Although I’m not an oatmeal-for-breakfast person, I try to eat oatmeal regularly, because it’s healthy for you. It’s high in fiber and complex carbohydrates. Besides, it’s low in fat, so you can add in as much healthy fats as you want (in my case, mostly peanut butter). But, as I said, I’m not a fan. I find it somehow disturbing to eat because of its slimy texture when cooked. So to make the oatmeal more interesting and healthier, I do the following..

First of all, I don’t cook my oatmeal. Instead, I use a popular technique: overnight oats. I mix 1/4 cup oats with 1/4 cup milk. then I add 1/2 teaspoon spice of my choice, 1 tablespoon flax seed and some stevia or honey for sweetening. I put this mixture in the freezer and let the oats soften in milk over the night. When I wake up, I add a blob of nut butter, a blob of jam and 2 tablespoons of granola.

Last week, I made myself an oatmeal bowl with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and peanut butter.

And today, I had my oatmeal with 1 teaspoon cocoa powder, 1/2 teaspoon instant coffee, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, a blob of coconut butter and a blob of my beloved rose jam:

PHBC Day 2! Today was the granola day. I simply mixed 3 tablespoons of granola with some milk and called it breakfast.

Oh, and don’t forget the half peach I found in the refrigerator. It was super sweet!

Granola is sooooo easy to make, and has many uses. You can use it to enhance your oatmeal, eat it during the day as a snack, o simply consume with milk like I did this morning. And like veggie burger, it has a base recipe and you can make your own versions. So don’t be lazy about granola, just make it!

Granola

Ingredients:

• 3 cups oatmeal
• 3/4 cup desired nuts (hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, etc.), chopped roughly
• 1/3 cup liquid sweetener (I prefer honey)
• 1/4 cup oil (preferably extra-virgin olive oil or coconut oil)
• optional: 1 tablespoon flax seed
• optional: 2 tablespoons coconut flakes
• optional: 1 tablespoon cocoa nibs
• optional: 1/4 cup dried fruit (raisins, dates, etc.), chopped

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 150 degrees C (300 degrees F).

Mix the dry ingredients. Add the sweetener and oil, and mix well.

Put the mixture onto a pan with parchment paper.

Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

You can store granola in a jar for up to 1 month (or maybe more).

EDIT: Check this out! It looks amazing, I’m definitely going to try this!

These bars are like granola bars, but they’re also like fruit&nut bars. So I call them just “oatmeal bars”.

I don’t like those granola bars with a sharp honey taste and lots of oatmeal. And I wanted to make something for the late mornings, when I’m late for school and don’t have time for breakfast (Actually, I’m “always” late for school, but that’s another story). These bars are something that you can just take (and your tea mug) and leave home.

Nutty Oatmeal Energy Bars

makes 12 big, 20 small bars

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oatmeal
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• ½ cup honey
• ¼ cup pistachios
• ¼ cup hazelnuts
• ¼ cup almonds
• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup chocolate-chips (use ½ cup for sweeter bars)
• 1/3 cup flaxseed
• 5 tablespoons coconut flakes
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder or baking soda
• ground nutmeg
• pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 155 degrees C (310 degrees F).

Chop the nuts coarsely.

In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients.

In another bowl, whisk together the egg, oil and honey.

While stirring the dry ingredients, pour the egg mixture onto them.

Pour the mixture into a mid-sized pan and press the tops by using a spatula to make it firm.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until cooked.

Cut into squares (or bigger rectangles), and store in an airtight container.