Chocolate Bread

I am just going to post a link to this recipe because I didn't change anything at all.  That is very odd for me as I can't seem to follow a recipe exactly, but this time I did, so you can find it here at Bread in 5.  Not to worry though, as good as it is, I am already thinking up adaptations of my own that I can't wait to try.  And, of course, I will share them with you.  The bread is really very simple to make.  It just has some wait time in there that you have to plan for.  I think it makes a wonderful breakfast.  My husband and I had it on a lazy Sunday morning for breakfast with strawberries, but I think it would be great for a special occasion breakfast -Valentine's Day and Christmas both come to mind.  It would also be a great breakfast to have when there are guests in the house.

Pumpkin, Cranberry, and Apple Baked Oatmeal

I have really been struggling with dieting and cooking/baking.  Most of what I want, I just can't reasonably eat and try to loose weight.  So, when I tried this and it was absolutely wonderful, I was very happy.  You can find the recipe here at Emily Bites.  (By the way, if you are dieting, and especially if you are on Weight Watchers, I highly recommend Emily Bites.  She has a huge number of low calorie recipes and even includes points for those on Weight Watchers).  I did not change the ingredients, but I did change the procedure a bit.  I am NOT a morning person, so cooking breakfast is generally not on the day's agenda, so I mixed all the ingredients the night before - except the apples and pecans because I didn't want the apples to turn brown or the pecans to become soft.  I left it in the refrigerator over night in a covered glass bowl.  You could probably also go ahead and put it in the baking dish, but I didn't because I knew I wouldn't want to have to wait to bring the temperature up on the glass dish I was using in the morning before baking.  The next morning, I chopped and added the apple, poured it into the baking dish, topped it with the pecans, and baked it.  It took about 30 minutes to bake instead of 20 minutes due to starting out cold.  Not only did I love it, so did my husband and son who are not dieting.

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