Oats-sorta oats + smoothies!

If I had to ask myself what my favourite breakfast was I couldn't answer it with just one... well I could but I don't think this one counts- it's a million-gazillion times better than any other breakfast ;)

My favourite breakfasts however, is a tie between smoothies and oats, which is exactly what I've been enjoying lately!
Kicking things off with CHOCOLATE!

I made some simple chocolate oats (oats+rice milk+ raw cacao powder+ cocoa nibs+ dash of cinnamon+sprinkle of chia seeds) then I remembered this ice-cream- where I added greek yoghurt and it tasted just.like.cheesecake!
So I wanted to make some chocolate cheesecake oats :)

blob, blob, blob

Stir, stir, stir
and bubble away until thickened.

Plopped in a mug and covered in almond butter... mmm

Never had cheesecake (oats) for breakfast. T'was good :)
Especially with a nudie :)

Then I made...
A tropical dough boy smoothie- inspired by Kath from Kath Eats Real Food!
I made some overnight oats the night before:

Then in the morning got out the rest of the stuff:

Overnight oats, 1 frozen banana, 1 handful of frozen mango, (didn't end up using the greek yoghurt- too much of a good thing, right? Nah!) 1 tablespoon almond butter and about 1 cup of rice milk (depending on desired thickness)
All placed in a blender and whazzed!

Deeee-lishhh!
All natural sweetners, vegan, cake-y(?) yum!

 Lastly was this mornings breakfast of oats in the form of granola and smoothie in the form of PB+J
Inspired by this recipe.
I made the granola by preheating oven to 180 degrees and melting some coconut butter with rice milk in the microwave for about 25 seconds:

Bit hard to see, but there was about 1 tablespoon coconut butter and 1/4 cup rice milk.
Then, with your hands you rub it in to some oats and dried fruit and nuts (as much as you want)

Place on baking tray:

Bake for around 15 mins:

and cool while you make the smoothie.
The smoothie was just 1 banana + chia seeds + 2 dollops greek yoghurt + 3/4 cup frozen blueberries+ 1 1/2 tablespoons almond butter+ 1/2 cup rice milk, whazzed:

Pour into mug (mugs are cool)

Top with coconut granola and any leftover banana:

Enjoy!

I sure did (my favourite part was the colour.. but then I ate some... my favourite part is the taste :)

I hope everyone has a fantabulous weekend, enjoys the extra time and maybe make a delicious breakfast! :D

An Ode to Oatmeal!

Hidy-ho there friendly friends and welcome to a post I have decided to dedicate entirely to a long-time love of mine.

You've heard about my love affairs before... so this is nothing new, but of recently the oatmeal has just been stuck in my mind, day-in-day-out. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't think. Well, just kidding- I can definitely eat and yeah, I'm sleeping too and in all honesty, my big mugs of oatmeal a probably helping the ol' noggin to get a-thinkin anyway!!

But alas, I am obsessed and one might think; 'But don't you get bored of eating the same thing numerous times a week??'

My answer to that- are you caraaazzzyyy?? The amount of different add-ins, flavours and textures you can manipulate your bowl of warm/ hot/ creamy/ sweet/ savoury/ rich/ decadent/ tangy/ anything else you can think of- leaves little room for boredom!

And so, I have taken it upon myself to share with you some of the recent favourites I've been enjoying and hpefully inspire your next bowl/ mug/ cup/ saucepan (we've all done it :P) full of oats!!

Let's go!

Pictured above is one of my all-time down-right, no-questions-asked favourite oat combos. My cherry cheesecake oats!
I enjoyed these after a long run because cherries are known to help with recovery for runners... and mainly because they taste utterly amazing!!

Into the saucepan goes 3/4 cup rolled oats, 1 sliced banana, small handful frozen/ fresh cherries (fresh is mighty expensive here in Aus) 3/4 cup almond milk, 1/4 cup water- bubble away on medium, stirring occasionally until thickened to your liking- stir through a big spoon or two of greek yoghurt (or any yoghurt) and nom!

Of course, here is the evidence for you of my layering skills of nut butter- ensuring the perfect bite every single time! Myavers Food mixed nut and seed butter on the bottom and top and crunchy PB (shown above) in the middle- melty, warm, gooey- DELICIOUS!

Cherry Cheesecake Oats:

One of my other long-time favourites is my beloved vanilla protein banana oats:

The newest/ latest addition to these bad boys being zucchini! Zoats are actually so, so good and give my regular oatmeal mugs a different texture, whilst not even being tasted at all- instead absorbing all the yummy flavours I've added to the oats- it also adds more volume for a lot less- meaning I can eat more oats- WIN WIN!!

This bad boy was made by grating up 1/2 cup zucchini, into a saucepan with 1/2 heaped cup rolled oats, 3/4 sliced banana (rest for topping), 1 scoop vegan vanilla protein powder, 3/4 cup almond milk and 1/4 cup water- stirring every now and then until thickened and liquid absorbed- again topped and spread throughout with nut butter for that ultimate enjoyment!

Adding fresh bananas to the top of oats again just adds another different element and texture, keeps things interesting and come on, who doesn't love a big spoonful of fresh, sweet, creamy banana with some sweet, warm oats and some decadent nut butter- a winning combination!!

Diggin' in:

Happy, happy days!

Honestly- that zucchini though- you probably think I'm zucchini mad, what with putting handfuls of frozen zucchini in my smoothies and 'froyo' too, but it honestly goes by untraceable and if it means I can eat more and get in extra nutrients, vitamins, minerals and a serve of veggies at breakfast whilst thinking I'm eating a decadent dessert- so be it!

