for the love of oats

i have always enjoyed oatmeal but never so much as i do now that i've been inspired by local food/mama blogger, kath of kath eats real food. her tribute to oatmeal will completely rock your bowl of bland oats. 

last night i went to bed thinking, mmmm, i'm going to have me a bowl of kath classic creamy banana oatmeal when i wake up, and indeed i did. watch the video and check out the recipe on her tribute to oatmeal page, along with a lengthy photo essay of tremendous toppings. her blog is quite wonderful and she's got an extensive recipe page too!

here is my bowl of creamy whipped banana oatmeal, with a modest topping of raspberry preserves, almond butter and golden flax seeds. have you ever had preserves in your oatmeal? it's better than a jelly donut!

and when you have left over oatmeal, make muffins!. i always add cranberries and a little bit of vanilla to the mix.

another great oat heavy snack are these homemade granola bars! how is that i've never made my own granola bars before? i used this recipe last night to cook up a delicious batch of delightful bars. i was even rewarded a text from tashi today that said in all caps, "THOSE SNACK BARS ARE GOOD. . . om nom nom."

this is all that was left after some munching last night, and some lunch boxes this morning. 

 i used dried blueberries, cherries, golden raisins, and cranberries. they are quite sweet but i am glad i decided to pick up some turbinado sugar as the recipe suggests. there is something very distinctive about turbinado as compared to refined sugar.

and finally, this homemade granola is so delicious. soulemama shares and earlier version of the recipe from cynthia lair's feeding the whole family, and having tried both, i do prefer the earlier version. it's divine, and as kath suggests, sprinkle your granola on your oatmeal!

cheers to you (holding up an oatmeal stout)!