January is National Oatmeal Month

I know.  There is a "National-Everything-Month" these days.  BUT, I love oatmeal, so I'm gonna go ahead and talk about it.  First of all, a few months ago I made the big decision to switch from the el cheapo quick cooking instant oatmeal flakes to steel cut oats.  I thought I loved oatmeal before, but this was game changing.  They do cost more, and take longer to cook but if you are an oatmeal fan, you won't mind one bit.    Then last week, one of my most favorite fitness bloggers posted this recipe for baked coconut-blueberry oatmeal.  That is like, all of my favorite words in one recipe title.  So, after I went to the grocery store Sunday  night, I stuck a pan of it in the oven and have eaten it for breakfast (and a few little snacks) all week.  I just had the last bowl and it made me a little sad, until I realized that I can just make it again and not be sad.

Yes, it called for one of the "good" bowls:)

Its a very simple recipe, which is great.  When recipes even look the least bit complicated, I get nervous.  And sweat.  And usually tear them up and throw them away.  I tweaked a few things about it, to accommodate what I had on hand/what was less expensive/etc.  For instance, I had a few cups of soy milk to use up instead of almond milk, then I used coconut milk for the rest.  I don't really stick to any one type of "milk" around our house.  We never have dairy milk, just soy or almond or coconut.  I haven't branched out to hemp or rice milk yet.  I just kind of rotate through whatever is available or on sale at whichever store I am shopping at.  I think this recipe will work with any type of milk.  Then, I did half frozen-half fresh blueberries, just to see how it would turn out and it was fine.  I also omitted the dried blueberries because they were kind of expensive and very few came in a bag.  We're on a budget here, people!  I don't think the recipe necessarily needs any added sweetener, I believe the blogger used vanilla stevia drops.  I used a bit of honey, but that could be skipped if you were really concerned about sugar.  The great thing about this oatmeal dish is that it is something that is actually better as leftovers.  It needs to sit for awhile for the oats to soak up some of the milk, but I found that it didn't lose any of its tastiness over the days that I ate it.  I just popped a bowl of it in the microwave and then put a little extra coconut milk on top and it was awesome.  I can't wait until it is cherry season, as I think I might try to alter the recipe and use cherries.  And then maybe alter it again and instead of coconut flakes and coconut milk, I will use just almond milk, some almonds, and maybe a tiny bit of almond extract with cherries.  I really like the cherry/almond combo.  Many, many thanks to Erin for sharing this oatmeal gem this fine, cold January!