Very Berry Baked Oatmeal

I'm one of those people that has to eat every 2-3 hours.  Literally, from the time I wake up until the time I go to bed, I have to eat every few hours.  I'm not talk about a snack here - I eat those too - but I need to eat something substantial every few hours or else I feel like I'm starving to death.  Yes, I know your body can interpret thirst and hunger, and yes, I do drink a ton of water every day, too.  I've always had a fast metabolism and now that I work out twice a day, it's gotten even quicker.  I usually just have cereal or a bagel/english muffin for breakfast, but I'm a real big fan of oatmeal.  As much as I like the instant stuff, sometimes it's just not good enough.  I have a bunch of Hungry Girl recipes for growing oatmeal, but the secret is that I also don't want to cook breakfast for an hour every morning before I get to eat (although those recipes ARE totally worth it!). 

I saw some recipes on pinterest for baked oatmeal that you can eat right away or stick in the fridge and warm up in the microwave, and I thought it was a great idea.  It's homemade, so I know there's nothing too crappy in it, plus I can make it with all the things I like! I really love blueberry oatmeal, but always feel gypped when there's no real blueberries in them.  It's hard to get GOOD fresh berries here this time of year (thanks, New England), but the frozen ones are just as good and convenient.  What I liked most about this was that I could make it on a Saturday or Sunday, portion it out, stick it in the fridge and voila - breakfast for most of the week!

If you make the recipe the way I did, one caveat: add some sugar!  I clearly wasn't thinking about this when I made it, but all the berries make this a very tart breakfast! If you add it up front, you'll probably only want to add 1/4 cup; otherwise, a teaspoon or two per serving should be suffice.

Very Berry Baked Oatmeal
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Ingredients
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup milk (I used whole)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp. vanilla
1 bag (I'm pretty sure it's 16 oz - the small size) frozen fruit (I used mixed berries - blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries)

Method
Preheat oven to 375°

Lightly grease an 8" square cake pan.  In a medium bowl, mix the oats, baking powder and cinnamon.  In a liquid measuring cup, combine the milk, egg, butter and vanilla.
Cover the bottom of the pan with the berries.  Sprinkle the dry oat mixture over the fruit.  Pour the liquid ingredients evenly over the oats.  Bake for 35 minutes, until the top is browned and the oats have set.  Let cool for about 10 minutes.  Stir in a small amount of milk and serve.  You can also portion out the cooked oatmeal into tupperware containers and store in the fridge for up to one week.




Have you made your own oatmeal?  What kind did you make? Tell me about it!