Popular Porridges
Author Archives: Lauren Smith
Red Velvet Brownie Baked Oatmeal [Guest Post]
Here’s winner #4 from the brownie baked oatmeal contest! I had a really hard time narrowing down my favorite submissions. 😛 Special apology to Chandler, who sent me these lovely materials weeks ago, and I was supposed to publish it on Monday, but I forgot! Doh. Forgive me, Chandler!
Hello fellow oatmeal lovers! My name is Chandler, I am 20 years old, and I am a recent graduate with a B.A. in Spanish as well as Teaching English as a Second Language. At this point in my life, I am looking forward to grad school in the fall, working a ton, cooking as much as I can, and eating up several boxes of oatmeal a month.
My love for oatmeal has evolved a lot over the years from the early days of Quaker dinosaur egg oatmeal. I, an aspiring paleontologist, would lick all the oatmeal off the dinosaur eggs and then refuse to actually eat the eggs. (They were pretty nasty!) Now I put oatmeal into just about everything and eat it with just about every topping imaginable- cheese, fruits, hummus, nuts, eggs, and even chicken. When I saw Lauren’s brownie baked oatmeal challenge, I instantly knew what recipe I would submit. I have been reading her blog since the very beginning when I was looking for inspiration for my own blog (www.harpandchanscrafts.blogspot.com), which I have unfortunately neglected for a couple of months.
Anyway, I had made Red Velvet Baked Oatmeal for my blog several years back, and I decided to tinker with the recipe and make it even better. I am visiting my family this weekend, and two of my picky little sisters loved the recipe. What they didn’t know is that it has a hidden vegetable- beets!- that contribute to the “red velvet” color. Can’t picture beets in a sweet oatmeal recipe? Try it for yourself and see. The pickiest of my sisters said the oatmeal tasted like no bake Christmas cookies! (more…)
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POSTED IN: baked oatmeal, beets, chocolate, cream cheese, dessert lovers, hidden banana, veggies
POSTED IN: baked oatmeal, beets, chocolate, cream cheese, dessert lovers, hidden banana, veggies
Mango Cayenne Oat Smoothie
I love kombucha so much. I used to feel pressure to limit my kombucha intake (due to the fact that the good bottles cost like $5 each), but now that I make it at home, I can have one nearly every day!
One of my favorite flavor creations was mango + cayenne, which came about because I had some incredibly tough dried mango that I no longer wanted to snack on. As an expirement, I cut them into thin strips and tucked them into bottles of a fresh batch of kombucha. Sure enough, two days later (carbonating time!), my kombucha was delightfully mango-flavored, and I had found the perfect way not to waste that jaw-ripping mango.
Looking up various ways to elevate that flavor, I decided to try cayenne. It was an obvious choice, considering my favorite storebought kombucha is Health-Ade’s Cayenne Cleanse. I love spicyspicyspicy. <3 (more…)
Pineapple Kiwi Oatmeal with Coconut-Peanut Butter
I used to think nut butters didn’t work with tropical fruits. I’ve recently decided that you can make nut butters work with anything if you’re determined enough. The best part about adding a nut butter to a tropical oatmeal is that it brings some earthy, hearty warmth to an otherwise bold and tangy porridge.
Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Oatmeal (with Chocolate PB2 Sauce)
I always liked the idea of an oatmeal dedicated to chocolate-covered strawberries, but I figured I basically already had one with my Chocolate Strawberry Oatmeal. However, I’ve recently been making a thin chocolate PB2 concoction and using it as a sauce over my banana soft serve, and that gave me inspiration for this recipe.
I don’t cook strawberries in the oatmeal often, as I love the juicy freshness they provide as a topping (uncooked). But every now and then, a recipe idea comes along in which cooked-down berries are the most fitting. Not every recipe can be fudge-based, and pink porridge is delightful. ? (more…)
Dark Chocolate Espresso Brownie Baked Oatmeal with a Shortbread Crust [Guest Post]
It’s that time of the week again! Here’s another contest winner from the brownie baked oatmeal contest. This one sounds complex, but if you read the instructions, Lyndsey has actually made this a quick and easy process! Enjoy.
Hello! Shoutout to Lauren for giving me another opportunity to post on her wonderful blog. I’m always so excited to try out her new recipes, and it’s fun to be able to share one of my personal creations with all of you.
I started drinking coffee a couple of years ago to mask the flavor of my required nutrition supplements due to my health issues (you can read more about that here). Now, I enjoy a cup of warm, black coffee every morning as a way to start my day off right.
