Back To School Prep & Baked Oatmeal Bars

August is a little bittersweet. I’m torn between spending everyday soaking up summer and knowing that I really should carve a few minutes  here and there to make September less chaotic, assuming our ridiculous (Oregon) government let’s us live again. 

I’ve got a whole lot of random things to share to prep for Back to School. Some of them are my most popular posts, re-imagined and others are new as our kids are older and teens are a whole new adventure. I’m going to proceed as if we are actually going to have a real school year, because I need that for my sanity. 

Today I am sharing one of my Go-to, Budget Friendly, Make Ahead, Delicious breakfasts you can grab and go!  It’s also perfect for Sunday, heading to the ball field or church, these are easy! 

These Baked Oatmeal bars are easy to mix up and try some different add-ins to. I have a big list of combinations I want to try.  

I grabbed a few different baking chips that were on clearance at Target to make some variety.  Made a batch of just peanut butter and chocolate chips.  And a double batch of Apple, cranberry and walnut. 

For those I swapped the peanut butter for applesauce, added some dried cranberries and a few white chocolate chips and walnuts. I should have added some cinnamon but forgot. 

All you do is dump it all in a bowl and mix it up. Then pour into a greased 8x8 pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Alternatively you can fill about 15 cupcake liners 1/2-3/4 full and bake for the same time. I prefer the cupcake liner method. 

1 1/2 C Quick Oats 

3/4 C Milk (of your choice) 

1/2 C Brown Sugar 

1 Egg

1/4 C Butter Melted 

1/2 Cup Nut Butter melted ish. Enough that you can stir it in. 

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla 

1/2 tsp Salt 

1 tsp Baking Powder

That’s it! Let them cool a little bit and eat right away or completely cool and they are simple to cut, and easy to grab and go.  They also thaw from frozen pretty quick! 

*May contain affiliated links* I participate in Amazon Associates Program occasionally. I won't recommend a product I wasn't myself interested in trying or have tried. I may receive monetary compensation for participating. This does not change the price for you.

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Back to School Breakfast Plan

I was really hoping to be mostly done with this, or at least have a PLAN by last week. The last week has been crazy for us sports wise, and I haven’t had more than 10 seconds to work on anything. 

It might sound silly but having a plan for breakfast makes it a little easier. 

My breakfast game plan for this school year. 

-Have a loose routine for weekdays

      That eliminates the “what’s for breakfast             

        issue”  

-Pack the freezer! 

       Things that can be made ahead and frozen. 

         Burritos

         Breakfast sandwiches 

         Frozen biscuits 

         Breakfast cookies 

         French toast sticks

         Smoothie packs 

-Keep on hand

      Checking these before every grocery trip!      

      Staples for breakfast and sanity! 

         Yogurt (or option to make it)

          Eggs

          Oats (I prefer steel cut) 

-Special items 

     We have late start every other Wednesday.   

     On those days I like to make something a 

     little out of the usual. Some are made ahead

     and some require some planning ahead. 

       French toast bake (I can make ahead)

       Cinnamon Rolls 

       Apple Nachos 

       Love Puffs 

Now I’ve got links to lots of those things, but I am currently at the dentist and I can feel my oral sedation working and I’m scared to link randomness.  I’ll be back with a clearer head 😆

I would LOVE to see how you all do this, how do you make mornings a little smoother? 

       

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Easy Breakfast Plan

This has been helpful for us in the past, last year was kind of a wash. This year though, this year HAS to go smoother! I've done some prepping already and am printing this for my planner! 

This might not be perfect and it might not happen every week, I still want to have it so I have something to fall back on when things feel like they are getting out of control!

I've made these pancake poppers in bulk because they are easy to grab and go! Super easy to make too! Whatever you like for pancake batter, then spray a mini muffin tin well, bake 12-14 minutes at 350! I made a bunch to freeze and we will just pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds when it's time to eat them!

We've got bacon and cheese, blackberry, raspberry with protein boost, sausage & maple and apple spice poppers all ready for school in 2 weeks!

I keep yogurt cups and have the dry ingredients in our breakfast bucket! Granola, dried fruit and plastic spoons, just in case!

Summer has it looking slim! Need to restock the spoons and fruit! 

Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats! So many variations for flavors! Easy prep the night before, filling and not expensive! I picked Wednesday for this because we rarely use the IP for taco Tuesday'

Eggs, bacon and toast is a little more work for me but I feel like I should have my life together by Thursday of each week lol. I also have a stack of bacon egg and cheese English muffins in the freezer if that is not the case and I am still failing.

Friday is typically chaos for me. The day I play catch up and I don't really want to add extra dishes in the morning or worry about it. We have leftovers, yogurt, cereal sometimes and the kids can choose to make their own stuff too! 

*May contain affiliated links* I participate in Amazon Associates Program occasionally. I wont  recommend a product I wasn't myself interested in trying or have tried. I may receive monetary compensation for participating. This does not change the price for you.

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Muffin Tops

 

Muffin Top Cookies? Just plain ol' Muffin Tops?

There isn't more sugar like in a cookie, but they are shaped like a BIG cookie. Call them what you want, they are easy and delicious and the kids will like them! They aren't dense like a cookie, lighter, like a muffin but the oatmeal in these ones gives them oomph!

 

 

I've made multiple varieties but don't always track what I add.

For these I did though! Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip.

 

I just used my basic muffin dry ingredients

1 3/4 AP Flour

1/3C Sugar

2 tsp. Baking Powder

1/4 tsp. Salt

 

 

Then I just added about 1C ish of liquids + 1 egg for the basic recipe.

