Baked Apple Oatmeal

More oatmeal! I can't eat the same thing every day for too many days in a row. That's why I mix up my oatmeal. Last night we used a fourth of a granny smith apple for our salad (blue cheese + almonds + spinach + apples + balsamic = yesssss), and I didn't want the rest of our apple to get all brown and depressing. That's where the oatmeal came in.

This only serves one person, but you can double, triple, quadruple it depending on your number of hungry mouths. It's also great to make the night before, so you can just toss it in your cooked oatmeal in the morning. 

Ingredients

1 apple (whatever kind you want)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the apple into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes. You could peel 'em first. I didn't.
2. Put the apples in a small oven-safe dish and mix in the cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar.
3. Dot the top of the apples with butter.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until apples are tender, stirring a couple times to keep the liquids distributed.
5. In the morning, make your oatmeal and mix in the apples (and whatever juices are left).

I just dumped my uncooked oatmeal directly into the apple dish, poured some hot water over it, and waited a few minutes.

I also topped mine with some candied almonds. See them there? They make for a nice crunchy surprise.

How do you candy almonds? Just throw a couple of tablespoons of sugar in a pan on medium and watch closely for it to melt. Then toss in about a 1/4 cup of almonds, or walnuts, or whatever else you wanted coated in sugary goodness, and mix until they are crunchy. Don't let them burn! Then find someone else to wash the concrete mess at the bottom of your pan.