I Heart Oatmeal…Now

My usual breakfast is a lovely little combo of Fage 0% Greek Yogurt (“yogret” as my niece would say), topped with 1/2 a cup of strawberries, and a tablespoon of sliced almonds with 2 slices of Canadian bacon on the side.  The Greek yogurt tends to have more protein than regular yogurt, so with that plus the Canadian bacon and sliced almonds I usually get enough protein to tide me over until lunch.  The strawberries are for sheer yummy deliciousness and to get in one of the recommended 5 daily servings of fruit and veggies.  I really enjoy this breakfast it would generally keep me satiated from ~7am to noon.  That is, until recently…

In addition to my usual daily workouts I’m now training for a Susan G. Komen 3-day walk.  That means that for about 3/5 weekdays I’m walking an extra 3-5 miles and on the weekends I’m now walking 6-8 miles.  The weekend distance will continue to grow as I get closer to my 3-Day walk in October, during which time I will walk 60 miles in 3 days.  So I guess I’m burning a lot more calories because, lately, the lovely yogurt and berries combo is just not cutting the mustard.  By 10am I am STARVING!  My stomach is NOTICEABLY  growling during my therapy sessions, and I have to remind myself that it would neither be professional, nor sanitary to sneak bites of the things I’m feeding to my dysphagia (swallowing) patients.

So, I am searching for a yummy, healthy, breakfast that’s gonna have a little more “stick-to-it-ness” (yes, I made that up) than my typical breakfast.  You’ve noticed in my blog roll and by a couple of my posts that I am a fan of Kath Eats Real Food.  It’s a blog that began as a twenty-something girl’s weight loss journey and through her journey decided that she wanted to go back to school to become a Registered Dietician.  It’s all about healthy living.  Kath, the author, is a HUGE fan of oatmeal and makes more variations of it that I would have ever thought possible.

I have never eaten oatmeal.  It looks like a gray, lumpy, pile of mush.  I will admit, though, that smelling someone cooking up a cinnamony bowl of it would pique my curiosity but then I’d take a look at it and think “Nope.  Just can’t do it.”  But since I’m trying new things and oatmeal is generally regarded as a heart-healthy, relatively low calorie, protein-rich breakfast…and I am on the lookout for such a breakfast…I thought, “Why not.  Let’s give it a shot.”  If I’m going to do this, it’s got to be yummy.  So I went to the Oatmeal Master…Kath.  She has a video on how to make her Kath Classic Oatmeal on her site followed by recipes for numerous variations.

And, what do ya know… I liked it!  So much so that I looked down at my bowl and realized that, while perusing my favorite blogs over breakfast (second breakfast, actually since I was starving after walking 8 mi this a.m.), I had inadvertently eaten my Kath Classic Oatmeal into the shape of a heart.

(Side note – Kath’s video recipe leaves out salt, but both her written recipe on the site and the instructions on the back of the Quaker Old Fashioned Oats container call for a little salt.  The salt is needed and I’m definitely going to add it next time.)

The moral of this story – Trying new things won’t kill ya, and you might even like what you try!  Needless to say, I’m looking forward to many more oatmeal adventures!

Cheers!