Grab-and-Go Soft Oatmeal Bars

I have written many, many times about how my wonderful husband Paul will spend hours researching his latest and greatest engineering projects, updating his profile on Linkedin, or getting caught up on the wisdom of Dave Ramsey but will not devote more than a minute to preparing and eating a healthy breakfast in the morning before heading off to work. He will choose to go hungry (quick oats just are not quick enough for him) until mid-morning by which time he is so famished and fatigued that he begins to scour the halls of work looking for leftover food from the previous afternoon's business meetings, usually in the form of stale pizza. And then he gets a tummy ache and feels awesome for the rest of the day.

Thus, it has become my job as Paul's loving wife to make breakfast so ridiculously accessible and requiring such little effort or work on his part that the next quickest feeding option would be via an intravenous line. Enter these soft oatmeal bars. Reminiscent of the ones you can purchase from the store (but a lot healthier), these bars are quick and easy to make. Once allowed to cool completely, cut them into the size you desire, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and throw into the freezer for a quick grab-and-go breakfast that even my neanderthalic husband can handle. This recipe is just a basic starting point from which so many variations can be made. Add in some nut butter, try using different nuts and seeds, experiment with various dried fruits, use other sweeteners such as maple syrup and honey...the variations are pretty endless!

These are husband approved although I am not sure how much that counts because anything tastes better than stale pizza. Paul also wanted me to note that these taste delicious frozen. He would know since I doubt he has the patience to allow them the 20 minutes they need to thaw. Or the 30 seconds they would take to microwave.

Soft Baked Oatmeal Bars
adapted from Kath Eats Real Food

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dried blueberries
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1-1/4 cups milk
1 egg, whisked
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together oats, almonds, blueberries, sunflower seeds, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add milk, egg, and vanilla then stir to combine. Pour mixture into a nonstick-sprayed 8×8 baking dish then bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes our clean.

Cool completely then cut into bars/triangles and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, or individually wrap in saran wrap and freeze. Pop in the microwave to reheat.