Prepper Cook-off Challenge Entry: Oats and Appples

I'm not a prepper, irl, but this contest sounded so fun I had to try it.

I'm going for bonus points for staying in character and cooking with off-the-grid methods. Here it goes...

I stumble into the abandoned shack. Looks to be stripped bare, but on the bottom shelf of the corner cabinet I find just a small handful of oats.

There's got to be something else in this dump. I check the basement, baseball bat in hand, ready for action.

No signs of life, thankfully. But in the corner I find an apple, remarkably well preserved.

I had eaten the last of my walnuts on the day's journey. I noticed a tree out back. I don't want to attract attention looking outside. Maybe there's some hidden away here.

Using my bat, I break apart the wallboard. Jackpot. I raid the squirrel stash of the few husks left with any meat in them. This ingredient seems like a bonus.

I could eat them separately, but that would be too dry. I don't trust the water around here. Making a meal of them would raise my spirits.

First, I toast the walnuts over a fire, to burn away any squirrel fir.

Using my spoon, I hollow out the apple from the bottom.


I add the oatmeal, the walnuts, and a pinch or two of cardamom that I miraculously scrape from the bottom of my sack. (I hope that's cardamom.)

I place the toasted nuts, the oats and the cardamom in the hollowed out apple. A few drops of maple syrup from my precious jar sink quickly into the mixture.

I place the stuffed apple over the fire. After about ten minutes the outside starts to char and the oatmeal begins to brown.

I take it off and let it cool a little before cutting into it.

Oh, is this what I needed!

It's smokey, sweet, savory. The oats on top are crunchy and smokey, while those next to the apple have softened, sweetened slightly by the maple syrup.

The cardamom and the walnuts add a savoriness to balance the sweet.

I'm ready for a nap.

If you want to enter the Prepper Cook-Off, check out this post.