Protein Packed Oatmeal Hot Cereal
On a cold morning, few things get me out of bed like the thought of a warm breakfast. While I love pancakes, waffles, and muffins (and I often keep a stash in my freezer for convenience), I love a steaming bowl of warm oatmeal. I find that it keeps me full longer, and it’s comforting deep down in my happy place.
Oatmeal has a bad reputation in a lot of homes for being boring, but I’ve found that homemade oatmeal is anything but boring. I’ve got loads of ideas for flavor combinations, so I rotate enough that I never get too tired of any one flavor.
After reading Jamie Oliver’s Super Food Cookbook, I caught onto his idea for making a heartier, more protein-packed oatmeal hot cereal with nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. You toast the oats, nuts, and seeds in the oven for a few minutes, then pulse everything in the blender or food processor until the mixture is fairly uniform. Cool it and keep it in a mason jar in the pantry. Every morning, you can scoop out individual servings and make them in the microwave or make a batch for the family on the stovetop.
The dried fruit adds some delicious natural sweetness, and the nuts and seeds lend some protein and heartiness. Even so, the base recipe can be changed up with any combination of fruit or nuts. As for the toppings, well, a little milk (nondairy or dairy) does it for me, but you can certainly drizzle over some honey, maple syrup, jam, or fruit puree to play with the flavors.
Cozy and quick, warm and comforting, healthy and hearty. There’s just nothing quite like a bowl of warm oatmeal.
Notes on the recipe:
- If you have nut allergies, you can use all seeds or add additional oats in place of the nuts.
- For a gluten free version (like I do), simply use certified gluten free oats.
- This recipe will keep up to 1 month in an airtight container. It doubles, triples, or even quadruples nicely, so you can make a batch as big or small as you need.
Emily is an eater, reader, and baby chaser at One Lovely Life, where she shares healthy food, happy thoughts, and plenty of inspiration for living a life you love
Protein Packed Oatmeal Hot Cereal
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Spread oats, almonds, pecans, and pumpkin seeds out on the baking sheet and mix a bit with your fingers to distribute evenly.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool completely.
- Add dried fruit to the cooled oat, nut, and seed mixture.
- Working in batches, pulse mixture in a food processor or blender until uniform in size and fairly smooth.
- Store oatmeal mixture in an airtight container up to 1 month.
- To serve – Add 1/4 cup oatmeal mixture and 1/2 cup water to a bowl. Microwave 45 seconds – 1 minute. Stir in desired toppings to taste.
- For a family-size serving, add 1/4 cup per person and 1/2 cup water per person and heat over medium low heat in a saucepan until oatmeal reaches desired thickness. Stir in desired toppings to taste.
Nutrition
www.superhealthykids.com
Natalie Monson
I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.
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This looks very good. I’m wondering, though, what kind of oats are use. We usualy use steel cut oats, but I am thinking that wouldn’t work well for this dish? Rolled oats, maybe – or would steel cut be fine?? Thanks!
Christie – If you have a super powerful blender or food processor, you can try grinding up steel cut oats, but I find that rolled or quick cooking oats blend better in this recipe. Hope that helps!