Hiya friends! I allowed myself to “sleep in” until 6:30am. Today is my mom’s birthday. I wish I could eat birthday cake with her – I would eat the entire piece and not worry about the calories at all…instead, just enjoy birthday cake with my mom. I plan on doing some cardio over my lunch to break up the day a little. But for now, I’m gonna take the rest of the day off from the blogging world but don’t you worry your little pretty head off, I got something extra special for you!
A twitter friend and I have been going back and forth over the past couple of weeks about our morning oatmeal. Specifically, about what to put in our oatmeal! I decided I better ask her to do a little experiment and report back to us PriorFatGirl’s & Future PriorFatGirl’s. So without further delay, I introduce you to…
Stacie from @staciehunhoff
Let’s be honest, eating a healthy breakfast can be so borrrrrring. You can eat only so much toast, eggs, fruit or oatmeal before you get sick of it and grab a couple poptarts or head to Starbucks for a mocha and a pastry. Admit it – you’ve done it too.
To solve this breakfast dilemma, I set off (with a little encouragement from Jen) on a search for something to spice up my morning meal. What I quickly learned is that this really was an experiment. Some things that I tried were just bad. Others were great. But I knew if I just kept plugging along, I’d find something that I would eat regularly!
But most importantly – I needed something that is quick. There is nothing I love more than sleeping. If I can get an extra 10-15 minutes in the morning in exchange for a less-than-gourmet breakfast, the sleeping will win. Every. Single. Time.
Blueberries
I started off last week by throwing a handful of blueberries in my apple and cinnamon oatmeal. Nothing special – instant oatmeal and blueberries from the fridge. And that’s exactly how it tasted. I hated how the blueberries were cold and the oatmeal was hot. They just didn’t complement each other.
I started thinking how much Jen’s going to be disappointed when I send her an email that says ‘Oatmeal + fruit = the suck.’ Luckily for Jen (and for you guys!) I didn’t give up. After all, this is an experiment, right?
My main problem with the blueberries was that they were cold. Uh, hello. Obvious solution. Heat the blueberries. (I’m telling you, this kind of logic is exactly how I stay afloat in law school.) So I did – I put ½ cup of blueberries in with the water I heated for my oatmeal – just for the last 15 seconds – and mixed them right in with the oatmeal. SUCH an improvement. A quick 2 minute breakfast for 300 calories (260 for 2 packets of apple/cinnamon oatmeal, 40 for the blueberries).
Apple & Cinnamon
Next, I tried adding more apple and cinnamon to my apple and cinnamon oatmeal. I cut thin slices of apple (about 1/3 apple), added water, a sprinkling of cinnamon, and put it in the microwave for 2 ½ minutes – mix in with oatmeal… and WOW. Exactly what I had been missing in my oatmeal. REAL chunks of apple. Those fake chunks in the oatmeal packet were totally not cutting it.
Another quick and easy recipie… another 300 calories (260 for 2 packets of apple/cinnamon oatmeal, 45 for the apple, 5 for the cinnamon). Definitely a keeper and definitely something I would have for an evening snack once in a while.
Peanut Butter & Jelly
Man… this was getting fun. I started digging through my kitchen to see what else I could throw in with oatmeal and claim it was breakfast. Open the cabinet and what did I find? My one true friend and lover, Peanut Butter. True confession: I eat PB&J multiple (read: 4 or 5) days a week. I love it. The idea of adding more PB&J into my life made me ecstatic.
So I tossed a tablespoon of peanut butter and a tablespoon of strawberry jelly on top of two packets of plain oatmeal and mixed. Totally underwhelming.
Something was off – perhaps the proportions – way too much oatmeal for the PB&J. Something. It’s still a work in progress. If we can put a man on the moon, I can make PB&J oatmeal. Period.
Egg & Salsa Oatmeal
By far, my most experimental breakfast of the week. I needed *something* to top the week off. I’ve been trying to add more protein into my meals – so I decided to play with some eggs with my oatmeal. I cooked an egg just long enough so the yoke was still runny, put it next to a packet of plain oatmeal and topped with salsa. For good measure (and a better picture), I added a clementine to balance the plate out.
Let me tell you – this was quite possibly my favorite breakfast of the week. Who knew salsa went with oatmeal! Best of all, it was less than 300 calories! The only downside is that it takes a little longer to put together – not a long time – but more than heating water and pouring it over instant oatmeal. Definitely something I would make again – for breakfast or for any meal!
I had a lot of fun this past week playing with my oatmeal to see how I can improve on something already so delicious. You never know what combinations you may come up with!
What do you do to spice up your breakfast? Do you have any oatmeal secrets that the rest of us should know about??
Finally – a special thanks to Jen for letting me use her amazing blog as a forum for my oatmeal fun!
And make sure to follow me on twitter – I’m @staciehunhoff
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WOW! I’m so hungry for oatmeal right now! Thanks Stacie!
Now your turn – whats that over
there that you add to YOUR oatmeal?
Chime in with some idea’s for us!
Oh and good news…we are now half way done with our week!
Talk to you peeps tomorrow!
