Monthly Archives: April 2011

Engaged!

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I am so pleased to announce that I am engaged to be married to Reuben James.

To see more engagement photos, please stop by my photography blog: {link}

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49 Responses to “Engaged!”

  1. Congratulations! So happy for you two!

  2. So wonderful! Congrats!

  3. Maria says:

    SO excited for you! Congratulations!

  4. Shawna says:

    Congratulations! How exciting:)

  5. Joycee says:

    Congratulations, what a good looking couple you make! That look in his eyes says it all…

  6. darcy says:

    Wishing you both many, many years together.

  7. Lauren says:

    Congratulations! You make a lovely couple!

  8. Oh that is wonderful! Wishing you both God’s richest blessing, and many, many happy years together.

    Oh I love good news like this ;)

  9. Congratulations!! What a beautiful picture :D

  10. Megan says:

    That is wonderful news, congratulations!!! What a cute couple =)

  11. LadySnow says:

    Congratulations!

  12. Congrats….uh oh, will you have to change the blog to Cooking for Two??? LOL

  13. Andrea says:

    CONGRATS!

  15. Aw, congratulations! What a lucky guy~ he’s guaranteed great meals for the rest of his life.

  16. Sheena says:

    Congratulations Erica! Wishing you both all the best :)

  17. Libby says:

    Congratulations Erica! You make an adorable couple, and he’s very lucky–he’s guaranteed amazing food forever, pretty much!

  18. Barb says:

    Congratulations, Erica!!! You two both definitely look in love and happy! Awesome!

  19. Nadine says:

    congratulations!! this is wonderful!

  20. Sue Anne says:

    How heart-warming to have you share this delightful news with your readers, and the precious photo is frosting on the cake. You give so much to a world in need of goodness and light. May God bless you and keep you both throughout all the years ahead.

  21. rita says:

    that’s so exciting! congrats and wishing you both all the very best life has to offer. God Bless.

  22. Alyse says:

    May God bless this wonderful union of marriage.

  23. hailey says:

    Congratulations!! What wonderful news :) Enjoy the planning as much as you can, it can be a blast! :)
    I hope you two have an absolutely wonderful life together!

  24. Yadi I says:

    Congratulations! You must be so happy.

  25. Monique says:

    Congratulations!! Wishing you a happy a healthy life together.

  26. Aww so sweet! You guys look so cute together. I have recently been married too (June 2009), and marriage has been such a blessing. I hope that God’s grace fills you both with love and joy in your new endeavor. Congratulations!

  27. Emmy says:

    Looks like you got a good guy! And very handsome too!

  28. Dea-chan says:

    No wonder you’ve not been posting much! Congrats! You guys look cute together. You planning a long or short engagement?

  29. Holli says:

    You two are so cute together! congratulations!

  30. Erica Lea says:

    Dea-chan: Short engagement! Why wait? :)

  31. Begoña says:

    OMG, congratulations!!! But you must be sooo young, right? Well, it’s great great news. I wish you all the happiness in the world and i’m really looking foward to reading your new recipes for two (not for seven anymore, hehehe)

  32. Lisa G. says:

    Wahoo! Congratulations!!!! That is a beautiful photo of you guys. I’m heading over to check out the rest now ;) You two are going to love being married!! It’s wonderful.

  33. Frieda says:

    Congratulations to a darling couple! Glad I found you on TK!

  34. Many congratulations! May God richly bless you both.

  35. Debbie Z says:

    Congratulations, Erica! I enjoy reading your cooking blog and have been so impressed with your testimony and witness as a young Christian woman. I am so glad that you have found your life mate and I am sure that you have found someone who loves God as much as you do. May God bless your marriage greatly and may you have many, many joy-filled years together.

  36. Ruth Hill says:

    Good for you! Blessings!

  37. Lucille says:

    Will we get a post on how you cute pair met?

  38. Ashley says:

    What a beautiful couple. Congratulations Erica. May the Lord bless you in this precious time.

  39. Faith says:

    A huge congrats to you both, Erica!!!

  40. Congratulations! Adorable photos….I had a feeling something was going on when I kept seeing all the beautiful wedding dresses and other wedding items you were pinning on Pinterest. :)

  41. Congratulations! I too recently got engaged. So exciting!

  42. Brooke says:

    I love your blog! I have been a long-time follower, but this is my first time commenting. You have given me lots of inspiration. Congratulations on your engagement!!!

  43. Rebecca says:

    Congratulations! I am so happy for the both of you and wish you all the blessings the Lord can bestow!

  44. Pei-Lin says:

    Erica Lea and Reuben,

    Congrats to both of you for the engagement! I hope it’s not too late for that.