The obligatory spoon shots (how I reckon oatmeal looks it's most appealing)

Finally, yet another delicious favourite of mine:

The apple pie cheesecake oats!!

Again, so simple, so delicious, filled with so much goodness and tastes like your eating a truly scrumptious dessert for breakfast- so much happiness in one mug!

To make simply place 3/4-1 cup rolled oats in a saucepan with 3/4 chopped small apple (I just eat the rest whilst I'm cooking the oats), 1 small sliced banana, 3/4 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional- ginger, nutmeg, or any other warming spices you would usually add to an apple pie)- bubble away on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until apple has softened slightly and liquid is absorbed- stir through some greek yoghurt (to taste really- I probably put in 2 spoons), et voila!!

A big mug filled with warm, gooey, sweet, apple-y goodness!!

Generous amounts of nut butter a must.

And there you have it folks!

Just a few of the many ways I like to enjoy oats on the regular! Of course, that's only three of them- I haven't even mentioned my deep, resounding love of thick, chocolate-y protein oats that taste like a warm, gooey, rich, fudge brownie, or my super-purple blueberry oats, not to mention overnight oats, or a simple mug of plain oats with some chopped dates that I have for an afternoon snack sometimes!!

Oats are endless and you should definitely not write them off because you think they are boring or flavourless- EXPERIMENT! Try out new combos and try to recreate your favourite desserts with them- I've seen carrot cake oats, red velvet oats, tiramisu oats, pina colada oats, caramel oats, cookies and cream oats- there are unlimited possibilities!

So, take a leaf from my book and go to town on your oats this week- you just might create the ultimate flavour combination that the world has to know about!!

Your turn:
Do you like oatmeal?
Favourite way to eat it? Cold, hot, in a mug, bowl, saucepan etc.
Favourite flavour combo for your oats??

I hope you all have a super Friday, do something you love, smile lots, laugh and love even more and as always; EAT SOMETHING DELICIOUS!! Bye for now friendly friends!! :D

The never-ending oat combos!

Hi friends!
Here's a question for you:
Firstly, I'm going to make a generalisation (*gasp*) about the majority of my readers being either blog writers themselves, healthy living blog writers, avid blog readers and probably avid healthy living blog readers. If not- you have surprised me- well done ;)

I'm also going to make the generalisation that the majority of you have or even regularly cook oats and share my love for them (if not, that's cool, I'm sure there's another healthy living blogger stereotype you fit :)

Anywho, my question!
Before you guys found your love of creating delicious bowls of oats with all kinds of add-ins and flavours, did you ever think oatmeal was just plain boring old sachets of mush that you had to either cover in sugar or honey? I know I did.

I had no idea about rolled oats and steel cut oats and oat bran and cooking them on a stove tops and adding berries/ bananas/ apples/ pumpkin/ chocolate/ vanilla etc. I would simply pour in a measly serving size sachet (yes! Alliteration :)) add some milk, cook it in the microwave (more often than not causing a messy microwave explosion) and top with honey.

Then I began reading blogs.
The world changed forever!
At first it was adding a sliced banana to the oats after cooking.
Then it was mashing a banana in a bowl and microwaving it after I microwaved the oats and then mixing them together.
Then microwaving together.
Then- magic! Stove top oats and all the never-ending possibilities!

Some early oat bowls:

Yep.

I was scrolling through my pictures from the previous week and was astounded at the vast array of flavours in my oats I enjoy over a week- how the times have changed!

First of all I made some overnight pumpkin oats in an almost-empty-jar of mixed nut butter- which was awesome! (with a side of berry fro-yo - forzen berries + greek yoghurt, whazzed)

Into the jar went 1/2 cup rolled oats + 1/2 cup steamed, mashed and cooled pumpkin + 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon + dash of nut meg + sprinkle of chia seeds + 1 cup almond milk, all stirred up together and left in the fridge overnight:

Up next I was feeling something warmer, comforting and CHOCOLATE!

Enter chocolate protein steel cut oats!

Into a saucepan went 1/2-3/4 cup steel cut oats + 1 scoop choc protein powder (I use this one) + a few big dashes of cinnamon + 1 sliced banana + 1 cup almond milk + 1 cup water- heated on medium heat for 20 mins and let to sit for another 10 mins to cool.

With some cashew butter hidden on the bottom, half the oats poured in, a little more PB in the middle, rest of the oats and topped with a tad more peanut butter- so good!

Then I was feeling something a little fresher, a little fruity, a little tangy!

Some mixed berry cheesecake oats!

This was 1 cup rolled oats + 1 sliced banana + 1 handful mixed frozen berries + 1 cup almond milk + 1/2 cup water, heated on medium heat for around 10 mins until all the liquid was absorbed and then let sit to cool for another 10 mins before stirring in a couple of scoops of greek yoghurt.

Into a bowl (you know there was some extra nut butter hidden throughout it) and topped with some mixed nut butter

That was just from one week of breakfasts!

I love experimenting with my oats and the possibilities really are never-ending (I haven't quite become brave enough to try savoury oats, or to add egg whites to my oats- apparently it makes the texture better) and I can't wait to experiment further and enjoy some awesome bowls (or mugs, or cups) of oats!

Your turn:
Did you ever have quick oat sachets?
What did your first bowls of oats look like? Mine were not photo-worthy that's for sure!

Current favourite flavour combo in your oats?

That's it from me today folks! Anyone else got a sudden hankering for oats? Just me? Ahh well there's a cure for that one! ;) Have a fabulous day and I'll be back tomorrow! Bye friends! :D