Author Archives: Lauren Smith

November’s Oatmeal Enthusiast is one of my favorite Instagrammers. Her pictures have a simplicity to them without being dull. She appreciates a great aerial shot, just like me, and she doesn’t bother with excessive backdrops or props–except an occasional hand grasping the bowl. Instead, all the focus is on her beautiful bowl of oats, thoughtfully prepared with surprising twists and unique flavors. Read on, oatmeal lovers, and then check out her Instagram page: @vegankween.

Greetings fellow oatmeal worshippers!

My name is Kat (although the full name happens to be Katya) and I am a senior (grade 12) at an all-girls school in Canada. Between busting my butt at field hockey practice and studying up to be accepted into my university of choice, I always find happiness in the humblest bowls of oatmeal.

To be honest, I really have no clear reason when it comes to why I was first drawn to oatmeal. As a child, I would have marmite and butter on toast, or on weekends (at my cottage) my mother would make AMAZING fruit pancakes with whatever seasonal fruit was at the market, but somewhere along the line my mother found out about steel-cut oats. Steel cut oats are thicker, meatier and chewier. They are delicious, but take a heck of a long time to make (about ½ an hour if they’re not the instant kind) so I fell back on its quicker and less chewy relative: the rolled oat for rushed school day mornings.

The classic brown sugar and cinnamon was interesting for a while, but soon became boring. I wanted MORE adventure in my life, and I decided to become a self-proclaimed ‘Oatmeal Daredevil’. Let’s just say I am adventurous when it comes to flavour profiles. I’m a pretty strict vegan (no honey or bee products, etc.) and because of that, I always need to be thinking outside the box for substitutions, or making vegetables taste better. I have been known to make some pretty weird combinations like: curry-apple, sesame ‘n gingerbread or even pizza oatmeal! [TOA: Pizza Oatmeal is the best!]

I love oatmeal because it’s a blank canvas, every morning there’s a new combination to be made, and it can be spicy, sweet, salty, or even sour, and the fact that it’s nutritious is an added bonus!

My mind is always running on what interesting oatmeal flavour I should make next. I even have a growing list of ideas on my phone [TOA: ME TOO!]  for inspiration and sometimes I use the ideas, other times I think “what was I thinking?!”

Mostly I go along the general outline of what makes a good bowl of oats into a meal: I choose 1 or 2 different types of fruit, a spice (my favourite’s are: garam masala, cinnamon, ginger and rosemary), normally one of my various extracts that I keep in my cupboard (I have: vanilla, chocolate, almond, anise, orange, coconut, maple, banana and mint), and then some type of healthy fat (like almond butter, tahini, nuts or avocado)

I make my oatmeal a very specific way: ¾ c. of almond milk, ¼ c. water and like a splash of soy milk. I add the oats while the liquid is boiling, then I add the fruit so it can soften, and usually I add grated zucchini if the oats need some bulking up. After everything had been cooked, I let the oats sit off the heat for about 2 minutes so they solidify. And then I dig in!

So, that is how I came to be an oatmeal enthusiast. Without further ado, here is my week in oatmeal recipes!

Monday:

I started my week on a truly colourful note, and I woke up groggily, and got my itchy uniform on (pleated skirt and everything), and made this warm bowl. The unhappiness that accompanies Monday’s was contradicted by the sunny delight of Maple & Pumpkin oatmeal with a delicious drizzle of golden tahini and maple sugar flakes. (more…)