After School Apple Oatmeal Bake - Gluten Free, Dairy Free Snack

classic Jiffy baking mix

Growing up, my brothers and sister and I would usually come home from school starving, unable to wait for dinner. My mom stocked up on assorted Jiffy mixes for just such daily kitchen raids. Blueberry muffins were always a fav, but sometimes it would be corn muffins, brownies, or apple cinnamon muffins. The mixes were simple, probably designed with little kitchen helpers in mind, so we would most often be the ones to make them, with help and supervision and licking the bowl of course.

Since being gluten free, I can no longer eat Jiffy baked goods, nor do I go to school, but I do still come home from work hungry, and usually unable to wait for dinner. Most of the time I grab chips and salsa or cheese or nuts to nibble or spoonfuls of peanut butter and handfuls of chocolate chips (shhhh!).

apple oatmeal snack after planting some veggie seeds

Last Friday however, while I was in the process of such incessant snacking with an apple in one hand and a jar of peanut butter in the other, I practically subconsciously created a warm fall snack that was so comforting that it came along with all nostalgic vibes of those afterschool Jiffy mix baking days. My roommate Jen even walked in the house and said it smelled like her grandma's house, so apparently the nostalgia was baking into the air. I don't know what this would usually be called because there was no recipe involved, but short of calling it what I did that day (baked apple somethin'), here is a recipe for Allergy-Friendly After School Apple Oatmeal Bake.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Apple Oatmeal Bake

Apple Oatmeal Bake topped with goat yogurt and date sugar

Ingredients
2 large apples, cored and sliced
1 cup of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats
2 tablespoons old fashioned peanut butter

3 tablespoons of honey (sub maple syrup for vegan recipe)
2 tablespoons coconut oil
about 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1-2 tablespoons of cacao nibs (optional but I don't make much without chocolate involved)

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Put 1 tbs of coconut oil in a round glass casserole dish in the oven as it preheats for about 1 minute.
Remove (this should soften the coconut oil) and spread the oil around to grease the dish.
In a bowl mix together apple slices, oats, peanut butter, honey, 1 tbs coconut oil, cinnamon, and cacao nibs. Mix really well and plop into the casserole dish.
Cover with a lid or foil and bake for about 15-20 minutes. Remove, stir, and return to baking with the lid off for about 10-15 more minutes or until the oats are cooked through and slightly browned on top.
While this gluten free dairy free baked treat can be eaten as a snack, we also ate some later for our dessert...and I bet you could even justify eating it for an indulgent breakfast :) Yay, welcome to fall food!

Poison oak changing colors

Speaking of Fall...Brian and I went hiking this weekend in the San Mateo Canyon Wilderness (just 1 1/2 hours north of San Diego) and we got to see our first signs of fall! Our hike took us through green canopies of oak trees, ferns, trickling creeks, a dwindling waterfall, and .... poison oak mania!!!

poison oa EVERYWHERE - even unavoidably closing in on the trail

I'm sure we're gonna be itchin' like crazy in the next few days, but the poison oak that lined the trail was beautiful - displaying an array of fall colors from green to yellow to orange to maroon. I would have maybe preferred to see fall foliage in the form of something less poisonous, but hey, it's southern California - if we get to be spoiled by beautiful beaches and moderate temperatures year round, we can't be picky about our foliage viewing.

mountains and valleys at the junction of OC, SD, and Riverside

The hike and the drive home were absolutely gorgeous - I had no clue that such greenery, solitude (we passed 1 other couple on our whole hike and camping trip on a weekend!), and majestic mountain scenery were all tucked in between the 5 and 15 freeways just north of San Diego County! I'm excited we have a new local spot to backpack into and explore for quick weekend getaways.

loved the fall colors of these flowers

I rubbed that whitish leaf on my skin and it alleviated my itching - they say wherever there is something poisonous in nature there is a healing counter plant nearby

Apple Raisin Buckwheat Cereal

And more on the apple and grains front...for our backpacking dinner on Saturday night we had a warming meal of apple raisin buckwheat cereal. A nice and simple, yet filling backpacking recipe, and a great way to enjoy the local organic apples that I found on sale at Whole Foods on Friday after taking a gluten free cooking class :)

buckwheat is an easy backpacking/camping recipe

Buckwheat is a highly nutritious gluten free grain (actually it's a seed but is much like a grain). It is a heart healthy antioxidant, packed with magnesium, complete protein, and fiber. Tastes awful plain, but jazzed up with some fruit and honey, its a deliciously comforting meal. And, it makes a great backpacking food, being lightweight, small, and requiring minimal gas (just bring to a boil and simmer a few minutes covered and then let sit for a few minutes until cooked through). It was a pleasant change from the usual trail mix and energy bars.