I never knew a bowl of oats could be so good!
But then I made THIS bowl of oats and was amazed. I’m well aware that oatmeal can feel a little boring, but guys, I think we’re giving it a bad wrap. The way I look at it, oatmeal is kind of like a blank canvas. There are so many ways you can dress it up, change it up and make it pretty dang delicious! This bowl of oats right here is my ideal bowl. It has simple flavors, packed with protein and O-mega 3’s, plus toppings galore. OKAY, so I may have gone slightly overboard with my toppings, but what’s new? I like textures and I like colors, so I went with it. I’m thinking you all must know by now that this is MY kind of bowl simply because of two ingredients. One: COCONUT Two: BANANAS Yes, my very favorites, I feel like this bowl literally has my name written all over it.
You know what else feels like it has my name written all over it? A mid-week, one night, two-day trip to Aspen. Like YESSS, I so need that trip in my life right about now. Sadly, this trip is not happening for me, but for my mom and my grandma – it’s a go. Remember how I mentioned that my grandma was coming in to town for my mom’s 50th birthday? Yeah, well the two of them of them have the most fun week planned. I’m totally beyond jealous, but so happy my mom and grandma are getting to spend the week together. They almost never see each other so it’s a much-needed one on one time. SIDE NOTE: Mom, when I turn 50 we are going to hop on a plane and go somewhere extremely tropical, warm and sunny. Somewhere like St. Barts, Bora Bora or the Bahamas. We will eat pineapple and mangos and sit in the sun till we can’t handle it any more… and then we’ll go play in the warm water. Just you, me and maybe little miss 35-year-old Asher…whoa, that’s weird. Honesty, I cannot even imagine this. Me 50 and Asher 35. Time, please go slow on us? 🙂 Yes, I did have to break out the calculator to do all that math. Math is really not my stong suite. So one of my mom and grandma’s little adventures this week is a mini trip to Aspen to live up the luxury life for a couple of days. Believe it or not, I have never been to Aspen, even though my family has been there a million times. I have lots and lots of cookbook work to do this month (ah huh, remember I am writing a freaking cookbook!), so it’s a no go trip for me. Maybe next time or maybe in a couple of weeks for the X-Games. My younger brother Red is headed there for Men’s Slopestyle Snowboarding, so I think the family might be going for the weekend.
Anyway, my point in all this rambling is that typically I make my mom a BIG birthday breakfast. In year’s past we have done crepes, pancakes, french toast and um, more crepes. She clearly really likes crepes. Understandably. This year though, she wasn’t around. Yesterday (her birthday) she spent the day in Denver with my grandma, they had some ultra fancy breakfast out somewhere and then shopped till they dropped. Sounds pretty perfect to me! Knowing that I would not be getting to see here until later in the evening yesterday, I made her an early Birthday Breakfast last week with this perfect bowl of oats. Coconut and banana are a combo we can never turn down over here, and it was just an added bonus that this jam-packed bowl is also jam-packed with all healthy ingredients…that means we had extra room for lots and LOTS of chocolate cake. Obviously. In all seriousness though, this is probably my go-to easy recipe for everyday oatmeal. I for sure went a little extravagant with my toppings, but that’s just how I like to do it. You can keep things simple with just the bananas and maybe an extra sprinkle of chia seeds + some chopped dark chocolate (oh yes, oh yes, DO THIS) or add other fun ingredients too, like dried rose petals, toasted coconut, chopped almonds, hemp seeds, bee pollen (if you have never heard of this I highly recommend reading about it, it yummy and so good for our bodies!) and a little orange zest. The base oat recipe is really simple. The chia adds a pudding like texture to the oats along with the major health benefits of omega 3’s, good fats and protein. I always add a little vanilla too for extra yum. For my milk, I love using Almond Breeze Almondmilk Coconutmilk. It’s one of my favorite non-dairy milks and the coconut flavor is perfect in this bowl of oats!
Lastly, the bananas. Oh the bananas, I have one, sometimes two a day. They are amazing in so many ways. One of my favorite things to do is to caramelize them. They get so incredibly sweet. Hands down, caramelized bananas are one of my favorite breakfast food toppers. They’re great on waffles, pancakes, in crepes and of course, on top of oatmeal. Plus, they only take minutes to make. See, incredible! Sooo, what do you think? Can we all make Coconut Chia Oats with Caramelized Bananas today? Maybe even with a sprinkle of chocolate…you know for the extra antioxidants??
Yup, sounds like a plan. Healthy breakfast done cozy. Count me in!
