Berry Creamy Oats

Despite it being April, the NW is definitely still under the guise of “Maybe we’ll consider spring after we rain on on you a bit more. You don’t need sunshine.” It sucks. A lot. After 26 years in this part of the country, I’m getting grumpy thanks to the grey. It’s unfortunate. I guess it makes those sunny days a little bit better brighter. Look at me trying to be positive.

I guess the benefit to it still being chilly is I crave the comfort of a hot bowl of oats in the AM. Since I’m into this whole “cook it on the stove” thing, I’ve added this new volumizing trick from Chocolate Covered Katie to increase the [cooked] portion size of the oats without actually increasing the [dry] portion size of the oats. I’m visual when I eat, which is entirely different than how the rest of me is wired. Tied in with the ‘clean plate club,’ you can see where the problem lies. I need something to fill me up in the morning, and it needs to look like a lot–otherwise I’ll be hungry again within hours. This totally works [so long as I toss in the egg at the end to fluff it up with protein], and it doesn’t take as long as normal oats do since the oats have already sucked up the water they need to get plump.

I’ve been also chugging smoothies most mornings of the almond milk + banana variety that include a heaping spoon of Chocolate Green SuperFood. I like it. Amazon carries it for cheap. I think I might try it in pill form next, though. I don’t always want a smoothie every morning. 30 days of it is becoming overkill. Popping a pill? Easy peasy.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 1/3 cup frozen berries
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds [or flax!]
• 1/2 banana, sliced

Preparation

1. This is easiest in a large liquid measuring cup, but a big bowl works, too.
2. The night before, mix the oats and water in the cup/bowl and place in the fridge.
3. In the morning, the oats will have soaked up a ton of water and gotten huge. Yay for fat oats.
4. Pour the contents into a saucepan on medium high to heat them up and reduce any remaining liquid.
5. Add berries, banana, and chia seeds [flax] and mix well.
6. Once the desired consistency is achieved, toss in the egg and mix well.
7. Cook for 2 more minutes.
8. Eat.