When people think of oatmeal, they imagine some mundane bowl of blandness reserved for the elderly. This misconception needs to be addressed, and fall is the perfect season to showcase amazing versions of this classic, comforting breakfast. Oatmeal is a cold weather staple and it contains high amounts of fiber (probably where the “breakfast for old people” thought comes from). It’s far from that, though, and we want to show you how you can transform this breakfast into something delicious.
Make Your Oatmeal
You don’t have to grow your own oats and grind them in a stone grinder inside a windmill, but you need to avoid the use of packaged, flavored oatmeal. That is not oatmeal. These bags of sugar and artificial ingredients do not provide any of the nutritional benefits of oatmeal; in fact, they negatively affect your health. All you need to do is boil some water, add rolled oats or steel cut oats to the boiling water, and stir for a few minutes until thickened.
Oatmeal Fact: Oats are inherently gluten-free, but processing facilities often expose them to wheat products. If you are gluten intolerant, use a trusted gluten-free brand like Bob’s Red Mill.
Use Dessert Ingredients
Dessert for breakfast never hurt anyone, unless that breakfast was an entire double chocolate cake. Oatmeal is a blank canvas and can easily take on other flavors. For instance, you can make a Mexican hot chocolate oatmeal by mixing a spoonful of raw cacao powder, a pinch of cinnamon, a pinch of cayenne, and some vanilla extract into a bowl of cooked oats. Sauté some bananas in a little raw honey and place them atop your oatmeal for a healthy play on Bananas Foster.
Embrace The Seasons
The fall season is here, which means you can finally get your pumpkin spice on! Add ½ cup of pumpkin puree to one serving of oats. Heat it up with some almond milk, pumpkin pie spice, and a dash of vanilla extract. Drizzle some grade A maple syrup over the oatmeal for a breakfast bowl of pumpkin deliciousness. You can also make apple pie oatmeal!
Go Rogue And Explore Oat Alternatives
A healthy breakfast bowl is not limited to oatmeal; rather, there are many oatmeal-like grains and seeds to consider. You can make a protein-rich breakfast with quinoa, millet, or experiment with a combination of buckwheat and flaxseeds. All of these grains and seeds can easily go in any direction you choose, be it savory or sweet. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box.
Get Crunchy
A great meal should include some textural element that is different from the rest of the ingredients. Oatmeal is soft, so add some crunch by topping your bowl with chia seeds, hemp seeds, or flax seeds. Not only do these ingredients add crunch, but they also offer protein and much-needed omega-3 fatty acids. You can double up on oats and top your oatmeal with granola or add chopped nuts, dried berries or fresh fruit.
We can tell you the different ways to go about improving your oatmeal, but we though providing you with a couple recipes would be a better option. Better yet, these are overnight oats that make for perfect on-the-go breakfasts. Try them out and let us know how you like them.
Banana Almond Overnight Oats
Don’t have time to make breakfast during your busy mornings? You can have an easy grab-and-go breakfast by making this the night before.
Click here to make the recipe.
Keto Overnight “Oats” With Coconut And Blueberries
This is a new, ketogenic spin on traditional overnight oats. Full of healthy fats, fiber, and flavor, you won’t know the oats aren’t there.
Click here to make the recipe.
Vincent Stevens is the senior content writer at Dherbs. As a fitness and health and wellness enthusiast, he enjoys covering a variety of topics, including the latest health, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle trends. His goal is to inform people of different ways they can improve their overall health, which aligns with Dherbs’ core values. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Redlands, graduating summa cum laude. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
