Choco-Cherry Cashew Oatmeal

KIND bars cost too much. Let's all agree on that. Certainly, they are a high-quality product and deserve to cost as much as they do. However, this girl will not be buying them on the regular. This girl receives a living stipend (not an actual salary) and spends too much money at Banana Republic.

However, I splurge on one or two bars from time to time. In August, when I was technically homeless for a week, was massively in debt, and had no functioning kitchen to cook in, I survived on bananas, hummus, and whole wheat naan. To make my life seem less pathetic, I also treated myself to one single KIND bar.

I remember unwrapping it for a mid-morning snack during my staff training session. For a moment, my boss's voice faded off as my attention focused on the brilliance happening in my mouth. Dark chocolate, sweet cherries, and salty cashews worked harmoniously and created a chewy, crunchy, decadent snack bar.

Pineapple Cashew Oatmeal

You know what I love? Thai food. I actually didn't eat much international cuisines in my youth (I was a meat-and-potatoes-only kind of girl), so my experiments have all been recent. I didn't have Thai for the first time until last May. Oddly enough, the first exposure was in the Denver airport! :) I had some sort of rice dish, and I chose the Thai peanut sauce. That moment, I knew I was meant to love Thai, and I went to my first real Thai restaurant shortly after that.

What did I choose for my first real Thai dish? Pineapple fried rice. Oddly enough, I detected a maple-ish taste. I was pretty sure there was no maple syrup involved, but I still decided at that moment that I could replicate the flavors of pineapple fried rice using pineapple, maple syrup, cashews, and raisins in oatmeal.

Blueberry Trail Mix Baked Oatmeal

I dislike only posting twice a week. I was pretty happy with those few weeks back in August and early September when I was able to pump out three recipes each week. Now, I seem to be in a tiny rut.

One problem is that I eat the same baked oatmeal every morning. I have come to really enjoy this system as it allows me to sleep in a little later than I would if I had to cook my oatmeal on the stove every single day. Plus, it gives me a nice weekend project to look forward to. My roommates are always interested in what my "oatmeal of the week" will be, so that's motivating as well. Unfortunately, that means I'm not trying out a new recipe every single morning.

The other problem is that I never have the right produce on hand. You can trust that I still have plenty of ideas for recipes; I just don't have the produce to make them. I'm too cheap (or poor) to splurge on good stuff, and I keep coming home from the market with bananas and apples. There's only so much you can do with bananas and apples! This is mostly a planning issue. Still, the few times I have splurged on peaches and other pricier fruits have resulted in failed recipes, which is discouraging.

And finally, a lot of my ideas are incredibly ambitious at the moment (you'll see what I mean when I post my next recipe later this week). I guess that's why they've stayed on the list so long without being attempted. Eventually, one by one, I'll attempt these fabulous ideas and share them with you. However, most of them are destined to be weekend projects, so it will take time to roll all of them out.

Until then, here's a wonderful baked oatmeal recipe I enjoyed last week. I first made it without bananas, thinking it would have enough flavor from the blueberries alone. Unfortunately, it was a little dull and dry, so I tried it again using bananas, and WOW. What a difference it made! (Compare the picture above to the picture below to see what I mean. They're blatantly different!) I'm quickly learning that baked oatmeal is so much better when there's banana involved. Always. (If you don't want to use banana, perhaps you could try applesauce?)

Also, I highly recommend using raw nuts for this recipe. The first time I baked it (without the banana), I also used pre-roasted nuts. After baking the oatmeal, the nuts became quite unpleasant. The brazil nuts were bitter, the cashews were sour, and the walnuts were gritty. Using raw nuts helps because then the nuts are only cooked once (instead of twice). However, the time I made this with banana and pre-roasted nuts worked out fairly well, probably because the bananas provided a little extra moisture (maybe?). Still, I recommend raw nuts.

