BLIZZARD

Chances are, if you live anywhere between Kansas and Maine, you're experiencing a blizzard, just as we are here in Southeast Wisconsin. It all started yesterday evening, with winds gusting at around 45 mph. When I woke up this morning, there was about a foot of snow dumped all over the place, and the streets of Milwaukee looked like a ghost town. The snow, itself, isn't a huge deal, but the drifts are outrageous - up to 8-foot drifts are being reported! Call it Snowmaggedon, the Snowpocalypse or a Snownami - any way you slice it, it's bad out there, and I can safely say I'll be tucked away inside the rest of the day.

It's a rare occasion when a grown-up snow day happens, but the lion's share of the city is completely shut down, and the Interstate between Milwaukee to Chicago has been deemed impassible. On top of everything, they've declared a "Civil Danger Warning," which I had never heard of before., but basically means "don't try to drive today, or you might not be helped if you're stuck." No one's going anywhere today.

So, how did I start off this morning? By making baked oatmeal! I eat baked oatmeal at Alterra every weekend, and wanted to recreate it at home. I planned ahead yesterday, and picked up necessary ingredients at the store except.... you know.... THE OATS. How could I forget the main ingredient??? Major facepalm, right there. I had my heart set on that oatmeal! I may or may have not thrown a tantrum, to which Eric said he'd bundle up and head to the corner market to pick up some oats. Do I have a keeper here or WHAT? Of course, I sent along the camera with him.

I feel terrible for the emergency vehicles trying to make their way through this storm. I feel even more terrible for the people who need these emergency vehicles.

Ghost town.

This guy gets a gold medal if he actually gets anywhere on that bike today.

Winner of the best boyfriend in the world award!

So, as you can tell, it's not too pretty out there.

After Eric came home with the oats (and got a HUGE hug from me), it was time to make the goods. They aren't as perfect as Alterra's baked oatmeal, but they are healthified a bit, and they're a good substitution when the weather is too bad to make the trek. I don't have step-by-step photos for you today, because my camera battery was seriously low and needed to be charged. But here is the recipe:

Apple-Cranberry Baked Oatmeal

(adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod)

Ingredients:

2 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze (milk works perfect, too!)
1/2 cup canola oil (you can sub in applesauce, but I didn't have any on hand)
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 egg, 1 egg white
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and diced

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup chopped almonds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together Almond Breeze, oil, butter, egg and egg white, and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir until combined. Gently stir in diced apples, cranberries and almonds. Pour oatmeal mixture into non-stick sprayed pan.

Bake for 30 minutes or until oatmeal is golden brown and set. Remove from oven and serve warm. Pour milk over oatmeal and sprinkle on more brown sugar, cranberries or almonds, if desired.

Enjoy!

This recipe is supposed to have 4-6 servings, but let's just say this morning it only served two... And Eric may have eaten his last helping directly from the baking pan at the end....


The sun is trying its hardest to come out right now, but the winds are still howling! So what's on the agenda for this cooped-up snow day? An hourlong spin on the bike trainer, some abs work, a little cleaning and some baking over a super special treat I've been dreaming of for the past week (don't worry, you'll hear about it later!)


Have you ever had a grown-up snow day? What do you do when you're stuck indoors all day?