Chris's Week Ten Recipe: Cherry-Berry Baked Oatmeal

I've never made baked oatmeal, and thought today was the day to give it a try. It took a while to track down a recipe that was low on sugar, but I found one here. This is my own version:

Cherry-Berry Baked Oatmeal

1 c old-fashioned oats

1 T brown sugar

dash cinnamon

2 c skim milk

1/2 t almond extract

1/2 c unsweetened applesauce

1/2 c frozen Trader Joe's Very Cherry Berry Blend

Combine dry ingredients. Add the almond extract to the milk. Add the milk and applesauce to the dry ingredients and mix well. Add the frozen fruit, then pour the mixture into a greased 1 qt casserole dish. Bake for about 40 min at 350F or until set and just starting to turn brown on the top.

NB: any frozen fruit should work with this recipe. You don't have to thaw the fruit. In fact, I suspect that the fruit 'floats' better in the mixture when completely frozen.

Would I make this recipe again? Num, num, num... you bet I would! The result was creamier than regular oatmeal and had a nice, subtle flavor.

Chris's Week Two Recipe: Rice Pudding with Cherry Sauce

Cathy of Alex, otherwise known as The Recovering Dissident Catholic, joined me for lunch today and bravely volunteered to help test a new recipe. I've made rice pudding before, both on the stovetop and in the oven, but never based on a recipe like this one from Lundberg Family Farms that didn't use eggs as a binder.

Rice Pudding with Cherry Sauce

1-3/4 c whole milk

1/3 c arborio rice

2 T turbinado sugar

dash salt

3/4 c dried cherries

1 cup boiling water

In a saucepan, pour the boiling water over the dried cherries and let soak until soft (an hour or more).

Combine milk, rice, sugar & salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer until all the liquid is absorbed (about 30 min in my case). You'll have to stir frequently!

While the rice is simmering, bring the cherries to a boil and let simmer until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Serve the cherry sauce over the warm rice pudding.

Would I make this recipe again? Count on it! Even Cathy, who can do some serious cooking in her own right, pronounced this a success.