Banana Pudding Oatmeal

With this cold weather that has moved in, this morning was a perfect day to add to our series The Oatmeal Chronicles - or How to Make Your Oatmeal More Interesting.

Now since I gave up sweets and desserts for Lent, I did use only one crushed Nilla wafer on top and one to garnish for the sake of the photo, but I personally would recommend at least 3 to 7 crushed wafers for layering and the topping, plus the one whole one wafer for garnish (8 wafers is a serving size of the reduced fat wafers) as I've put in the recipe, in order to achieve the full 'banana pudding' effect.

I considered using some dry sugar free vanilla pudding powder, but decided on the protein powder in order to give the oatmeal a protein boost. I used a vanilla ice cream flavored whey protein powder because that is what I have in the pantry. If you don't happen to have protein powder, you might give the dry pudding a try. In keeping with the vanilla inspiration, I also used a vanilla Splenda Flavors for Coffee tube for sweetening, because, again, I happened to have some in my pantry. You could certainly exchange that for any sugar substitute, table sugar, stevia, honey, or your preferred sweetener.



Banana Pudding Oatmeal
Posted at http://deepsouthdish.com

3/4 cup of Quaker old fashioned oatmeal
Pinch of salt
1-1/2 cups of water
Scoop of vanilla protein powder
1 tube of French vanilla Splenda Flavors for Coffee
3 - 7 Nilla wafers, crushed
1 banana, sliced
1 Nilla wafer for garnish
Heavy cream to drizzle, optional

Combine the oatmeal, salt and water in a large microwave safe bowl, between 2 and 4 quarts to allow for expansion. Stir together well and microwave on high for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your microwave, or until oatmeal is creamy.

Spoon half of the oatmeal into a serving dish. Top with 1/2 of the sliced bananas and 1/2 of the crushed Nilla wafers. Layer the remaining oatmeal on top, then the rest of the banana. Sprinkle with the rest of the crushed Nilla Wafers and garnish with one whole Nilla wafer. Drizzle with cream around the outside edges, if desired.

Pralines & Cream Oatmeal

Here's another one for The Oatmeal Chronicles - or How to Make Your Oatmeal More Interesting. I started off trying to create one thing and then thought about this instead. Oh my gosh was this a delicious treat!! Don't prepare the topping until right before you need it though, because if you do boil it too long it will eventually harden like candy once it starts cooling. You want it warm and pliable as a topping. This topping is also a great accent for just about anything sweet - try it drizzled over Greek yogurt, cake, ice cream or cheesecake!

Pralines & Cream Oatmeal
Posted at http://deepsouthdish.com

Praline Topping

4 tablespoons of Land O'Lakes unsalted butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of light corn syrup
1/4 cup of chopped pecans
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Melt the butter in the microwave using at least a 2 cup measure. Stir in the brown sugar, cream and corn syrup and return to the microwave, heating on high for about 1 minute, stirring halfway through. Stir in the pecans, return to the microwave for about 1 more minute or until bubbly. Set aside to cool.

Oatmeal

3/4 cup of Quaker old fashioned oatmeal
pinch of salt
1-1/2 cups of water
Heavy cream to drizzle
Drizzle of honey
Tiny pinch of chopped pecan for garnish

Combine the oatmeal, salt and water in a large microwave safe bowl, between 2 and 4 quarts to allow for expansion. Stir together well and microwave on high for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on your microwave, or until oatmeal is creamy.

Spoon oatmeal into serving dish and drizzle it with cream around the outside edges and a bit on top. Spoon praline topping in the center and drizzle a bit of honey on top. Garnish with a pinch of chopped pecan.

Lemon Banana Oatmeal with Honey Graham Crumble

 

Well, so far, I'm still workin' out of my pantry folks! This is solid proof how great it is to keep a well-stocked pantry and especially a well-stocked freezer. While I am beginning to run out of basic things like milk and yellow onions, we've still got plenty to choose from to build great meals right out of the pantry.

Today I had exactly one banana left and just a little bit of walnuts, so I thought I would add to my Oatmeal Chronicles by doing an oatmeal with banana today. Now I just love my banana bread that has a bit of citrus in it, including fresh lemon juice, so I thought that I would try a little bit of lemon with the banana in my oatmeal and I'm so glad I did. It adds just a wonderful bit of tartness that was just delicious with the sweetness of the honey. Don't have fresh lemons this time? Well here's a tip that will ensure that in the future you always do!

