I am definitely a breakfast person. I was the kind of kid that would get so excited if we ever had breakfast for dinner (which we didn’t…thanks Mom :)). College was the ultimate for me….I was free to eat cereal for dinner…or perhaps pancakes at lunch? Now that I’m an “adult,” I try and eat balanced meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I also try and save the breakfast foods for breakfast. By breakfast foods, I mean the healthier options out there….not the standard college diet of Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Carmel Frappuccino’s or this.
Oatmeal is a great breakfast food. It’s so versatile, filling, and nutritious. It’s definitely a food I appreciate more now that I’m older (I’m pretty sure I was disgusted by it as a youngster…again..not Cinnamon Toast Crunch). Usually, I throw some bananas in it…maybe peanut butter to make it creamy, and some cinnamon. This morning I was inspired by a recipe I saw in November’s Shape Magazine.
The recipe suggested putting a couple teaspoons of instant coffee into your morning oatmeal. I love the smell and taste of coffee so thought I’d give it a try. Here’s the recipe I used (slightly different than Shape’s):
- 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
- 1/2 cup fat free milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant coffee
- 1 teaspoon ground flax seeds
- little bit of honey
- half a banana
I combined the oats, milk, water, and instant coffee into a bowl. I used about 1 1/2 teaspoons of instant coffee which was pretty strong. The original recipe calls for 2 teaspoons which for me, would have been way too much. If you like that strong coffee flavor though it might be the perfect amount for you.
I microwaved the oatmeal mixture for about 2 minutes then added the flax seed, banana, and honey.
To accompany my delicious oatmeal I made some….coffee. Not just any coffee! I brewed up some seasonal pumpkin spice coffee.
I’ll keep you posted if I start to shake later due to the coffee overload at breakfast. So far, so good!
Overall, it was a pretty tasty breakfast! I would definitely make it again but maybe less coffee next time. This oatmeal for me is more about the coffee flavor, not so much the caffeine buzz.
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