My love of black coffee is reflective of my taste for bitter flavors. Thus, I also have an obsession with dark chocolate. I add Hershey’s Dark Cocoa to my oatmeal almost every day, which I love as a healthy “indulgence.” (more…)
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POSTED IN: chocolate, coffee, cookie lovers, dessert lovers, guest post, veggies, zucchini
POSTED IN: chocolate, coffee, cookie lovers, dessert lovers, guest post, veggies, zucchini
S’mores Oatmeal…and my blog’s 4th birthday!!
My blog is four happy years old. This occasion seemed like the perfect time to celebrate with s’mores.
Dirt Pie Overnight Oatmeal
Happy Wednesday! The sun has finally come out again in New York City, and the forecast shows sun for the next week. ☀️ ☀️ ☀️ That means I’ll finally be able to get back to blogging.
You see, because I live in a Brooklyn apartment, it’s not feasible for me to take pictures outside (much to my displeasure). I have to take all my pictures right next to my bedroom window to get some natural light, and to get enough light, I need it to be MEGA sunny. Cloudy days work great for outside pictures, but not indoors. The past two weeks have been endlessly cloudy, resulting in me running out of recipes to post. My apologies.
For those of you unfamiliar with dirt pie (and that could very well be many of you), it’s a dessert with chocolate pudding topped with crushed Oreos and gummy worms. It’s a popular dessert to serve kids, especially around Halloween. (more…)
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POSTED IN: berries, chocolate, dessert lovers, overnight, strawberries, sweet potato, sweetened by dates, toppings, veggies, winter squash
POSTED IN: berries, chocolate, dessert lovers, overnight, strawberries, sweet potato, sweetened by dates, toppings, veggies, winter squash
Peanut Butter Cheesecake Swirled Brownie Baked Oatmeal [Guest Post]
This is the second recipe winner from my Brownie Baked Oatmeal contest! How beautiful are these photos? ? Enjoy!
First of all, let me thank Lauren. Two years ago I had an oat packet in the pantry and I didn’t know how to use it. In Italy most of the people think that oats are to be eaten as they are, but I found them as flavourful as paper. ?
I started to search on Google if I could find something more interesting (and healthy than granola packed with sugar ?). I discovered oatmeal, and immediately fell in love with Lauren’s blog! It was full of ideas and my breakfast was never the same! (more…)
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POSTED IN: baked oatmeal, chocolate, dessert lovers, guest post, nut butter, nuts, peanut butter, veggies, yogurt, zucchini
POSTED IN: baked oatmeal, chocolate, dessert lovers, guest post, nut butter, nuts, peanut butter, veggies, yogurt, zucchini
Apricot Almond Butter Bites
Gasp! Where have I been??
I’ve been proud of not taking any blogging breaks since I ran the heck away from quit teaching, but last week got the better of me! You know what really did it? The weather sucked (rain, rain, and more rain), which means I have no natural lighting for pictures. On the few days of semi-sunshine, I was too lazy to dirty some dishes and take a few pictures. It’s something I fight on a regular basis, but last week, the laziness won.
Lately I have found myself heading out the door with no packable snacks. Yes, I have dried fruit, but sometimes I get sick of just eating those every day, and I wanted something a little more interesting. Preferably something nutty. Having some dried apricots and almond butter to use up, I immediately set off to make an “energy ball” recipe that would be reminiscent of my beloved Peach & Almond Butter Oatmeal. (more…)
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POSTED IN: almond, apricot, dried fruit, no bake, not porridge, nut butter, nuts, oatmeal bites
POSTED IN: almond, apricot, dried fruit, no bake, not porridge, nut butter, nuts, oatmeal bites
Cherry Chili Brownie Baked Oatmeal [Guest Post]
This is recipe #1 from the brownie baked oatmeal contest!!! This winning submission comes to us courtesy of Katarzyna.
My Cherry Chili Brownie Baked Oatmeal was inspired by chocolate my Mom gave me. It was cherry & chili dark chocolate and I absolutely loved it. The only thing it was lacking was . . . the chili flavor. (more…)
2 Comments
POSTED IN: baked oatmeal, bananas, cherries, chocolate, dessert lovers, guest post, hidden banana, spicy
POSTED IN: baked oatmeal, bananas, cherries, chocolate, dessert lovers, guest post, hidden banana, spicy
