I love a steamy bowl of oatmeal, there are so many great ways to prepare it. I always recommend the Big Batch Method for cooking your oats. That a surefire was to make certain that you have lots of cooked oats handy to serve up as you need them. From nuts to natural sweeteners to dried fruits, purées and sauces. There are so many ways to jazz up a bowl of oats. They make great cookies and bars too!

Have your kids interact with their oatmeal. Put out a plate of fresh fruits, dried fruit, nuts and some spices. Let them decorate their oats. They can also put on the syrup.

Oatmeal Essentials

Choices, we all have to make them from time to time. Let’s have fun putting together bowls of oats that will be balanced, give you loads of sustainable energy and most importantly taste delicious.

You might be under the impression that a bowl of oatmeal won’t keep you satisfied for too long. Wrongo, if you use oats that are minimally processed (not instant,) and you cook up your oats as suggested in Oatmeal: The Basics. Add some protein and fat to it and then you will have a balanced meal that should keep you satisfied for a few hours until your next meal.

• Big Batch: Grab your bowl and portion out from your Big Batch a cup or so of oatmeal.

• Healthy Fats: This is crucial to keep you satisfied until the next meal.  A little fat goes a long way as far as flavor and satisfication goes. Choose from: butter or ghee (clarified butter), cream cheese, chopped toasted nuts, nut butters (almond, peanut, cashew, etc.) sunflower seed butter, coconut milk, unsweetened coconut flake, ground flaxseed, low fat yogurt, sour cream. The yogurt and sour cream might sound weird but they provide a rich, creamy, pudding texture to your bowl.

• Fruits: Add some of your favorite fresh or frozen fruit, dried fruit or 100% fruit spread.  Banana, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, mango, apple, peaches, anything goes. When it comes to 100% Fruit spreads Trader Joe’s has an excellent one called Trader Joe’s Organic Fruit Spread, it comes in many varieties.  Bionaturae is another good source.

• Protein: You can add some protein powder if you want or you can top with some lightly scrambled eggs or a soft boiled egg.  Might sound weird but when you stir the eggs in with the oatmeal it creates a creamy, dreamy, rice pudding type meal!!  Greek strained yogurt is also a great protein addition with an added bonus of some extra calcium!  You can use non-fat or low fat yogurt.

• Spices: Ground spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves or nutmeg add a nice kick.

• Natural sweeteners: Sometimes I use my stevia powder other times I use my flavored Sweetleaf Stevia Drops (English Toffee flavor tastes like maple syrup!) to mix in my oatmeal.  Maple syrup, maple butter, succanat, molasses, 100% fruit sweetened jam, apple Butter and apple sauce are all great options as well. You can even use your all fruit sweetened Fudge sauce by Wax Orchards.

Add a Little More

• Fiber: add some wheat germ, prunes, flaxseed

Extra Protein

• You can add some protein powder or eggs to your oat bowl to add some energy sustaining nutrition.  You can also just eat your eggs on the side.  If you add some healthy fat and protein to your oat bowl, your oatmeal will leave you feeling satisfied much longer.

Mindful Portions

• Always keep ratios and portion sizes in mind for good nutrition balance.  For example, if you throw in some butter, you might want to use a non-fat yogurt or sour cream choice instead of one with fat.  It all just depends on your personal (and your kids) dietary needs. The same applies for sweetener, if you are using a bunch of fruit you might hold back on the maple syrup.

Oatmeal: 7 Flavor Ways

Here are some tasty suggestions for a weeks worth of flavors. Have fun with your own flavor twists.

India Chai Spice Oat Bowl: Stir in a pinch of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and a twist of black pepper.  Also a bit of butter and some vanilla protein powder, vanilla extract or vanilla stevia drops.

Apple Crisp Oat Bowl: Top your oatmeal with diced sauteed apples (saute them in a smidge of butter and a pinch of salt), swirl in some maple syrup or english toffee stevia drops. Top with toasted walnuts. You can also mix some uncooked oats with butter, put it over the cooked oats and apple mixture in a bake safe ramekin and place under the broiler for a few minutes (watch carefully) until toasty and crispy.

Pumpkin Pie Oat Bowl: A scoop of pumpkin pie mix or pumpkin puree with a dash of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and vanilla extract.  Add some butter and sweetener of choice. Top with toasted nuts or sunflower seeds.

Chocolate Pecan Oat Bowl: Spoon in a bit of homemade chocolate sauce or Wax Orchards Fudge Sauce. Top with toasted pecans.

Maple Orange Oat Bowl: Sweeten with maple syrup or sweetener of choice. Mix in zest from an orange and add some vanilla stevia drops anda splash of orange extract.  Top with ground cinnamon and toasted Almonds.

Banana Cream Oat Bowl: Take a few tablespoons of sour cream or cream cheese and stir into oatmeal. Add sweetener of choice, top with sliced bananas. Add a dash cinnamon or ginger. You can also saute the bananas with a bit of butter or ghee.

Toasted Almond Oat Bowl: A splash of almond extract, handful of toasted almonds, sweetener of choice.

Oatmeal Recipe Links

• Banana Bread Oatmeal A Pastry Affair
• Baked Coconut Oatmeal with Pepper Nut Topping MarlaMeridith.com
• Oatmeal with Amarena Italian Cherries and Almonds Family Style Food
• Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole Oh She Glows
• The Mix Kath Eats Real Food