The joy of oats!

If you read my blog on a regular basis (thanks!) you'll more then likely notice one thing popping up quite regularly and that is oats! I love them, I have them for breakfast, lunch and even sometimes for a late night snack. Everything about them is great, they keep you going through the morning all the way to lunch, the flavour combos are endless and a nice big cup full comes at just 150 calories!

Now my basic recipes for oats is bullet proof. It's so easy I can whip it up at 5.30 in the morning half asleep! The ratio is simple 1/2 a cup of oats ( don't worry this makes a lot), a pinch of salt and about a cup of water depending on how thick you like it, I'm kind of a middle way girl. Also a great tip is to add half a ripe banana chopped up to the pot while the oats are cooking, the natural sugars will sweeten the porridge without any need for yucky processed sugars.

Like I said before the use for oats is endless so much so I grabbed a few photos from over the past year to show you!

 This was my breaky this morning, oats with a tbsp. of unsweetened 100% cocoa, tsp of agave and 1/2 Tbsp of unsweetened jam. Very rich and very yummy.

 Original recipe with the added addition of tsp of brown sugar and some roasted hazelnuts.

 This is my favourite home made granola ever! The addition of oats and quinoa make this addictive and healthy, two things I like very much.

 Oats are also great in bars, this is my banana protein bar I made a few weeks back. Just pop them in your lunch box and you've got yourself a great afternoon snack!

 Another variation which I haven't had the chance to make myself yet is muesli. I am addictive to the stuff so much so I usually at least two boxes somewhere in my kitchen at one time. At the moment I have a yummy buckwheat muesli from Eat Natural that has a yummy addiction of toasted coconut! I also have a new one I'm trying out called Maca's Secrets, this has the added nutritional boost of maca powder and carob chunks. Be warned though if you haven't tried carob before the taste is very unusual and has quite a bitterness to it.

 Whole Foods does a great granola and yogurt combo which changes flavours depending on what's in season. Here I had honey and banana which was out of this world yummy!

 Oat bakes are also another great use of oats for breakfast. Be sure to put enough liquid in the mix though because the oats will soak it all up and the last thing you want is a tough dry oat bake.

 Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so make it pretty and tasty! Who ever said porridge was boring is crazy. This banana, jam and peanut butter porridge doesn't look boring to me!

Add some chocolate soy milk instead of water and hay presto you've got yourself choccy pudding for breaky! And it's healthy!

See how amazing are oats and with fall upon us there's nothing better then a warm breaky to chase away the cold.