 

For this one I added

1 BIG ripe banana all mashed up

2 Eggs

and 1/2 C Oats for bit of texture

1/4 C Mini Chocolate Chips

 

***The batter should be about muffin batter consistency, maybe slightly thicker***

Play around and try some different combos.

 

Bake 13-15 Minutes at 350 on a greased cookie sheet

I use a big cookie scoop to measure them equally

 

 

 

 

*May contain affiliated links* I participate in Amazon Associates Program occasionally. I won't recommend a product I wasn't myself interested in trying or have tried. I may receive monetary compensation for participating. This does not change the price for you.

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*Updated* Breakfast Plan

Breakfast time can be a disaster, mornings are rough, having a plan makes it a little easier, not easy, but a teeny bit easier.

I don't love the idea of something super rigid, but mornings here need just a little bit of structure.
 I plan to make the same things each week.  Our kids are getting old enough that a lot of mornings they can do it themselves, I am usually up before them though and like to do it! I'm not talking some crazy elaborate breakfast every morning. I am just picking the 5 or 6 things I know the kids like, are not going to kill our budget, will keep them full enough to make it to snack time and not full of sugar or junk. 

Mondays 

Kodiak Cakes and Fruit
We LOVE Kodiak Cakes!

Tuesdays 

Yogurt and stuff

We add stuff like nuts, granola, seeds, fruit

Wednesdays 

Oatmeal and fluff, fruit and all that. Steel Cut Oats in the Instant Pot are AMAZING. Definitely my favorite!

Thursdays 
Waffles and fruit
Usually with PB for some protein

Fridays 

Bacon or Sausage and Eggs with toast.
Especially now that our chickens are finally laying!

**I also have stuff for protein smoothies pretty much all of the time, for busy days or if we are low on something**

We keep our breakfast fluff, like granola, cinnamon sugar, oatmeal they can do themselves etc. all together and easy to get out and put away.  

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#1 Way We Make Mornings Smooth!

Alright, even though I said we were just going to wing things, the anxiety of unknown is getting to me a teeny bit and I feel like our breakfast schedule is something that needs to stick around!

I shared last year (or a few years before) here, and it's not really that different now. Just want to share a little more details about how we start our mornings!

We still use our Good Morning Basket

It has the kids chore packs, granola, brown sugar, and now vitamins along with our devotionals. 

Here is our weekly breakfast schedule!

Monday~Pancakes, fruit and sausage/bacon

I prefer to make our own pancakes, and add some vanilla protein powder to them! We have picky kids who don't really like a whole lot of protein items.

Tuesday~Oatmeal and Toppings

We pretty much always have some fruit for on top, kids occasionally get some peanut butter or chocolate chips on top too!

Wednesday~Yogurt and Fluff
fruit and granola on top. Each of our kids like theirs a little different!

Thursday~Waffles with Nut Butter
Last I shared, we were using a different brand. We are all big fans of Wild Friends Nut Butters!

There are other flavors too! My favorite is the chocolate sunflower seed!

Friday~Cereal and Fruit
By Friday we need an easy breakfast! Sometimes we just have scrambled eggs and toast or a mini bagel and fruit but cereal is the standby. I don't love giving the kids cereal and when we do it's usually boring with no sugar, chocolate or marshmallows. Not hard to convince them to have something else!

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What's for Breakfast?

When I meal plan I usually just think about dinner,

but breakfast is going to be a little bit rushed for us. So I thought I would make a plan, at least for the first week of school!

Tuesday
Mini bagel with Greek yogurt cream cheese, blue berries and Kefir (kids are addicted!)

Wednesday
Oatmeal with fruit, I mix some protein powder in their oatmeal. I don't even know if they notice.

Thursday
Scrambled eggs, applesauce and toast, Kefir

Friday
Yogurt with fruit and granola

I have a few other staple breakfasts
Waffles with PB, or nutella
Cereal and fruit
Sausage and Little Pancakes
Cream of Wheat
Smoothie and toast

I figure if I have a plan I can have some of it prepped the night before and make mornings a little easier!

I could always use some more ideas, has to be fast and fill them up!

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St.Patricks Day Muffins

Since it's on a Saturday this year, I can do a little more than usual with fun eats. But I don't love all the dye in stuff to make it green. So today I tried an alternate hoping the fam wouldn't even guess it wasn't dye!

And they look better than dye colored ones, and they are full of SPINACH! You can't taste the spinach in these banana nut muffins because the bananas really overpower the spinach taste!

I just used my regular banana bread recipe but blended about 2 1/2-3 cups of spinach in with the liquids before I added them to the dry mix!

Def on the list of things to make Saturday!

I also picked up some cute straws with orange mustaches for the kids for Saturday!

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Cherry Pie Day

Is February 20th!

What a fun idea. Cherry Pies are pretty stinkin' charming and cute!

I have NEVER made a cherry pie, and as much as I would like to, I seriously doubt I will get to it, unless I maybe do a couple mini ones with my mini pie maker!

But I am usually a make ahead kind of person, so maybe I will try these instead

Found HERE

Recipe

Cherry Pie Pecan Bars
Adapted from Lucky Leaf recipe

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups uncooked quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
13 tablespoons butter
7 tablespoons apple butter
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp baking soda
1 21 oz can cherry pie filling
1 cup miniature marshmallows

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients except pie filling and marshmallows in a large mixing bowl.  Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

2. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crumb mixture for the topping.  Press remaining mixture into ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.  Gently spoon pie filling over hot crust.  Sprinkle with marshmallows then sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.

3. Continue baking for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely on a rack.

Happy Cherry Pie Day!!

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