Breakfast

I used to be a huge breakfast fan. I think it was because on weekends I would wake up early and hang out with my dad and he would make big, yummy breakfasts. But now, life is too busy and sometimes downright chaotic in the mornings so usually my breakfast consists of a cup of coffee, if I'm lucky. Some days the cup just sits on the counter and gets cold. Weekends are better if my husband isn't working. Like this morning, we had waffles topped with strawberries. Yum!

Most days my son's first words are "Mom, I'm hungry." He's usually pretty easy to please. Cereal, a waffle, scrambled eggs. He loves those. But the other day we thought we would change it up a bit. And I'm glad we did! We made Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal bars. I had recently seen the recipe on Pinterest and it caught my eye. They turned out like a soft granola bar, not quite muffin texture. They were easy to make and tasted great! I did the measuring and baking and my son did all the mixing :)

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Bars
(recipe from Food.com)

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 large mashed banana
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together the dry ingredients. Add the vanilla, milk and egg. Mix well. Add the mashed banana and peanut butter. Combine. Pour mixture into greased 8x8 baking dish. (I used a mini loaf pan to make individual bars.) Bake for 20 minutes.

My son loved these bars! My 11 month old nephew thought they were pretty tasty too!

It is a great recipe to get the kids involved in! If you're like me, you love little helpers in the kitchen (most of the time!)

Next I might try omitting the brown sugar to make them healthier. Maybe even leave out the egg since the banana acts as a binder. I'll let you know how that turns out!