{"id":192,"date":"2011-02-06T01:03:48","date_gmt":"2011-02-06T01:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/?p=192"},"modified":"2012-08-28T16:35:27","modified_gmt":"2012-08-28T22:35:27","slug":"ideas-for-oatmeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/?p=192","title":{"rendered":"Ideas for Oatmeal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Oatmeal\"<\/p>\n

In winter I often crave a warm breakfast. Sometimes it\u2019s an egg scramble or pancakes, but I have to say that oatmeal usually gets trump. It\u2019s just perfect for one of those cozy mornings where you feel like eating in your pajamas while standing over the heat vent. Yes, I do that. And yes, I\u2019m usually cold. Winter and I have never warmed up to each other. Literally. Let\u2019s just say that hot cereal and I get along.<\/p>\n

But I admit it, despite the wholesome characteristics of oatmeal, sometimes it can get a little dreary. I usually have it with a drizzle of honey and a smattering of nuts. Sometimes I add almond milk. Good, but boring. I decided to become more adventurous.<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s some fun ways I found to shake us oatmeal fans out of our ruts.<\/p>\n

Oatmeal Combinations
\n<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This one is my absolute favourites, even though it sounds slightly strange. I assure you, adding the yogurt is not weird, because it becomes creamy goodness. I miss dairy yogurt so much, especially when eaten this way.<\/p>\n

-2 teaspoons organic peanut butter, drizzle of pure maple syrup, sliced almonds, topped with plain yogurt mixed with truvia<\/strong><\/p>\n

For those of us who wish they could magically transport themselves to the Bahamas for the winter, this is the cheaper alternative. My second favourite.<\/p>\n

-Shaved coconut, raisins, chopped dates, \u00bd banana, 1 teaspoon coconut oil, drizzled with agave nectar<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you feel like eating something close to the traditional version\u2026<\/p>\n

-2 teaspoons coconut sugar<\/a>*, toasted almonds (this amps up the flavour!), 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed and milk (*coconut sugar is relatively new, but it is sooo good\u2026it tastes a lot like brown sugar, but it\u2019s a lot healthier with a lower GI)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apples are delicious cooked\u2026this one reminds me of apple pie.<\/p>\n

-\u00bd cooked apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, a teaspoon of almond butter, with maple syrup for sweetener<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not crazy about eating bananas plain, but I love them in everything else. Banana bread is scrumptious. Here\u2019s the oatmeal version.<\/p>\n

-\u00bd banana mashed up (and mixed in), a teaspoon of honey, and dark chocolate chips on top (of course!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can cook up your oatmeal in different ways too\u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

-Add coconut milk instead of water (especially good with the tropical version of oatmeal)<\/p>\n

-Use milk when cooking to make it creamier<\/p>\n

-Add an essence, like vanilla or almond extract<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ways to up the nutritional content of oatmeal\u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

-Add seeds (preferably raw) like hempseed, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, or chia seeds<\/a> (my personal favourite)<\/p>\n

-Make it more fibre-full by adding a topping of fibre cereal (like Grape nuts or All-Bran), wheat bran, oat bran, chia seeds, or shredded coconut<\/p>\n

-Grind the smaller seeds. I don\u2019t just sprinkle the flax on, because it needs to be ground to get all the benefits. It\u2019s so easy to just use coffee grinder to crush sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and flaxseed.<\/p>\n

-Top it off with fruit! I like my oats with berries, bananas, and pears.<\/p>\n

How do you eat your oatmeal? Are you into trying different flavours or do you like to stick with the same old?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In winter I often crave a warm breakfast. Sometimes it\u2019s an egg scramble or pancakes, but I have to say that oatmeal usually gets trump. It\u2019s just perfect for one of those cozy mornings where you feel like eating in your pajamas while standing over the heat vent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,14,8],"tags":[1584,24,1587,26,1582,1588,1580,25,1583,1581,1586,1585],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions\/197"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}