Create Your Day and Voluminous Oats

If you're running low on oatmeal inspiration and need a few creation ideas to get you started, head to the Quaker Oats website and try out their "Create Your Oatmeal" app.

Using Quaker Oatmeal's "Create Your Oatmeal" website app, I created a custom "Eye Opener Oatmeal." The app comes up with a custom recipe based on your inputted info for that day

Eye Opener Oatmeal. Cinnamon Pecan, topped with coffee, cinnamon, and nutmeg. But where is the recipe?!

Here is what I filled out to get my Eye Opener Oatmeal (you get a choice where the words in blue are with drop down menus): "I like to start my day at 7:00am*- hopefully I'm refreshed and ready to go! The city is bustling** and it looks like I could really use a balanced***day. I'm up early and still going strong later on...and a little extra oomph would definitely help! With a little bit of luck enough determination + not too much contemplation, I can still find make time for a workout. What a day!"

My additions:
* ...if I'm lucky enough to sleep in that late. Tues & Thurs are even earlier for my 6:30am Power Hour classes!
**...Syracuse counts as a real city...right?
***...a balanced day in college = spending equal amounts of time doing work at the library, computer lab, random building you don't have classes in, quad, etc., so as not to fry ones brains. Location location location!

Since Quaker left me hanging in recipe department for this Eye Opener Oatmeal, and instant oatmeal isn't all that great for you, I decided to come up with an Eye Opener recipe on my own.  It's inspired by the recipe that won one woman a trip to the 12th Annual Quaker Oatmeal Festival in Lafayette, Colorado (this is by far my #1 dream trip) for her Oatmeal Espresso recipe using instant coffee! Cinnamon and oatmeal are old friends. Toss in the rich, nutty taste of pecans and coffee for a perfect pick me up for any cool autumn day.

Homemade Eye Opener Oatmeal
1/2 cup oats (I use old fashioned rolled oats)
2 cups liquid (I use combination of water and Almond Breeze unsweetened non-dairy milk)
Dash of salt

1 T banana, sliced thin
Dash of vanilla extract

1/2 packet single serve instant coffee
1/2 T cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 cup pecans

Combine oats, liquid, salt, and banana in a large saucepan, and heat over medium heat. This will look extremely watery at this point but fret not! It will take around 10 minutes to boil. As it heats up, use a fork to mash up the banana and mix it in with the oats, whisking everything together occasionally.  Once it starts to boil you'll have to stir it more often, creating a "suspension" with the banana acting as an emulsifier. Keep it to a low, rolling boil for about 20 minutes at most, whisking it often, then remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract, instant coffee, cinnamon, and nutmeg and cover the pot. Let it sit for about 5 minutes to absorb some of the liquid (the longer it sits, the thicker it gets).  Using a longer cooking time like this lets you get away with using more liquid, and really creates a thick, voluminous bowl of oats. When you're ready to serve, pour it into a bowl and top with pecans and perhaps a drizzle of maple syrup.

From The Oatmeal Project, Day 9: Maple Pumpkin Pecan

 *Note: The oatmeal pictured above is from The Oatmeal Project and contains pumpkin

If this seems like a heck of a lot of work for your breakfast routine, you can always make it the way Quaker intended (the easy, instant way). See the video here.