their own" and I would be caring for Rose, we followed the recipe as it read and used unbleached white flour. This is a delicious and wholesome recipe with the added oatmeal.

Abby and Anna did a great job as you can see. Wendy watched and "helped" her very patient big sisters. Don't ever think your kids are too young to learn to help in big ways! We had one loaf for dinner and finished the rest for breakfast the next morning.

Here is the link to the recipe we used. http://www.recipezaar.com/72787

Approximate cost for two loaves...$1.55

Read more over at Crystal's Frugal Friday http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm

Our Not-So-Frugal Purchases

We work very hard to be frugal and good stewards of the money God blesses us with. We try to save money for the future and for retirement and pay cash for everything. I had started a small stash of cash shortly before Rose was born and after a couple of rough nights with her waking and crying, I sent Tommy out with a list of survival items. As it turned out, she was just adjusting to her new life outside the womb and has slept well ever since.

We were able to buy a really nice solid wood glider rocker and a new boppy nursing pillow with the cash I had set aside. He also bought a pack of pacifiers which we never opened:) It was nice to have this money set aside and be able to get these things guilt free. We were both very pleased with the quality of rocker we were able to get. And Rose loves it too:) Although these purchases were made at full price, no coupons or discounts, we are very thankful to have them and they will serve us well for a long time.

An Expensive Lesson Learned Today

On one of the coldest days we have had this winter, we woke up to realize yesterday that our heat pump is blowing cool air. Now I know heat pump air is not exactly "toasty", but it became obvious that it was not heating. We burn wood in a wood stove of our basement for our main heat, but the heat pump supplements this at night for us.
So, first thing this morning we called the repair man, ugh, not something we normally do because my husband has always been the "repair man" aka "Superman". However today is our due date for our seventh child, with a planned home birth, and we need to be able to warm up the house quickly and warmer than normal.
To make a long story short, the repair man determined that the unit inside around the coil was clogged with dust, debris, and lots of hair. We had removed the filter in the summer months with the best intentions of replacing it. We had a hard time finding the right one in stock and just simply forgot to ever replace it.
It is so easy to neglect these "little things" around the house, but obviously it is such an important preventative maintenance thing. A mistake that we will not likely make again. So...go change those filters and read more frugal friday tips at http://www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog.htm . Oh, and for those that are wondering how expensive was our lesson?....$195.00