{Recipe} Oatmeal Bake

Over the summer, a couple people have asked us for our Oatmeal Bake Recipe. While we keep our bread recipes under wraps, the Oatmeal Bake is fair game. From Res campers to staff, it's a loved meal around here - love to eat or love to...well, pass up. One way to start a lively breakfast discussion is debate whether OB really is the best breakfast or not. Anyway, eat it plain, top it with applesauce, vanilla or plain yogurt or maybe a combination of all three. Any way you top it, it's guarenteed to bring back those camp vibes. 

We assumed you probably won't want to manage 3 gallons of oatmeal and 48 eggs, so we've cut down our recipe from twelve oatmeal bake casseroles to one. Depending on age and size of the cabin, a little more than one casserole can feed about eight hungry Res campers and their two counselors. We would venture a guess of two casseroles for a hearty breaksfast for 10 of our Activity Staff - but those are just guesses!

The things you'll need are pretty basic: two bowls, a mixer, measuring cups/spoons, casserole dish (9x11?), cooking spray. As for ingredients:

4 cups oatmeal
1 cups brown sugar
1/3 T salt
1 & 1/3 t baking powder

4 eggs
1 1/2 cup oil
2 cups milk
3.5 T vanilla

1. Mix your dry ingredients in mixer, add wet and mix well; 4-5 minutes on 2nd speed.
2. Spray casserole dish & pour in mixture.
3. Bake 300F for about 45 minutes, rotating dish half way through.
4. Cool oatmeal bake before serving.

As far as toppings go - we've seen a lot. Chocolate chips, plain yogurt, vanilla yogurt, brown sugar, honey, apple slices or apple sauce. We could even imagine a good strawberry or blueberry topping... any way you have it, Oatmeal Bake is the best!

Are You Ready?

Our Assistant Counselors got to camp this afternoon and Intro and Advance campers will arrive one week from today! We're so excited to finally welcome campers to HoneyRock for the summer.

Preparing for camp can be a stressful time for parents and campers - sometimes what should be a time of excitement is overshadowed by a cloud by anxiety. However, it doesn't have to be that way! Here are 5 simple things parents can do to better prepare their children for camp and lower the stress level of the transition.

 1. Set some goals and expectations:

Talk to your child about camp and what it's all about. Watch the videos on the website.  Talk to other families who have been to HoneyRock before. While you can't prepare your children for everything, you can give them some idea of what to expect. It will also give you a good opportunity to set some goals for camp.

Some sample goals:

• I want to do Solid Rock Club.
• I want to get an Intermediate in Sailing.
• I want to become friends with 3 new people - kids not from my school or church.

2. Practice being away from home:

We highly recommend this for new campers who are going away to camp for the first time. Have your child do an overnight at Grandma and Grandpa's house or another close friend's house without you. This will give them some experience in being away from home before they head off to camp.

3. Begin praying about camp:

Set aside some time at meals or before bed to pray about camp. Pray for your child's cabin mates, their counselors, the bus ride up to camp, the Bible studies they will participate in, the activities they will do, and for safety while they are at camp.

4. Don't make promises you can't or don't intend to keep.

As parents we often make little promises to our children in order to alleviate their fears before they leave for camp. It can be devastating to a camper if those promises aren't met. Some examples:

• Don't promise you'll be at Family Day if you aren't planning on it.
• Don't tell your child they have $100 in their Beehive account.
• Don't promise they will know everyone in their cabin.
• Don't tell you child that you come and pick them up if they don't like camp.
• Don't tell them it won't rain and that there are no bugs.

5. Read through the Information Packet.

The Information Packet contains packing lists, transportation information, as well as forms to have ready before you arrive for bus check-in. Download the PDF Information Packet for your child's session. 

PirateFest!

Session two of res camp is in full swing and today the campers were greeted by a fearsome band of pirates and Service Team members. Skits went on, candy was distributed, and a general feeling of excitement was established for the rest of the twelve-day session. Yo ho, me hearties, yo ho! 

And yes, that is a man dressed as a parrot.