I think this version is actually better. It has less ingredients (compared to the packet), it’s cheaper (you can now use the oatmeal in bulk,) it’s not as sweet and I just love being independent of products. :)

As you can see the toddler loved it and he’s in rare form in the video. He’s becoming VERY vocally expressive. Not that he wasn’t always but he just seems to have so much more to say these last few weeks. I tried to keep it short but you’ll see, he tends to distract me a bit. If you do decide to watch it you’ll have to stay to the end, he does another one of his secret taste tests again (like he did with the tabasco in the the Tortilla Soup Video-A YEAR ago!)

Scroll below the video for the recipe.

• 1/2 cup (40g) Old Fashioned Oats
• 6oz water
• 1 packet sweetener (I used Truvia)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

Put the oats, water, sweetener and cinnamon in a small pot over medium high heat. Cook and stir until water is absorbed. About 5 minutes.

Mix the cooked oatmeal with applesauce.

Sprinkle a bit more cinnamon on top for effect.

EAT! :)

Nutritionally, instant, rolled and even steel cut oats are identical. However the less the oats are processed the lower the glycemic index, which means they absorb slower into your bloodstream. A lot of people recommend steel cut oats and I get it, I really do. I’m just not there YET. :) Consider this my graduation from instant to rolled. Maybe by the end of the year I’ll take to the leap to Steal Cut. Remember… it’s a journey. :)

I did make this for myself and the toddler declared he didn’t like it on sight alone. I then got him to try a bite and he said it was good so I’ll give this the toddler approved mark but I’m not quite sure I’d get him to eat a whole serving yet.

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup (40g) Old Fashioned (Rolled) Oats
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4-1/2 tsp stevia based on taste (equivalent in sweetener of your choice)
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries (about 75g)

Bring water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Add the oats, cinnamon and stevia. Reduce to medium heat and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the frozen blueberries. Raise the heat back to high and bring to a boil (about another minute cooking time) while stirring to defrost the blueberries.

Remove from heat and serve!

Here’s how I made the batch in the video. Remember, take the idea and run with it! :)

• 6 won ton wrappers
• 1/2 cup fat free ricotta cheese (124g)
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp stevia powder (or other sweetener to your tasting)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp almond or vanilla extract
• dusting of cocoa powder, stevia or powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Roll the wrappers into tube shapes sealing with a bit of water. Stand them upright on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. (see video for demonstration)

Mix the ricotta cheese, stevia, cinnamon, cocoa powder.

Plop the cheese mixture in a ziplock bag, snip off the corner and fill won ton tubes.

Sprinkle with cocoa powder and stevia for effect. :)

Actually, I can’t lie. I was the one who wanted them. When I asked he said…

"I don’t like chocolate pancakes. I only like regular pancakes."

Ahhhh what does he know. He’s three. Plus he’s never even had chocolate pancakes. I made them anyway because once I got them in my head I couldn’t get them out. :)

Now, let me warn ya. My idea wasn’t to make an overly sweet cake. Actually I purposely kept them a bit bland knowing I’d be topping them. See, my theory is by not presenting overly sweet things to the toddler he won’t get that taste for it. Just like salt, if you don’t eat sweet stuff every day then when you do you really only need a little bit to satisfy the craving. It’s also like milk. When we were kids we drank whole and I remember skim being, well, yucky. Then slowly we started shifting to skim and now I think whole is gross. It’s all in what you are used to.

Sorry, I got off track didn’t I? Anyway, I am very happy with my first attempt at these. I took my old Quick Whole Grain Banana Pancakes and just modified slightly. And added a topping of course! Here’s how I made them this morning.

• 1 overripe banana
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup (75g) fat free yogurt
• 1/4 cup water
  (water and yogurt can be replaced with 1/2 cup (4oz) skim milk)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (20g)
• 1/2 cup (60g) whole wheat flour (I used whole wheat white)
• pinch of powder sugar for presentation (optional)

Mash the banana in a medium bowl. Add the egg, vanilla, yogurt, and water. Whisk until a bit frothy and smooth.

In a smaller bowl mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa powder. Sift it into the banana mixture. Mix until just blended. It will be thick.

Plop with a tablespoon and smooth the batter into small cakes in a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Cook about 1-2 minutes a side, bubbles will form when ready to flip.

