There is no better time than now to cozy up with your family and enjoy some comforting pantry staple meals. Items like rice, beans, oats, flours, shelf-stable plant milks, and pasta are great to have on hand. Produce like potatoes, onions, lemons, oranges, and bananas can last a lot longer for times when it is more difficult to frequently go to grocery stores. Even having frozen fruits and vegetables are nice since many do not stay fresh long. You can buy fresh fruits and veggies, and freeze them raw or steamed to have for the future. 

  This recipe might require a little more patience, but since you have more free time on your hands, take this time to enjoy cooking as it can be therapeutic and fun if your family helps along. You might even find cooking and baking as your new hobby!

  Oats are one of my favorite pantry staples because they are so versatile. You can, of course, make oatmeal, but you can use a blender to make oat flour or mix with water to make oat milk if you run out of milk. Even though I love oatmeal, many find it bland and boring. One way to make it exciting is to make baked oatmeal instead. It is comforting and might be more up your alley if you are not an oatmeal fan. You can add anything that you have stocked. Use chocolate chips, nuts, seeds, nut butters, frozen or fresh fruits, or even vegetables like carrots for a carrot cake style baked oatmeal. For this recipe, we will be using a flaxseed “egg” in place of an egg just in case you do not have access to eggs. This will act as a binder for oatmeal because it is similar to what an egg would do in this recipe. If you have eggs, feel free to use one instead of the flax egg. 

Ingredients:

*two and a half cups of oats

*two cups of milk

*two tbsp of flaxseed + five tbsp of water (or replace with one egg)

*quarter cup of any sweetener (liquid or granulated)
* tsp of cinnamon

*quarter tsp of salt

This is a simple base for baked oatmeal, so take the opportunity to add mix-ins that you have. Feel free to leave out the sweetener or spices if you would like and add vanilla extract or coconut oil. A half to a full cup of fruit would be nice as well as nuts or chocolate chips. Be creative!

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Prepare the flax egg by mixing two tbsp of flaxseed with five tbsp of water, and let this sit to gel while you prepare the other ingredients. Skip this step if using an egg.
3. Mix the dry ingredients: oats, cinnamon, and salt. If you are using nuts or chocolate chips, add them during this step.
4. Mix the wet ingredients: milk, flax egg, and sweetener. If you are using nut butters or fruit, add them during this step.
5. Mix your dry into your wet ingredients to fully combine. 
6. Once mixed, pour in a baking dish and add any toppings you would like.
7. Bake for about thirty minutes until golden brown.
8. When finished, set aside to cool for a few minutes, then cut it, and dig in. Add more toppings if you want!

  Enjoy this nice sit-down breakfast with your family if you can. Let this recipe inspire you to be innovative with the foods that you have at home, and get cooking with The Brook’s Cook!