Thankfulness

Today was a day of thankfulness.  Ive had a fibroid that’s been watched since 2007.  It was being good, staying small, minding its own business and not getting pissy.  That is until the ovaries were 86’d back in 2011.  For some reason, giving it more space made it believe the extra room was strictly for it to expand. 

Its been on much closer watch over last year and the news as of today has it shrinking.  Not a lot but enough for the Dr to be pleased and that works for me.  Hopefully it stays on this course and I get another happy report in 6 mo when we go through the fun ultrasounds again.

Treats

More on the mind set of eating better, today DL and I made Personal Sized Baked Oatmeal, very similar to the Cereal Cups-to-go Ive made before.  This version seems to make more.

Having the kids take these instead of granola bars in their lunches.

As you can see, this recipe calls for 2 cups of applesauce – guess what I used   The wonderful sauce I made yesterday! 

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups applesauce, unsweetened
1 banana, mashed
6 packets of Sweetleaf Stevia or 1 1/2 teaspoons stevia powder or use 1/2 cup honey
5 cups, Old Fashioned rolled oats { I used Bob’s Red Mill}
1/4 cup flaxseed meal* Or Chia Seeds, Oat Bran, Wheat Bran
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups milk (I used 1%)
Optional toppings: raisins, walnuts, chocolate chips
* Whole Flax seeds may be used but grind them yourself if not using already ground. Flax seed is safe to cook with. Here is an article to support.http://www.livestrong.com/article/533140-does-flaxseed-lose-nutrition-when-it-is-cooked/

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix eggs, vanilla, applesauce, banana and Stevia together in a bowl.

3. Add in oats, flax, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and mix well with wet ingredients.

4. Finally pour in milk and combine.

5. Spray a 12 and 6 capacity muffin tin with cooking spray or use cupcake liners.
Pour mixture evenly into muffin tin cups.

6. If using toppings add them onto the tops of muffins now. If using fresh or frozen fruit, drop it right into the batter.

7. Bake 30 minutes until a toothpick in center comes out clean. Cool and enjoy or freeze them in gallon freezer bags.

**My Changes**

I used Cardamom instead of Cinnamon, whole milk, honey, Chia seeds instead of Flax and added mini choc chips to the whole recipe.  I did not make personalized toppings this time around but am thinking of doing so next time. It made 10 jumbo and 24 mini muffins.