Aya’s Au Naturel Oatmeal

It seems like one of the first picks for a healthy yet satisfying breakfast is oatmeal, especially when you’re trying to get away from processed foods and refined flours and sugars. For the most part I think it’s good to keep grains on the down-low, everything in moderation as they say, and a bowl of oats is a great way to get in your grains without including the nasty ingredients you’ll find in store-bought breads and cereals… and you still get your sweet fix.

{ Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal with raisins }

What I LOVE about oatmeal is its versatility. It can be made with water or any kind of milk, limitless toppings and ingredients, easy and fast to make, cheap, convenient, and D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S. What I love about MY oatmeal, is that cooking it with milk instead water, and not adding more moisture at the end, makes it more like a bread or cake (VS that porridge consistency). YUM!!! If you don’t like oatmeal, I urge you to try liking it! Again and again! My kids fight me on oatmeal too, and the best way I’ve found that they’ll eat it is to prepare it in granola form. I’ll save that recipe for another day, but that was an example of how you can get yourself to like it. Try different toppings, using milk to cook it with or experimenting with the oatmeal texture itself.

{ Blue berry oatmeal, Strawberry and walnut oatmeal, banana-nut bread oatmeal }

Bananas, apples, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, granola, muffin crumbs – even carrots (with cinnamon and raisins for a faux carrot cake!) can dress up a boring bowl of oatmeal, throw in some nuts, seeds, dried berries and you get a sensation of flavors that keep oatmeal new and exciting every time…

…My husband and I even developed an embarrassing taste for bacon in our oatmeal. Not mixed really, just sticking up out of the top or on the side. Taking a bite of that salty goodness along with the sweet oatmeal is to die for.

I like to imagine oatmeal as my base, and build it up with fixings to satisfy my cravings for… cinnamon-rolls, apple fritters, carrot cake, pancakes… you know, all those “healthy” breakfasts.

The bestest BEST thing about this recipe is that it’s robust sweetness is pure natural goodness. I like to use 100% real and organic maple syrup and raw honey. Just a little bit goes a long way, and you don’t get the negative side effects of refined sugar.

What you’ll need… (1 serving)

• 1/2 Old Fashioned Oats (steel cut are great too!)
• 1 cup whole milk (or what you prefer)
• 1/2 tbsp real butter (optional)
• 1/2 tbsp Real Maple Syrup
• 1/2 tbsp Raw Honey
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp salt (I like pink himalayan)
• Your fav fixings

1. Prepare oatmeal as directed with box instructions (Bring milk to a boil, then turn onto medium-low and add oats).
2. Add in the syrup, honey, cinnamon, vanilla, butter. Allow to simmer until oats are soft but not mushy, and the milk has nearly fully absorbed into the oats.
3. Give it a taste. Add more sweets if you need it, you bad bad child you!
4. Put the oatmeal into an appetizing bowl. I know I can’t eat unless my bowl is pretty.
5. Add your fav fixings! This is the fun part!

This oatmeal costs about 500 calories. I know that seems like a lot, but I try to get in the majority of my calories with my breakfast and never hold back on my fixings. Breakfasts should be the largest meal of the day, with meals getting progressively smaller in the evening. And if you’ve just started cleaning up your diet, you’ll soon learn that unhealthy calories are NOT equal to healthy calories, and you can get away with eating more – NO – you NEED to consume more calories just to maintain weight.

Enjoy!