by Eating Bird Food on January 20, 2012
Nothing warms me up like a bowl of oatmeal on a winter morning – especially if it involves flavors that make me think of white sand, suntan lotion and piña coladas.
Take me back to Cayman please! (Ang, I’m looking at you. 
)
This bowl of oatmeal does just that with flavors of both banana and coconut. It’s delightful…
and now one of my favorite oatmeal variations.
The star ingredient is Blue Diamond’s New Unsweetened Almondmilk Coconutmilk Blend. I have a slight obsession with Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk so when I saw this at Kroger (on sale nonetheless) I had to buy it!
I like it because it’s unsweetened and has pretty much the same nutritional facts as their unsweetened vanilla almond milk – low calories, 50% more calcium than regular milk and no sugar! Plus it’s soy and gluten-free! Kroger didn’t have the vanilla almond/coconut milk blend but I definitely want to try that flavor next time!
A first sip I wasn’t super excited about the flavor, but that’s no surprise because I don’t really like to drink any milk product (dairy or non-dairy) on it’s own. The amazing flavor it brought to the oats more than makes up for it! I’d honestly buy it for the sole purpose of making oats, but I’m sure I’ll find other uses as well.
So if you’re in the mood for a tasty bowl of oats that will have you daydreaming about exotic islands, find yourself some coconut milk and give this little combo a shot. If you can’t find the almond/coconut milk blend, you could always use half almond milk and half coconut milk.
Take Me to the Tropics Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup old fashioned oatmeal
- 2/3 cup almondmilk coconutmilk blend
- 1/2 banana, sliced
- pinch of cinnamon
- splash of vanilla
- 1-2 drops of liquid stevia, optional
- 1 teaspoon unsweetened dried coconut
- 1/2 Tablespoon almond butter (or another nut butter)
Preparation
- Put oatmeal, milk, banana, cinnamon and vanilla in a medium sized pot. Cook on medium-low heat for about 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally so the oats don’t stick. Remove from pot, top with coconut and almond butter and enjoy!
The first time I made this I used a little stevia to sweeten it up, but left it out the second time. I’ve found that the oats don’t really need any extra sweetness – a ripe banana will do the trick!
With all this talk about tropical flavors I’m ready to book a trip somewhere warm and sunny. Instead I’m heading in to work. Oh well, at least it’s Friday. 
Have a great day!
by Eating Bird Food on January 9, 2012
Happy Monday friends. I hope you had a grand weekend.
First off, thank you, thank you, thank you – for all the congrats on our engagement and the sweet comments on Isaac’s guest post. He was apprehensive about sharing the story and I assured him it would be well received – and of course it was because you all are awesome!
Overall our weekend was pretty relaxing, although we did get a jump start on a few wedding related things – went to check out a few venues, researched online and all that jazz. I guess I was just sort of out of the loop on weddings before being engaged but they are sooo expensive. Researching online I found that the average wedding in Richmond, VA costs around $26K. <– Holy moly! We don’t have anywhere near that sort of budget (actually we don’t even have a budget yet) so I’m on the lookout for any kind of DIY ideas I can find as well as tips on how to reduce costs. If you have any, please let this lady know.
Other highlights of the weekend included two awesome workouts – my first hot yoga class in over a year (soo sweaty!) and this Lean Arms workout from the Tone It Up girls.
I actually stumbled upon this while perusing Julie’s blog (Peanut Butter Fingers) and recognized it from the Tone It Up Bikini Challenge. I did the workout 2 times through and definitely felt the burn. I’m already excited to try out the Lean Legs pyramid this afternoon. <– Which just so happens to be today’s challenge.
I also wanted to share the delicious breakfast I had this morning – a cinnamon oatmeal cookie smoothie! It’s sort of an oldie but goodie, because I made a version of this smoothie before. However, since the smoothie was featured in the Tone It Up Holiday Special last month several people have been tweeting about it and asking for the recipe so I figured I would repost the new variation for anyone who hasn’t had a chance to try it.
Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookie Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1/2 – 1 frozen banana (note- peel your bananas before you freeze them)
- 3/4 -1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 3 Tablespoons old fashioned oats
- 1 scoop vanilla brown rice protein powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
Preparation
- Place all ingredients in a high-powered blender and blend until smooth. If the smoothie is too thick, add a little more almond milk.
- Pour into a glass or bowl (depending on whether you want to use a spoon or straw) and top with 1 Tablespoon of dried fruit, nuts or other topping.
**You can make this smoothie with half of a banana and less almond milk but it’s even better with one full frozen banana and 1 cup of almond milk.
- Enjoy the recipe and let me know what you think if you try it. See you soon with an update on the Stripped Challenge.
Brittany Mullins, HHC
