Dairy Free Oatmeal Bars

My kids LOVE to eat cold cereal.  But cold cereal is so expensive, laden with sugar and preservatives and it needs milk.  Milk which we just stopped drinking.  They of course HATE to eat any kind of hot oatmeal since it has the consistency of (as they put it) boogers.  It must truly have that consistency since the majority of the boys boast that they do indeed eat boogers.  If they prefer their own boogers to my oatmeal then I had better get cracking on a better solution to breakfast! 

I had an oatmeal bar recipe for baked bars.  They enjoyed it but I have since tweaked it to be not only delicious, but full of vegetables and dairy free!  Can you believe they don't even notice that there is 1/2 a cup of carrot/sweet potato/cauliflour/zucchini/apple in it?  Haha - they devour it too!!!

First you need to get out your ingredients (this is the point that the boys argue over who is breakfast helper!)

You will need:

- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 3 cups of quick cooking oats
- 1/4 cup of oat bran (optional)
- 1/2 cup spelt flour or whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup pureed vegetables (carrot/sw potato/zucchini/cauliflour) or applesauce
- 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup of sweetener (sugar, honey, etc...)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup carob chips (or chocolate chips or raisins)
- 1 tsp of pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup of organic unsweetened soya milk (or regular milk if you can have that!)

Directions:

- Cream the sugar with the pureed vegetables and vanilla
- Add lightly beaten eggs, cinnamon, salt and baking powder and mix
- add flour, oat bran and oats and blend
- add your soya milk and mix until all ingredients are combined
- add your carob chips and lightly mix until they are well dispersed throughout your batter

Pour mixture into a greased 9x11 baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.  Cool and cut into squares!

My kids devour these so often I will make a double batch so I don't have to bake every morning.  If you want to add more fiber, you can subsitute 1/4 of the vegetables for pureed white beans.  The taste does not change and it adds an extra punch of nutrition.  These hold up very well for breakfast on the go for my husband.  My kids also like them as a soft granola bar.  Store leftovers in the fridge, if you have any left!