    From engagement to the actual wedding itself, it usually takes one year or a little more than that for the Chinese here to “accomplish” everything. That’s one difference I’d noticed during my stay in America. I much prefer wedding in the summer. Haha! Minnesotan winter isn’t suited for holding weddings in …

    Congrats, once again!

  45. Soma says:

    A very big Congratulations! to both of you. you make a lovely couple.

  46. pity says:

    great news, well done! cheers from london

  47. Madde says:

    Wonderful news! Congratulations!

  48. Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!

  49. Congratulations, Erica! How wonderfully and exciting. Blessings to you both. :)

Simple Baked Oatmeal

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Ever since I can remember, I have enjoyed waking up to the smell of oatmeal baking in the oven. The toasty aroma enticed us kids from our warm beds to the breakfast table. Even now, crawling out of my bed is that much easier when someone announces, “Baked oatmeal for breakfast!”

The other morning I crawled out of bed, shut off the alarm, and made my way to kitchen to make a special breakfast treat. I had bragged the night before that I was going to make baked oatmeal for breakfast. Imagine my horror when I couldn’t find my favorite recipe. Instead of panicking, I turned on my computer and quickly selected a substitute recipe. With a few modifications, it turned out just the way I wanted.

 

Notes: The original recipe called for cinnamon and cranberries. Whereas I think this would be a lovely addition, I knew my dad would freak out if I included them. I also decreased the amount of sugar by 1/4 and used maple sugar in place of granulated; you could use any sweetener you like – this recipe is quite forgiving.

 

 

 

 

 

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Simple Baked Oatmeal

Recipe adapted from here.

Printable recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  • 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 3/4 – 1 cup maple sugar, maple syrup, or sweetener of choice
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 eggs, slightly beaten
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350° F. Place the butter in a square (9×9 or 8×8-inch) baking dish and place in the oven to melt. Make sure to keep an eye on the butter, or it will burn!

2) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oats, maple sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, eggs, and vanilla.

3) Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well, making sure all of the oats are moistened.

4) Remove the pan with the butter from the oven. Pour the oats mixture into the pan and stir, mixing until most of the butter in incorporated, but leaving some unmixed at the edges & bottom of the pan.

5) Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are golden, about 30 minutes. Serve hot with cream.

Makes approximately 6-8 servings, depending on how hungry everyone is.

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44 Responses to “Simple Baked Oatmeal”

  1. I love baked oatmeal! Your recipe looks simple and delicious…I’m going to give it a try this weekend!

  2. Kim says:

    I always like a bowl of baked oatmeal in the morning. This version looks good, but I think I would go for the cranberries:)

  3. Carrie says:

    I’ve never heard of baked oatmeal before. I’m not a big oatmeal fan because of the slimy texture, but this looks like it might be good. Think I might try it! Thanks for posting the recipe!

  4. Liz says:

    This would definitely be a great smell to wake up to! Looks delicious!

  5. Melanie says:

    “Serve hot with cream”? Oh my goodness, Erica! You’re killing me!

  6. Hi Erica, breakfast is my favourite meal, so I can see myself making this soon on the weekend. How long, approximately, would you say it cooks for? Thanks.

  7. Never heard of baked oatmeal before, but can’t wait to try this recipe :)

  8. Arleen Cook says:

    This looks lovely! Do you think it would work with steel cut oats?

  9. Erica Lea says:

    sarah: Oops, forgot to put in the time! It’s approximately 30 minutes. :)

  10. Erica Lea says:

    Arleen: I have never tried it with steel cut oats – they may not become soft in time. Here’s a recipe that calls for steel cut oats {link}. Hope that helps! :)

  11. We LOVE baked oatmeal. Yours looks yummmy. The one we make is usually more soft and “gooey” so we don’t add additional liquids, but it would be fun to try the drier version if only for the sake of being able to pour cream on top. LOL!
    Love the light and textured napkin in your photo!

  12. Its been very sad that i haven’t actually stopped by ur blog after DMBLiGt awards, looks like i have missed loads here, love baked oatmeal it is so simple and delish! :)

  13. ashley says:

    The pictures mke this look delicious. My problem is that my family does not like the mushy/gummy texture of traditional oatmeal. Does the baking make it closer to granola?

  14. Arleen says:

    Thank You!

  15. I’m a huge fan of oats so this looks absolutely perfect!

  16. Pei-Lin says:

    How funny. I never got to try baked oatmeal while I was in Minnesota. I wonder how the texture is like. As an oatmeal person, I MUST have rolled oats soaked in hot malt chocolate for breakfast. Really, the idea of baked oatmeal never struck me till now. How the texture is like? I might give it a go, if it sounds good to me. =)

  17. Erica Lea says:

    ashley: I’m not a big fan of traditional oatmeal either. The textured of baked oatmeal is much better, in my opinion. The bottom of the pan tends to be soft, but the top gets a bit crunchy.

