Although I have discovered many previous Enthusiasts on Instagram, Cassie was a special case. I love seeing my recipes duplicated on Instagram, but another thing I love is receiving comments on my posts. Cassie was consistently posting enthusiastic responses to my new recipes, and it didn’t take long for me to notice and start to recognize her name. I couldn’t wait to invite her to be August’s Oatmeal Enthusiast, and I’m so happy she accepted.
Wow, I cannot even begin how exciting it is to be the Oatmeal Enthusiast of August! I was beyond ecstatic since I comment on Lauren’s posts regularly and cannot get enough of her amazing concoctions. I tend to put the most effort into breakfast since it is my favorite meal of the day as well!
My name is Cassie, otherwise @superfitbabe on Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr, and I am an 18 year-old health and fitness blogger, foodie and traveler who loves trying new things. Oatmeal tends to be an exception since I frequently go back to making it, but I always discover creative recipes—including my favorite banana PB&J oatmeal and banana chocolate chip oatcakes from Lauren’s blog!
Growing up, my mother usually made my oatmeal for me. My first favorite oatmeal was the “Magicolor Cinnamon Crunch” Quaker instant oatmeal I had every day for breakfast before I would leave for preschool. I slowly grew out of rainbow sprinkles and grew to love cold cereal, especially the most popular kid brands such as Frosted Flakes and Lucky Charms.* It stayed that way for a long time until eighth grade when I saw I needed to make healthier choices and switched to whole wheat bran flakes and fruity granola. The problem with cold cereal was that I was never full after one serving and would end up eating more than seven bowls in one sitting!
*TOA: I can’t help but interject that these were my favorites, too!
Eventually I researched that oatmeal was the main alternative to cold cereal and asked my mother to buy me my first large canister of rolled oats—yes, none of that pre-packaged instant oatmeal stuff! Later as I became more expertise in making oatmeal, I found amazing recipes and add-ins that thicken and volumize my oats—my favorites became egg whites, coconut flour and vegan protein powder!
I’ve been hooked on oatmeal ever since developing a healthy lifestyle and relationship with food—it’s so hard to get bored! If you don’t believe me, hopefully you’ll find so otherwise when you take a look at my week of oatmeal eats below!
Sunday: Salted Caramel-Glazed Oatmeal
I decided to use one and a half spoonfuls of coconut flour as my main oatmeal thickener. After sprinkling some cinnamon on the oats, I topped it with a golden plum, a strawberry, raspberry, some Evoke Healthy Foods Athletic Fuel muesli (with pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, cashews, almonds, and raisins), Nature’s Path Qi’a chia cranberry buckwheat cereal, and a healthy salted caramel glaze topping I made by stirring some Quest Salted Caramel protein powder with a few splashes of water. I loved the sweetness of the glaze and the fluffiness of the oats—it was basically eating a giant cinnamon bun with a bunch of my favorite toppings!
Monday: Cinnamon French Toast Oatmeal
Monday morning I was craving French toast, so what could be better than to incorporate it in a giant bowl of goodness? I cooked egg whites with the oats to recreate the French toast “eggy” texture. Then, I toasted a plain ThinSlim slice of bread, dipped it in a mixture of egg whites, cinnamon and coconut milk, pan-fried it and cut it in chunks to stir in the oatmeal. Before I annihilated this bowl, I topped it with more Stevia, cinnamon, raw almond butter, strawberry slices and coconut milk. It literally tasted just like Cinnamon Toast Crunch!
Tuesday: Quest Brownie Batter Oatmeal
You cannot go for a week of oatmeal without having chocolate. I gladly enjoyed some cacao oats with a microwaved and crumpled chocolate brownie Quest bar with some raspberries and melted dark chocolate on a rushed Tuesday. I usually top my oatmeal with more goodies but this was still astonishingly rich!
Wednesday: Cake Batter Crumble Oats
Chilling vanilla bean oatmeal overnight made it unexpectedly thick and crumbly, so I piled it on top of Greek yogurt that I mixed with cacao powder and Stevia. Along with dark roast coffee beans, shredded coconut, raw almond butter, blackberries, and Nature’s Path Qi’a chia cereal, this bowl tasted just like an unbaked upside-down cake—with Greek yogurt as the frosting and oatmeal as cake!
Thursday: Get Your Greens Oatmeal
I’ll admit that for the week I wasn’t doing a good job of eating enough greens in my mornings, so I added some Lean Greens Superfood powder into my next oat and Greek yogurt bowl! Since I was out of regular rolled oats, I actually cooked oat flour in the same style as oatmeal and it worked the exact same way—it turned out fluffy, soft and irresistible! Lastly, I drizzled melted peanut butter on top and added Evoke Healthy Foods Antioxidant goji berry muesli, more Nature’s Path Qi’a chia cereal, and raisins on top of my delicious creation. Who said greens couldn’t be tasty?
Friday: Blueberry Muffin Oatmeal
Blueberry muffins were a childhood staple of mine! Instead of just adding in blueberries, I stirred in some shredded coconut, cinnamon and Evoke Healthy Goods Morning Zen cranberry muesli! This may appear small in my favorite bowl but I was happily stuffed afterwards!
Saturday: Quest White Chocolate Raspberry Cereal Oatmeal
Raspberry cravings hit me again, so I combined my oatmeal with raspberries, strawberries slices, my Evoke goji berry muesli, Nature’s Path Qi’a chia cereal, shredded coconut, a white chocolate raspberry Quest bar made into cereal puffs, raw almond butter and coconut milk. This tasted absolutely divine and took so little time to make!
Thank you so much for reading this post, and I hope you enjoyed seeing my oatmeal creations as much as I enjoyed cooking (and eating) them! I am so grateful of Lauren for giving me the privilege to be a special guest on her blog and spread the love for oatmeal to all of you!
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