My healthy version of Easy Oatmeal Muffins

Mr. B loves oatmeal! He'd eat it three or four times a day, if he could. He has at least two bowls for breakfast (along with whole wheat toast and orange juice). Despite being a fussy eater, he's a healthy eater.

However, he likes flavored oatmeal - in little packets. Luckily our local Kroger has it's own brand, which is about half the price of name-brand packets. Now, Mr. B loves oatmeal, but he only likes particular flavors of oatmeal! He simply will not eat the packets of strawberry oatmeal. So every few weeks I gather up my unused packets of strawberry oatmeal and make muffins. Here's my recipe:

Healthy Oatmeal Muffins

HEALTHY OATMEAL MUFFINS

3 packets flavored oatmeal plus enough regular (old-fashioned or quick) oatmeal to make one cup.
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar (I used half sugar, half Splenda)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbs canola oil
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven at 425.
Pour oatmeal and milk into a bowl and let sit for 10-15 mins.Then add applesauce, canola oil and egg. Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix spices, flour, salt, baking soda and sugar. Mix dry mixture into wet mixture. Add raisins. Pour 1/4 cup into each muffin pan with muffin liners. Bake for 12 minutes or until top bounces back at your touch. Makes 15 muffins.


Notes:
The original recipe called for 1/2 tsp salt, but I cut that down to 1/4 tsp because I'm pretty sure those flavored packets have salt in them, plus I'm trying to cut back on my sodium intake and every little bit helps. The original recipe also called for 1/4 cup canola oil, but I substituted the 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce plus 1 tbsp canola oil in an effort to cut down the fat content. In an effort to cut down on the sugar, I replaced half the white sugar with Splenda for baking.

Helpful Hints
Do you have raisins that have been around for awhile and are dried out like little BB's? Just pop them into a bowl, add just enough water to cover the bottom of the bowl, cover in Saran Wrap, and pop them in the microwave for 1 minute. Drain off the water (you could add it to a recipe in place of another liquid), and your raisins are as plump as they can be. If you need to use them immediately in a recipe, run cold water over them for a few seconds to cool them off. Still plump! Still tasty!

If you ever have a pan of plain oatmeal left over after breakfast, make muffins! There's no reason not to use cooked oatmeal in muffin recipes. Just cut back on your liquid (in this case, milk) at first, and come back later and add in more milk to get the right consistency. Don't throw oatmeal away - make muffins!