Blueberry Trail Mix Baked Oatmeal

by The Oatmeal Artist

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 25 min

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Ingredients (serves 1)

• 1/2 an overripe banana
• 1/3 cup milk of choice
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (I use Country Choice Organic)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup trail mix (raw nuts preferred)
• 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray a single-serving ramekin with non-stick spray.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, mash banana. Then, add milk and vanilla extract.
3. In another small bowl, mix together dry ingredients: oats, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Once combined, add to the bowl of wet ingredients. Stir.
4. Add trail mix (I broke up some of the nuts first) and blueberries and fold in carefully.
5. Pour into the prepared ramekin and bake for 18-22 minutes.

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For a big batch!

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 overripe bananas
• 3/4 cup milk of choice
• 1/2 cup water (or more milk)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups rolled oats (I use Country Choice Organic)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 cup trail mix (raw nuts preferred)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and spray a 8x8 pan with non-stick spray.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, mash bananas. Then, add milk, water, and vanilla extract.
3. In another medium bowl, mix together dry ingredients: oats, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Once combined, add to the bowl of wet ingredients. Stir.
4. Add trail mix (I broke up some of the nuts first) and blueberries and fold in carefully.
5. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.

**You can also find hundreds of other oatmeal recipes (as well as tons of other meatless recipes) on my Pinterest account!  You can also like The Oatmeal Artist on Facebook. Thanks!

Blueberry Cashew Oatmeal

My mother is pretty wonderful. She knew I was coming to spend about two weeks at her and my father's house, so she stocked up on food that she knew I would like: apples, bell peppers, honeydew, cantaloupe, whole wheat bread, watermelon, almond milk, organic spring mix (!!), and several varieties of nuts.

One of those nuts was cashews. What a treat! They are actually my mother's favorite nuts, so I'm not surprised she picked them. ;) I personally prefer almonds and pecans, so it's not often that I have cashews. I'm not switching my allegiance yet, but I will say it was nice having something different.

In other news, I received major news yesterday. Back in January, I applied to be a part of a tutor corps at a charter school in Boston. I got a phone interview with them, but ultimately didn't make it past that stage. To my credit, that program claims to be more competitive than the Harvard College of Education. Hmph.

Anyway, despite being turned down by them, they passed my information on to another school in Newark. At first, I was hesitant. Barney and Ted don't have nice things to say about New Jersey on How I Met Your Mother. :) However, a couple weeks after I initially received the email from this school, I decided I had nothing to lose and applied.

I didn't think my phone interview went that well, but I received another email yesterday requesting me to make an on-site visit! Ah! I can almost taste the success; I'm so close!

Most people are happy for me, but I'm still getting an occasional "....Newark?!?!" (with the nose wrinkled) comment. No, it's not paradise. But neither is Small Town, South Dakota. This isn't a vacation; this is a job to help hundreds of young middle school students in troubled homes realize their full potential. I'm not looking for palm trees and hammocks. Just living 20 minutes from Manhattan will be enough of a thrill for me!

So anyway... :) This recipe is super easy. I wondered if the blueberries would be enough to sweeten it, but it was...for me, anyway. If you aren't used to no-sugar recipes, you may have to find a way to sweeten yours. :) Oh, and if you don't have blueberries (or don't like them), I imagine that any berry would work fine!

Blueberry Cashew Oatmeal

by The Oatmeal Artist

Prep Time: 2 min

Cook Time: 5 min

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Ingredients (serves 1)

• 1 cup milk of choice, or water
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (I use Country Choice Organic)
• 1/2 cup frozen blueberries (can sub in any berry)
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• handful of cashews

Instructions

1. Bring milk (I use 1/2 c original almond milk and 1/2 c water) to a boil, add oats, and reduce heat to medium.
2. Add frozen blueberries. Stir.
3. Once more of the liquid has absorbed, add vanilla extract and salt.
4. If you'd like to add any extra ingredients (coconut oil, raisins, sunflower seeds), do so now.
5. When you're pleased with the consistency of the oatmeal, transfer to a bowl. Serve with another splash of your milk of choice and top with cashews.

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**You can also find hundreds of other oatmeal recipes (as well as tons of other meatless recipes) on my Pinterest account!  You can also like The Oatmeal Artist on Facebook. Thanks!