Favourite meal of the day? Without a question, breakfast wins every time.  If anything, it’s an excuse to eat sweet carbs guilt-free ;)!  Although I’ve never been one for eggs/savoury in the morning, I’ll happily make a lunch or dinner out of it.  But even after eliminating the savoury options, healthy breakfast choices are endless: cereal, pancakes, waffles, toast, fresh fruit and yogurt, granola- I’ll stop there. 

As tantalising as it all sounds, I always come back to my beloved oats.  Call me crazy but something about eating out of a bowl is more satisfying that from a plate.  Plus now that I’m working for a company that distributes oats, I’ve developed a stronger sense of loyalty :lol:.  Granted they’re not the prettiest thing to look at it, or the yummiest thing to eat straight out of a box but oats never fail me: after eating them, I’m guaranteed fullness for at least 4 hours and all of the other wonderful benefits they have to offer.

For a while, I was on a fresh fruit/yogurt/oats kick but as I have a tendency to do so, I overdid it.  Now the thought of eating that combination makes my stomach turn- I blame the yogurt :shock:.  It might be a good thing because I’ve reverted back to an old favourite: oatmeal.  I refrain from using the word ‘porridge’ because a) I’m not Goldilocks and b) the word is a bit yucky/gloopy to say.    I know I use the term ‘best’ a lot but trust me, this is one of the best bowls of oatmeal I’ve ever made/had.  It tasted just like a banana bread pudding would taste like…with an extra dollop of smugness for all the nutritional bases you are covering. 

Before we get started, chuck your microwave out.  I used to wish we owned a microwave for the convenience factor.  But trust me, once you cook oats on stovetop, you’ll understand why oatmeal gets a bad rep: all it produces is rubbery mush.  Instead, get your pan** and spatula out.  For what it’s worth, cleaning a pan takes all of 2 minutes.  I’ve provided exact measurements so you can experience the exact deliciousness I did.  

Banana Bread Oatmeal

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup oats (30g)
• 160 ml natural soy milk (or your preferred kind of milk)
• 80 ml water
• 70g ripe banana (uglier, black-skinned bananas tend to be ripest)
• Half teaspoon of cinnamon
• Handful of raisins
• Peanut butter (8g)
• Sprinkle of granola (I used Kashi Go Lean Crunch, probably around 5-10 grams)
• Honey
• Optional: egg white

Method

1. To reduce cooking time in the morning, soak your oats overnight in half the liquid amount (80 ml milk+40 ml water)…this can contribute to your pan-cleaning time
2. In the morning, heat up the oats and add in the remaining liquid, ¾ banana, and raisins.  Keep stirring for about 3-5 minutes to enable the banana to gelatinize the oats.  The oats should reach a nice, thick consistency.
3. If you’re feeling wild and want some egg-stra protein in you, add in the egg white when the oats have thickened, and stir like mad.  And I mean mad- you don’t want to end up eating a raw egg.
4. Spoon out the oatmeal into your bowl and stir in your peanut butter.  Top your bowl off with a sprinkle of granola, cinnamon, a drizzle of honey, and the remaining banana.
5. Thank me later

**Note: Oats always seem to cook faster in a pan as opposed to a pot.  And I find that the flatter surface of a pan makes washing up a lot of easier.