In the pantry I also had one sleeve of honey graham crackers left in an opened package, so I decided to take one-half of a cracker and crumble that up to top off the oatmeal. Lemon with banana, topped with a little honey graham and finished with a nice drizzle of honey ... a really great way to start the day!

Nutritional Factoid: Did you know that flaxseed is extremely high in Omega-3 essential fatty acids, the good fat? And, doctors are looking at it for its possible effects on lowering cholesterol, stabilizing blood sugar, lowering the risk of breast, prostate, and colon cancers, and reducing the inflammation of arthritis, as well as the inflammation that accompanies certain illnesses such as Parkinson's disease and asthma? (Source: WebMD) So when you can, add it into your foods!

Lemon Banana Oatmeal
with Honey Graham Crumble
Posted at http://deepsouthdish.com/

One whole banana, cut into slices, divided
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup of Quaker Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1-3/4 cups of water (or can substitute milk)
Dash of salt
1 tablespoon of chopped walnuts, divided
1 teaspoon of flax meal or crushed flaxseed
About 1 tablespoon of honey, divided
1/2 of a honey graham cracker, crushed
Drizzle of cream, optional

Slice the banana and toss with the lemon juice; set aside.

Combine the oatmeal, water, salt, most of the chopped walnut and the flax meal in a large microwave save bowl. Microwave for between 3 to 5 minutes, or until oatmeal is creamy. Microwaves vary so it may take more or less time with your microwave.

Remove, stir in most of the banana with the lemon juice, reserving a few slices for garnish and drizzle with about 1/2 of the honey; gently stir to combine. Transfer to serving bowls. Top each serving with a couple of banana slices, sprinkle with the crushed honey graham cracker, and drizzle the remaining honey all over the top. If you're not watching your fat and calories, melt a little bit of butter and drizzle that over the top of those graham crackers and around the top of the oatmeal too. Finish with just a drizzle of cream right around the edges of the bowl, if desired.

Enjoy!

Serves 1 or 2

The Quaker package lists this serving size as the "Heart Healthy Serving Size" providing 3 grams of soluble fiber, but it is quite a lot and certainly enough to split into 2 servings.

5 Weight Watchers Points for 1/2 of recipe, not including cream

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Apple Pie Oatmeal with Walnuts

Oatmeal, seasoned with apple pie spices and cooked with pieces of fresh apple.

I love oatmeal - and it is so good for you, heart healthy and well, honestly warms you up from the inside out. It also seems to stay with me longer than other breakfasts do, I guess because of the whole grain fiber you're gettin' from it. Usually I just do my oatmeal pretty basic without a lot of fanfare, but I've decided that I want to get a bit more adventurous so I thought that I would chronicle any different types of oatmeal that I decide to try. Today, I have apples I want to use up, so it was still pretty basic - apples and cinnamon with some walnuts tossed in. Let's call it apple pie oatmeal.

Nutritional Factoid: Did you know that walnuts are an extremely high and most excellent source of Omega-3 essential fatty acids, and that they are great brain food?


Apple Pie Oatmeal with Walnuts
From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

3/4 cup of quick cooking or old fashioned oatmeal
1-3/4 cups of water (or substitute milk)
Dash of salt
One whole apple, unpeeled, cored and cut in chunks
Cinnamon Sugar*
Dash of allspice, nutmeg and ginger
1 tablespoon of chopped walnuts
Drizzle of cream, optional

Combine the oatmeal, water, salt and apple in a large microwave save bowl. Microwave for between 3 to 5 minutes, or until oatmeal is creamy and apples are tender. Microwaves vary so it may take more or less time with your microwave.

Remove, transfer to serving bowls. Mix the cinnamon sugar with the allspice, nutmeg and ginger, sprinkle the top of each serving generously with the mixture, top with walnuts and stir to mix it all together. Taste for sweetness and top with additional cinnamon sugar as desired. Drizzle a small amount of cream just around the edges of the bowl.

Enjoy!

Serves 1 or 2

*Cinnamon Sugar: Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1 heaping tablespoon of cinnamon and pour into a shaker bottle. I use an emptied cinnamon spice jar that has a shaker insert in the top and a screw on cap to store mine.

The Quaker package lists this serving size as the "Heart Healthy Serving Size" providing 3 grams of soluble fiber, but it is quite a lot and certainly enough to split into 2 servings.