30 Days of Oatmeal: Balsamic Apple

Once again, I went with a simple oat base so that I could focus on my topping. Today's gem: chopped apples sautéed in balsamic vinegar and vanilla.

The balsamic vinegar (once cooked off), added a nice sweetness and tang to the apples. I think the vinegar smell permeated our house, though, because my dad asked, "What are you eating for snack?" The perils of recipe experimentation...

Ingredients:

For the stewed apples:
1 small apple (I used gala), diced
2 T balsamic vinegar


For the oats:

1/2 c quick cooking oats
1 c water

1 t vanilla

Directions:

1. Combine the  chopped apple, balsamic vinegar, and vanilla in a small sauce pan. Cook until liquid reduces to a thick syrup and apples are tender.

2. In a separate pan, combine water and oats and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low.

3. When oats reach the desired consistency, add the vanilla and stir to combine.

5. Transfer oatmeal to a bowl and top the sautéed apples.

30 Days of Oatmeal: Chocolate Carrot (Or How to Hide Vegetables in Oats)

Parenting blogs frequently feature ways to hide fruits and vegetables into kids' food. The Oatmeal Artist adds squash or zucchini to amp up her oats. I like to add applesauce. Here, I decided to add a shredded carrot.

I have to admit that this isn't the best bowl of oats I've yet made. I enjoyed the rich chocolate paired with the texture of the carrots, but the oats somehow lacked a little flavor. Maybe add a little maple syrup if you try this recipe at home. Or, if you're like me and just want to eat extra vegetables, enjoy this as a new recipe for doing so.

Ingredients:

1/2 c quick cooking oats
1 c water
1 T cocoa powder
1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
1 carrot, shredded

Directions:

1. Grate one medium carrot.
2. In a small sauce pan, combine the carrots, oats, and water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium low.
3. Once oats reach desired consistency, stir in cocoa powder, cinnamon, and vanilla.
4. Transfer to a bowl. Add toppings. Eat your vegetables!

30 Days of Oatmeal: Cinnamon Banana Lime

I went with a tropical theme here, adding lime juice, vanilla, and cinnamon to the porridge base. I also sliced half the banana into the oats. This nicely melded the flavors before adding more bananas as a topping.

Coconut or nut butter would go great with this recipe, I just chose to omit them this time.

Ingredients:

1/2 c quick cooking oats
1 c water
1 t cinnamon
4 t lime juice
1 t vanilla
1 banana, sliced and divided

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan, combine the oats and the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low.
2. When oats reach desired consistency, stir in cinnamon, lime juice, vanilla, and half the sliced bananas.
3. When ingredients are mixed, transfer porridge to a bowl and top with remaining sliced bananas.

30 Days of Oatmeal: Vanilla Nutmeg Pear Oatmeal

In my pursuit of 30 Days of Oatmeal, here's another recipe:

To be honest, it wasn't my favorite. I find pears just a bit bland, and they don't soak into the oatmeal the way applesauce or stewed apples do. I didn't like the crunchiness of the chopped almonds, either. I would have rather had nut butter. Nonetheless, there are people who are immensely fond of pears and chopped nuts, and perhaps this recipe will suit their fancy.

Ingredients:

1/2 c quick cooking oats
1 c water
1/2 D'anjou pear, diced
1 t vanilla extract
Dash of nutmeg
Chopped almonds for topping

Directions:

1. Bring oats, pear, and water to a boil and reduce heat to medium.
2. When pear is tender and oats reach the desired consistency, stir in the vanilla and a heavy dash of nutmeg.
3. Transfer oatmeal to a bowl and top with chopped almonds.

30 Days of Oatmeal: Pumpkin Almond Butter Mug Cake

Here's something different for you: a mug cake/microwave baked oatmeal recipe. This recipe features pumpkin and almond butter and cooks up quite nicely. (Make sure to add enough liquid, though!)

This recipe isn't sweet, so feel free to add in a teaspoon of maple syrup if you like.

Ingredients:

1/3 c quick cooking oats
1/4 t cinnamon
1/4 t pumpkin pie spice
1/4 c pumpkin puree
2-4 T milk or water

Directions:

1. Grease a small cup and add oats and spices. Stir to mix.
2. Add pumpkin puree and 2 T milk water. Stir. If mixture is dry, stir in more liquid 1 T at a time.
3. Microwave three minutes.
4. Let cool for two minutes and then dig in!

30 Days of Oatmeal: Pumpkin Pie Spiced Oats with Orange Vanilla Almond Butter

I went with a simple base for oatmeal again, since I wanted to experiment with more nut butter mixes. This orange almond butter smelled fresh and exhilarating, but when I went to eat it, the orange was a big too much. Lucky for you, I reduced the amount of extract by half for the posted recipe.

Again, nothing special about the oat base, but the nut butter topping is a nice, lighter twist on a regular bowl of oats.

Ingredients for the porridge:

1/2 c quick cooking oats
1 c water
4 t dark cocoa powder
1 t cinnamon

Ingredients for the orange vanilla almond butter:

2 T almond butter
1 t vanilla
1/2 t orange extract
Enough water to make the mixture spreadable (about 1 T)

Directions:

1. Bring the oats and water to a boil and reduce heat to medium.
2. When oats reach the desired consistency, stir in the cocoa powder and cinnamon.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the orange vanilla almond butter ingredients until thoroughly combined.
4. Pour the porridge into a bowl and top with the nut butter mixture.

30 Days of Oatmeal: Green Pea Risotto

I've read a lot about risotto, a dish made of rice cooked in broth. In an effort to build more savory oatmeal recipes into my repertoire, I tried to recreate it using spices and green peas.

I'd call this a moderately successful recipe. It was good, but not amazing. Cooking the oats in vegetable broth instead of water would make this far more tasty.

Ingredients:

1/2 c quick cooking oats
1 c water
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
1/4 t oregano
1/2 t parsley flakes
1/8 t ground black pepper
Sea Salt
1 c frozen green peas, thawed.

Directions:

1. In a small sauce pan, bring oats, water, and spices to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low.
2. Once oats reach desired consistency, stir in green peas to warm.
3. Transfer oats to a bowl and enjoy!