Easy Blueberry Topping

• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp stevia (or your sweetener of choice)

Place all ingredients in a small pan over medium heat. Stir frequently. once blueberries thaw and mixture gets thick add a tbsp of water. Stir to incorporate. Keep warm over low hear adding water if it gets too thick before serving.

Here’s the toddler chowing down on the cake while watching Lazy Town. He didn’t want anything to do with my topping so he ate them plain like cookies. Notice I have to now take pictures in his natural habitat as he’s not as easily amused as he once was. :)

To serve place 2-3 cakes on a small plate and top with a dollop of the blueberries. Now, I actually got 10 cakes out of the batter but I can see others getting 8. I make them quite small. So I’m basing the nutritional info on 4 servings. That would be 2 cakes each if you got 8 cakes. What you see pictured is a little less then a serving.

The toddler liked everything about them except the blackberries. I had to use a frozen mixed berries as I didn’t have any other fruit options at home. He’s just not a fan of blackberries. So every time he’d hit one he’d ask me to eat it. It was kind of funny. He did devour two the morning we made them, although he had a hard time waiting for them to cool, as you can see in the photo. I love pouty toddler pictures!

The only thing I changed from the original recipe was using Stevia instead of Splenda. You could also use honey, or really skip all together if you don’t like your oatmeal too sweet, the bananas add a nice flavor.

• 3 mashed bananas
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 tsp Stevia or 1/4 cup splenda
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbps Baking powder
• 3 cups quick oats
• 2 cups frozen blue berries or mixed berries [still frozen]

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix all ingredients except the berries together, and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the berries.

Spray a muffin pan and/or liners with with non-stick spray. Divide batter into 15 muffin cups. They should be just about filled.

Bake 20-30 minutes, you’ll see the edges just starting to brown.

The muffins may stick when hot but are removed easily when cooled for a bit.

Unlike my other quick smoothie idea this one uses plain non fat yogurt instead of the flavored stuff with the artificial sweeteners. That being said, I needed to sweeten it somehow and one packet of Stevia worked perfectly!

• 1 banana peeled
• 5 frozen strawberries
• ½ cup nonfat unflavored yogurt
• 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
• 1 packet of Stevia

Blend all ingredients together!

Serve!

I use a hand blender as the top down approach helps me not have to add extra liquid. If you use a traditional blender, you may have to add a splash of water or skim milk to help it along. It is super thick!

As you can see, the toddler is a HUGE fan. HUGE!

The coolest thing about this recipe is it’s appeal to both the chewy and crunchy cookie people. You’ll know there are only 2 people in the world, right? Those that like chewy cookies and those that like crunchy cookies. I have to admit I’ve always been a chewy girl but these cookies may be converting me.

The secret to the cookies is the meringue. Beating the eggs to increase their volume makes them so light and airy. If you haven’t made a meringue have no fear it really isn’t that hard. I pass on a few tips from Alton’s brown book in the recipe.

• 3 large egg whites
• 1/8 tsp cream of tarter
• ¼ cup of sugar
• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I’ve ¼ cup of dark and ¼ regular – Delicious!)
• ¼ cup of splenda or ½-1 tsp Stevia powder extract (based on taste – available in the store)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla (or almond extract)
• Non-stick cooking spray

Separate 3 eggs and let the whites sit at room temperature while getting everything ready for the recipe. The eggs will beat better at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Sift the cocoa powder, splenda (or stevia), and salt. Put aside.

Beat the eggs on low-medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tarter and crank up the speed to high. Continue beating until soft peaks form when you lift the beater from the eggs.

Once you have a real white frothy white meringue with soft peaks continue beating on high while adding a bit of the sugar at a time. You are adding the sugar SLOWLY. After all the sugar is incorporated, continue beating until stiff peaks form (as in picture below.)

Fold in the sifted cocoa mixture and extract into the meringue a bit at a time. It will seem as if you are ruining it, the texture will be odd but the more you fold in the more the cocoa will incorporate with the egg whites until you get almost a frosting consistency. You don’t want to mix all the air out so don’t over mix.

Using a teaspoon, drop small dollops of the mixture on a cookie sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. For chewy bites bake for about 20 minutes, for crunchy bake for 40 minutes.

Recipe makes approximately 25 cookies.