Good Morning!
This is Colby, my 11 month old black lab, and her favorite thing in the whole wide world is waking me up. She shakes her butt and wags her tail and is generally crazed by the idea of a new day!
This is our kitchen floor where she hangs out while we cook. Sometimes, she will be right behind me. She’s pretty cute.
So, on to breakfast. I have always had a weird relationship with oatmeal. In college, I would make those instant packages in microwave. They were tasty but have a bunch of not so awesome stuff in them. As an adult, my husband would make them for me, but only with water. Nothing else. Not only is that boring, it isn’t tasty. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon Kath Eats Real Food, a blog by a kick ass gal named Kath (duh), that I fell in love with oatmeal. (I should mention quickly that I adore Starbucks new oatmeal, too.) 
Kath makes her oatmeal with equal parts milk, oats and water. I used 1/4 cup of each because I find that I get full quickly when it comes to oatmeal. She also puts 1/2 a banana into the oats right at the beginning and stirs the oats the whole time to melt them into the oatmeal. The banana makes this oatmeal. For reals. Here is Kath’s video on oats. To my oatmeal, I added a pinch of salt at the beginning. Once the oats are thickened, I added 1 tablespoon of Bob’s Redmill Flaxseed Meal and 1/2 tablespoon of brown sugar. I also stir in a wee bit of vanilla extract, this doesn’t really taste like much of anything, but the smell is intoxicating. The best part of this oatmeal? THE PEANUT BUTTER!
My favorite peanut butter in the entire universe is Peanut Butter and Co.’s White Chocolate Wonderful. If you haven’t tried it, you are missing out. I use it in my oatmeal but my husband will eat it right out of the jar. In fact, we hide this stuff from each other because we have been known to eat a whole jar in a weekend.
I also had a glass of 2% milk with a little bit of NesQuick chocolate syrup. We use this brand and not Hershey’s (even though we live an hour from Hershey, PA!) because Nestle doesn’t use high fructose corn syrup. While we are not food puritans, we do try to stay away from that nasty stuff. In fact, we generally follow the gospel of Michael Pollan (more on that in future posts).
Anyhow, I have lots to do today before I head of to sunny Pittsburgh, PA to spend time with my family! Look for another post after dinner!
I didn’t know about that high fructose corn syrup distinction between Nestle and Hershey’s, but as I read your post on banana oatmeal, I feel like a little ray of light beamed down on me from on high, and angels vocalized in perfect harmony.
Also, big fan of your use of flax seed meal. I’ve also been known to dump a little flax seed oil in with salsa. It sounds a little odd, but it’s healthy and delicious and I love it.
oh my god. I am such an oatmeal freak. I eat it almost every day. I cook my actual oats the same as you (half milk/half water, oats, flax) but also add wheat germ.
pb banana is a standard.
Lately I’ve been putting in some dried cranberries in with the milk/water (to plump up and flavor the liquid!) and then I’ll add some almonds and maybe a few choc chips at the end.
Cocoa powder is good to add also, it gives the chocolate flavor without the calories.
OR…best thing ever…oatmeal dessert. I’ll make it and add a summery fruit of some sort (peaches, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc) and then put a scoop of ice cream on top. ohmygodsodelicious