Sunday Morning Oatmeal Muffins

I'm back to work after a whirlwind of a summer and I'm extremely happy about it.  I work with incredible people, I have great students and I adore my job. I'm very good at finding balance during the school year and manage my time well for the most part.  This summer was a difficult one for me because I felt as though I wasn't able to find any balance. Don't get me wrong, I had some wildly fun evenings with some of my best friends, romantic dinners with my husband and celebrated some very special people, but I felt completely disconnect to my life at 'home'. A life that we have worked so hard to create over the last 5 years. I missed normalcy this summer.

This weekend has been pure awesomeness (that's a word, right?!).  We sat for hours in our PJ's drinking coffee and chatting about our wish list of things we'd like to accomplish in our new home, completed tasks on our to-do lists, soaked in the tub, dressed up and went out for dinner, walked the dog, relaxed, and it isn't even over yet.  Everything we've done this weekend has been on our terms. It feels as though we've finally restored the balance. This morning I was even able to bake oatmeal muffins for breakfast.  A perfect compliment to a giant mug (or 2...or 3...) of yummy coffee.

Yield: 1 dozen

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil (or apple sauce - I didn't have any on hand - dammit!)

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons (1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon) baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

 

Method

Let the oats soak in the milk for 15 minutes. Add egg, oil, brown sugar and chocolate chips and mix with a wooden spoon. Slowly add flour, baking powder and salt. Spoon into a greased muffin tin and fill 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.