Toasting Special Olympics, My Daughter, and Oatmeal

This is my daughter:

Isn't she pretty?

This is the building she is jumping off, excuse me, rappelling off this weekend. Man O swears there is a difference between jumping and rappelling. Did I mention this building is 35 stories?

It's the tall one. Sigh.

This is the reason why: Special Olympics fund-raiser.  One of ManO's family friends has been a participant in Special Olympics since 1968. Marty Sheets is one of the most famous athletes of the games and is featured in a painting with Eunice Shriver, founder, in the National Portrait Gallery in DC. You can read about him here.  

We had to get up at the crack of dawn to get downtown to see our daughter go down in the second wave of participants. Man O wanted to know originally if we could pay her NOT to jump, I mean rappell, but he has mustered his daddy courage and we are going to go watch.

We needed comfort food for breakfast. Fortunately, October starts oatmeal season at our house.

You can see my ghostly image in the glass.

I've been looking at a way to make my gluten-free oats special. Yep, oats have gluten unless they are grown in special fields. I found a simple trick. So simple I was totally flabbergasted.

NO one told me about toasted oatmeal. I had to stumble on it on Pinterest. What kind of friends do I have???? Why toast oatmeal, you ask?  It gives the oats a rich nutty flavor that really adds something to a bowl at breakfast, cookies or granola.

Toasted Oatmeal

Set oven to 350 degrees.

Spread oats on an ungreased cookie sheet in a thin layer and place in preheated oven.

Toast a minimum of 10 minutes or until slightly golden brown.

Your oats should look like this picture.

 
 How simple is that? One little step that makes all the difference.

Just like one little step off a tall building makes a big difference in the money our local Special Olympics has for events.

So, do you have an easy secret that makes one of your recipes so much better? Do you have any experience with Special Olympics or doing something crazy for charitable purposes?

PS: I'll check in and let you know how it goes!