Popular Porridges
Author Archives: Lauren Smith
Weekend Musings: Three Years Vegan
Yesterday, I celebrated my third anniversary of being vegan—my veganniversary, if you will. Like many vegans, I went on this adventure without a clear idea of what I was doing, or even how to cook. While all our journeys are a little different, I’m guessing there are some common experiences, especially when it comes to “the firsts.”
10 Firsts that Every Vegan Must Endure:
1.The first cheese-less meal
The first shock of new veganism is realizing how often you put cheese on just about everything. One of the challenges in the beginning (which becomes kind of fun, actually) is finding replacements for that creamy, salty flavor.
*cough* avocado *cough* (more…)
PB2 Yogurt Frosting
Have you ever wanted to top your oatmeal with a pillow of creamy frosting? But you don’t want to give up your beloved peanut butter?
Here’s a great compromise. This topping is easy to make, requiring just plain yogurt and PB2 (and a drop of vanilla extract, if you’d like). (more…)
10 Recipes for National Apple Month!
October is National Apple Month! This makes sense, considering it’s the time of year that everyone suddenly develops an interest an apple-picking. You’re definitely going to need some recipes to use up the seven pounds of apples you brought home out of pure excitement. Maybe this list will help you out!
Apple Oatmeal with Chocolate Tahini & Coconut
This combination of ingredients would not appear to go together at first glance, but they truly do. Chocolate tahini is also a great way to test the waters if you’re new to tahiniland. (more…)
Product Review: PB2 with Fruit!
Hey oatmeal lovers! I’m very excited to introduce you to this sparkling new product by Bell Plantation: PB2 with Fruit! Playing off the concept of PB&J, this product comes in flavors of grape, strawberry, and banana. The result is a sweet and fun peanut butter with the ease and creaminess of the original PB2 product.
My favorite flavor was PB2 with Grape, which is not surprising since I prefer my PB&J with grape jelly. I thought this version had the most pleasing taste, and it tasted almost like I was eating actual PB&J, not just grape mixed into peanut butter, if that makes sense. (more…)
Oatmeal Enthusiasts: Meet Dana!
If you’re a regular on Instagram and my #oatmealartist feed, you probably know Dana as the one with the mountain of toppings on her porridge. And I don’t simply mean “mountain” as “a lot.” I mean her toppings–like graham cracker ‘crumble’ or granola or yogurt–form a perfectly shaped mountain atop her oats. Now she is October’s Oatmeal Enthusiast!
Before I get started, I wanted to take a moment to thank Lauren for contacting me and offering me an opportunity to share my oats with the world! My name is Dana, I live in New York City, and although my entire academic career has been strictly dedicated to literature and analysis, I have always – ever since I was a child – had a flair for all things creative. My artistic interests include everything from music and drawing to cooking and baking. I became a foodie in my first year or two of college and if anyone else reading this happens to be an NYC native, I’m sure you’ll agree that it can offer a plethora of eclectic culinary inspirations.
Although I love working with all different kinds of food, breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day. In my opinion, it offers a wide range of creative liberty, from baked goods to skillet dishes, from sweet to savory, breakfast is just all around fun.
This brings me to my love of oatmeal. Now where do I begin? There are so many reasons to love oats, they are a delicious, easy to make and good for you but one of my favorite aspects of oats is that they are a canvas. You really can do almost anything with them. From warm and comforting to cool and creamy, oats have it all! Few foods provide the opportunity to bring such a dessert-like decadence to meals that are healthy and nourishing for your body. Finally, and this certainly won’t be a surprise, because oatmeal is such a natural canvas, it is the perfect food to use to create seasonally inspired dishes, which is something that I think everyone will notice I tried to focus on for the month of October. I hope everyone enjoys the bowls I’ve prepared for this week!
MONDAY: APPLE CRUMB BOWL
Cinnamon spiced oats, topped with caramelized apples and finished with a soft baked crumble and warm maple syrup. (more…)
Hacking the Instant Oatmeal Packet, Part II
Read Part I here.
Hi friends!
Recently, I was traveling home for my brother’s wedding. The hotel did not offer a free continental breakfast (what is that nonsense??), so I decided to pack some oatmeal. I knew I would have minimal resources at my disposal, and I didn’t want to eat flavorless porridge, so I packed my Matcha Marketplace oatmeal packets (the blueberry coconut flavor).
It was the perfect solution. Cooked with nothing but water, it created a delicious oatmeal and I didn’t feel like I was “settling.” This ignited an unusual interest in flavored oatmeal packets, and I started thinking about ways to enhance the typical packet experience.
Here’s my first: Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal + Pumpkin puree. That’s it!
I have added banana before, but I think pumpkin works even better because the banana adds sweetness to an already sweet oatmeal. Pumpkin solves this problem because it is bitter and earthy, and it needs the sweetness from the oatmeal packet.
Prepare the oatmeal as directed, and stir in 1/3 cup pumpkin puree. I topped mine with PB&Co Cinnamon Raisin Peanut Butter, coconut, and pecans. ?
More ideas for Maple & Brown Sugar:
- Stir in mashed sweet potato
- Stir in unsweetened applesauce (it takes on a kind of apple pie taste)
- Stir in unsweetened chestnut puree
- Add instant coffee granules
- Cook 1-2 servings of quinoa porridge and add the Maple & Brown Sugar packet in the last five minutes (it will create a multigrain porridge, with a more mild maple & brown sugar flavor)
Do you have any oatmeal packet hacks? Or do you have ideas for more hacks I can try?
Salted Tahini Fudge Oatmeal
I’ve been flying through jars of tahini. I think its best use is in salad, but I also love it on oatmeal from time to time.
Tahini Banana Overnight Oatmeal
Isn’t this the best mess you’ve ever seen? Don’t you want to just lick it all up?? When I dumped this recipe into this bowl and saw it was going to overflow, I just kind of shrugged and let it happen. Then I dumped tahini all over it and let that overflow, too. It’s a cascade of tahini delight.
