Tag: almond milk

Elevated simplicity – Bite Sized Oatmeal “Cookies”

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Sometimes in the morning, my standard bowl of oatmeal just doesn’t seem creative enough.  When I first heard of the magical 2-ingredient cookies I knew that it would be a fabulous base to transform my morning bowl of oatmeal into something even more spectacular.

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The idea is simply mixing oatmeal and a banana together and baking them into “cookies”.  (Fair warning: these are not really cookies, so I try not to think of them like that – no cookie should lack it’s necessary butter and sugar, that’s my golden rule)  I don’t stop with the oatmeal and banana in this fun recipe, to make my little oatmeal bites I add in what I would to my usual bowl of oats!  For this example I added cinnamon and raspberry.  You could also add cocoa powder, chocolate chips, raisins (yuck), coconut, nuts, seeds – the combinations are endless!  The greatest part about this breakfast is that it feels like you’re eating a plate of cookies for breakfast, but you’re getting all of the amazing nutrients of a regular bowl of oatmeal!  I like to eat them accompanied with a glass of almond milk for added nutritional value to round out this cute, simple, and fun breakfast!

OATMEAL BREAKFAST COOKIES

The Ingredients:
1 banana
1/2 cup oats
Optional:
Desired mix-ins! (cinnamon berries, nuts, chocolate chips, coconut, nut butters, etc.)

The Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mush a banana into a bowl and mix in oats until thoroughly combined
3. Fold in any desired mix ins
4. Drop 6 circles of the “dough” onto a greased baking sheet
5. Bake for 14 minutes
6. Enjoy!

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A daybreak tradition – Oatmeal

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Did I mention that I have an oatmeal obsession?  Because if I haven’t then I’d like to make that abundantly clear right now: I LOVE OATMEAL!  Every morning I make myself a big bowl of it to start my day off right.  It took me a few months of trial and error to finally figure out exactly how I like my oatmeal.  Now that I have a great recipe that works, it’s difficult to stop myself from making it for EVERY meal!

My morning oatmeals all share the same base, though what I mix into it changes based on what I have available in my house at the time.

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I start with 1/2 cup of quick oats, 1/2 cup of vanilla almond milk, and 1/2 cup of water.  I throw those three things in a bowl, mix it up, and put it in the microwave for two minutes.  (Actually, I really put it in for exactly 2 minutes and 15 seconds.  I’m not sure why but at this point I’m obsessive about this timing)

While it’s cooking in the microwave I start preparing my mix-ins.  I cut any fruit that needs it and get together the right portion of anything else I might add in.

Once the oatmeal is done I let it sit for a minute to thicken up.  Then I mix in a packet of truvia and a bit of cinnamon.  You can substitute real sugar for the truvia, or any other sweetener you like.  Sometimes I sub in a tablespoon of vanilla protein powder.  As for the cinnamon, I rarely substitute anything in for it a;though occasionally I use a teaspoon of cocoa powder instead for a chocolatey flavor!

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Next come the mix-ins!  My favorite combination is a banana, raspberries, and almonds but some other options that I use from time to time are:
-coconut
-nectarines
-strawberries
-blueberries
-raisins
-pecans
-apples
-peanut/almond butter

You can mix and match anything that sounds good to you.  As long as you have the base of the oatmeal right it will be super delicious!

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