baked peanut butter oatmeal.

travis and i have had several really great weekends lately. we've spent time getting the apartment in order after making several trips to the storage building. travis's business bought us a desk for the office, and we brought a bed for the guest room from storage. in the midst of all my cleaning, organizing, and decorating, i got the sudden urge to bake something.

i had seen a recipe for baked oatmeal. it's supposed to be a breakfast food, but it sounded absolutely delicious. i found it on tidy mom and realized i had all of the ingredients in our pantry already. it was super easy to whip up and made the house smell yummy.



to make this yummy breakfast or evening snack, you'll need the following:

• 1 1/2 cups of cooking oats
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar {i used splenda}
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup skippy peanut butter

preheat the oven to 350 degrees. grease a 9x13 pan {i wanted to use a pan that had more of a harvest appeal than just a clear 9x13, so i improvised}. mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and stir well. spread into pan and bake 20-25 minutes {my oven took exactly 20 minutes}, or until edges are golden brown.

tidy mom calls for you to serve with warm milk poured over the top. that's how i ate mine, but travis ate his plain. it was a little too peanut buttery for him, so next time, i might scale back a little. i thought it was yummy.

after trying a couple of bites, travis decided that it tastes a lot like the clif bars he likes to eat when he's climbing or working out.

the recipe doesn't call for it, but i added raisins to our before putting it in the oven. i didn't measure them, i just sprinkled enough to cover the top of the mixture in my bowl and folded them in.

this wasn't as sweet as i thought it would be {which makes it a really good breakfast}. if i decided to make it for a snack again, i think i might cheat and add a little more sugar.

i really don't know what has gotten into me lately. i seem to be nesting ... or turning into a housewife. i think i could handle that if it meant i never had to work again ... and could go play and shop whenever i wanted!

i can dream can't i?

happy halloween!

random update.

since it has been a while that i posted anything of significance on our personal blog, i thought i'd give you a glimpse into what's on my mind today.

01. i'm at the apartment today while travis helps his dad on the roof at his parents' house.

02. i love being back in the broken arrow/tulsa area

03. we've lived in our apartment for about two months, and aside from our new furniture {did i ever mention we got new furniture??} we have done very little to our apartment. when we moved out of tulsa last time, travis gave away a lot of our furniture. it went to his sister who was just starting off on her own. i'm glad we were able to help her, but it left us with very little.

04. since i'm pretty sure i've failed to mention the new furniture before, here are a few {horrible} pictures, but you get the idea.

05. next on our list? a new television since amanda got that, too. =)

06. i'm trying to figure out where i am going to work for the next little bit to bring in money, but still be able to work on notably noted. on thursday i contacted my old regional manager about a store manager position that is available in edmond, and then i also applied for a marketing coordinator position in okc. i'm not finding a lot around tulsa, but am seeing opportunities in okc/edmond. i have also been looking in san francisco.

07. i'm having a terrible time making up my mind about where i would like to go. travis and i have talked about the fact that whatever i do doesn't have to be long term -- a year to two years at most. we both are okay with having a long-term relationship for a little bit, but then i wonder if we're being realistic about that or not.

08. connor is running around her like a crazy man today. he keeps trying to get outside because he met a 3.5 lb yorkie named teddy yesterday. teddy isn't even outside, but i think connor can still smell him or something. he is about to drive me nuts.

09. i had a dream about having two children last night. it was weird. i don't usually think about having kids, and even after the dream, i don't feel a strong desire for them, but i remember how much i loved the two little boys {who were named connor and chase} in my dream.

10. i really, really, really want to decorate the apartment, but i've limited our funds right now by not having a second job to notably noted.

11. i am SO ready for fall. so ready! i posted about it on notably noted's blog a few days ago, but i can't get it out of my mind. haha! kate's comment on that post sums up my feelings perfectly! "...I can't wait for new cashmere sweaters, soft turtlenecks, leather boots, and wool trousers." I'm also looking forward to the crisp fall air {after 100+ degree temperatures since July, I could definitely go for crispness that doesn't refer to the baked grass and leaves}, and all of the yummy fragrances that come with the fall season. oh! and fall television programming. very excited about this upcoming season.

12. i'm ready for us to have a desk in the office so i can get everything back in order again.

13. i'm getting tired of making this list while connor tries to share my lap with the latop ... when he's not running to the door and the window acting like a crazy man!

... so that's what's been going on in our world. hopefully travis won't be too burned when he gets home from working on the roof all weekend. update us on you and your families! for now, i'm going to try to calm down my little man and enjoy an episode of leave it to beaver.