Breakfast of Champions

Though maybe not as exciting as caramel apples, pancakes, or pie (just wait--the fall pies will be coming soon!), I did take on a couple of mini experiments yesterday to use up ingredients we had around the house. Oats, skim milk, and browning bananas easily turned into a rather healthy family breakfast for this morning: a pot of Oatmeal and a Peachy-Banana Fruit Smoothie. If you're in a hurry and need to feed 3-5 people on a weekday morning, this might just be the way to go.

Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1 quart (4 cups) skim milk (or liquid of choice--soymilk, almond milk, water, etc.)
Pinch of salt
2 and 1/2 cups oats

Directions:

1.) Pour the milk into a large pot, add the salt, and bring to a boil on the stove. When bubbles just begin to form (watch it carefully so the milk doesn't scald), stir in the oats and reduce the heat to a low simmer.

2.) Simmer the oatmeal for about 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally until it reaches your desired consistency. (I like my oatmeal a little more toasty, so I'll leave it on the stove a while. But if you like it creamy, stick to five minutes or less).

3.) Remove from heat, let cool slightly, and enjoy! Also tastes great cold--after being refrigerated overnight--with a fork. Yes, I'm weird. Moving on....

Peachy-Banana Smoothie


Ingredients:

2 medium bananas, sliced
1 package (10 oz) frozen peaches
1 cup light vanilla soymilk (I used Silk brand)


Directions:


1.) Add the bananas, peaches, and soymilk into your blender and blend about 15 seconds, making sure all big chunks are broken up. A few small chunks are okay, especially if you like a thick smoothie like I do. Pour into a glass and top with chopped almonds if you desire. That's it!

The smoothie didn't end up quite as "peachy" as I would have liked, so next time I might up the amount of peaches and cut back on the banana, maybe even using bananas that are slightly less brown, and adding just a touch of honey or other sweetener. Still, it was an experiment using what we had. For the oatmeal, I'd love to test out different liquids (almond milk with a touch of almond extract perhaps) as well as potential flavor additions like maple syrup, brown sugar, dried fruits, and fresh strawberries. Since it is fall, however, I'm leaning everything toward...pumpkin.

Yes, you'd better believe there will be pumpkin treats on this blog before November. If you thought I got excited about making caramel apples....