  18. Erica Lea says:

    Pei-Lin: The bottom is soft and sweet, the middle is firm, not mushy or dry, and the edges get a bit crunchy.

  19. Just wanted to pop over to congratulate you on your engagement. So happy for you!

  20. Oh yes… when a recipe starts with a stick of butter, it has to be good. What a way to start the day!

  21. Kimberly says:

    I love this recipe! We make it all the time (slight variations after making it two or three times each week! I use a little canola oil instead of butter and replace the milk and eggs with water). But never tried it with vanilla! I will have to see how it turns out!

  22. April W. says:

    I made this recipe last week and loved it. I’d planned to add sliced bananas, so I cut the sugar by 2/3. In the end, the bananas never made it in, and I forgot about the sugar cut, but it is still amazingly delish. I don’t think I’d add more sugar at all, if serving only to myself, but for others, I’d guess that half the sugar is A-ok.

  23. I never thought of baking oatmeal – genius! I don’t like the mushy texture of most oatmeal and it seems like you could serve a crowd with this. Can’t wait to try it!

  24. cathy x. says:

    congratulations on your engagement! that’s so wonderful and super exciting!! :)

    i think i’ll be trying this recipe in the morning (i’ve just left my career to return to study so am now a poor uni student all over again) i’m quickly running out of cheap breakfast ideas and this looks like the ticket! :P

  25. cathy x. says:

    ps. what does the baking powder contribute in this recipe? :)

  26. Erica Lea says:

    cathy x. – Thank you! :D I believe the baking powder give it a bit of raise to make it a little more “light” texture. If that makes any sense. :)

  27. hannah says:

    this looks just simple enough to be crazy tasty!

  28. Just found your blog – love it! Cooking for 7 all the time.. and I thought cooking for 6 when the grandkids came by was bad! Good for you, hun. and congrats on the engagement!

    Take care!
    – Chelsey

  30. Lexi says:

    I just posted this on my blog. Absolutely amazing recipe.

  31. JC in DC says:

    I laughed at your comment about your dad freaking out if you had included cranberries. Personally, I couldn’t imagine baked oatmeal without them, or walnuts, and maybe even a pine-cone or two… ;o)

  32. […] I saw Erica Berge’s gorgeous baked oatmeal a few months ago and decided to give oatmeal another whirl. Boy am I ever glad I did because it […]

  33. […] Cooking for Seven, Simple Baked Oatmeal. […]

  34. Amy says:

    This is beyond amazing and my house smells divine!

  35. Love this. We are love with baked oatmeal. It’s so easy to make and you can switch up flavors any way you like. We even make one with strawberries, banana and chocolate chips.

  36. dkrgrand says:

    Any idea what the calorie count per serving is?

  37. Erica Lea says:

    dkrgrand: There’s about 277 calories per serving, based on 8 servings. Of course there will be more if you pour cream on top. :D

  39. Jada says:

    I am trying this recipe tonight. I prepared it and stuck in the fridge, will bake tomorrow! Hope it turns out.

  40. Emily says:

    Hi! This looks awesome! Is it still good if I cool and store it to be reheated? Thank you!

  41. Erica Lea says:

    Emily: Yes, that’s perfectly fine! I like to reheat the leftovers on the stove, but you could do it in the oven as well. If you’re not planning on eating it after the first cooking, you could undercook it just a tad so it’s not overcooked when you reheat it. :)

  42. Ally says:

    We’ve been tweaking this recipe to be quick and filling in the morning, and it’s worked really well. We’ll make it up the night before, stick it in the fridge and when my husband gets up he’ll put it in the oven, no preheat, and by the time he’s out of the shower and the kids and I are up, yum breakfast. We have two adults and two little boys, we do a 1.5x recipe that lasts us two mornings and it fits perfectly in a 9×13 Pyrex pan. I do wonder if the maple sugar or syrup might be effectively less sweet than the turbinado we have, because we decreased the sweetener and it was still way sweet, like dessert sweet; but it might also be that this is intended to be a treat, whereas we’re going for a more utilitarian everyday breakfast. We also accidentally doubled the fat instead of 1.5ing it, with one stick of butter and a half cup of coconut oil, and let me tell you, that was good stuff and sure kept us going till lunch. I suspect that with coconut oil, all that vanilla and some raisins and cinnamon, a small fraction of the listed sweetener would be totally satisfactory. We’ve also tried increasing the eggs to 5 for a 1.5 recipe and that ups the protein without really changing anything else. Thanks for posting the original!

  43. Ally says:

    Oh, and we reheat the same way, DH gets up and puts the refrigerated pan in the oven at 250 and it’s warm in about the same amount of time.

  44. Angela says:

    This our Monday breakfast!! Thanks for the recipe, it’s the only way my kids enjoy oatmeal. They love it!!!