I don't always pick the best things to eat for breakfast, however, oatmeal with berries and nuts has become my new regular thing. There have been times I don't even remember to eat breakfast! Sometimes I wake up in the morning with some great idea I'm ready to jump into and I head straight to the computer. It's 2pm by the time I realize I haven't eaten. So breakfast is often the forgotten or not-best-food-choices meal for me. Lately, however, I've been eating oatmeal. I LOVE cream of wheat, but am trying to go more whole grain and less processed, so oatmeal it is! To add some extra nutrition and artsy appeal to my morning meal, I've added all kinds of yummy goodness… I think you might like it too!
Oatmeal with Berries and Nuts
I don't actually measure this all out, except maybe the oats. I just wing it, toss in a little bit of everything. So you can adjust this however you like, just make sure to read the instructions on your oats so you're adding an appropriate amount of liquid and cooking adequately.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup Oatmeal – the whole gran, not instant kind
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tbs dried berries
- 2 tbs chopped walnuts
- 1 tsp chia seeds
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
Instructions
- Combine oatmeal, water, chia seeds, walnuts, berries and cinnamon in a microwave safe bowl. make sure the bowl is 2-3 times larger than the quantity of ingredients you are using.
- Microwave on high for 3.5 minutes.
- Add the almond milk and stir. Let cool for about 3 minutes and then enjoy.
- I am trying not to add sugar to much of what I eat, so I get the original vanilla almond milk. You can use regular milk, soy, whatever. I also add fresh fruit to the cooked oatmeal some days, blueberries are awesome!
- Also, I have found some berries cook fine and some burn. If your berries burn, just add them after you cook the oatmeal.
Yes, you could cook on the stovetop instead – ease of serving is important to me if I am going to remember to stop and eat… so microwaving is not my biggest concern.
Pre-portion your oatmeals for breakfast all week!
Now here's where my meal time genius comes into play. Combine all the dry ingredients into a pint size mason jar, seal and set aside. I make 5 of these on the weekend and then for breakfast all I have to do is add the water, microwave, add the milk and VOILA! Hot breakfast in under 5 minutes. The only issue I have run across is… sometimes I add a little more water and the whole mixture boils over in the microwave. Just use a larger container OR pour the dry ingredients into your usual cooking bowl before cooking.
So what do you think… are you going to have oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow?
