Double-Chocolate Mango Oatmeal with Toasted Coconut

What kind of recipe-creator would I be if I didn't take some risks? Chocolate and mango are not often paired together, but it has been done. For example, there's chocolate-covered mango, this chocolate-mango loaf cake, this coconut mango cashew chocolate bark, or Oatgasm's Chocolate Chili Mango Baked Oatmeal.

I was in the mood for peanut butter when I made this, so I found a way to include that as well. I actually made Happy Herbivore's Nutty Spread, but instead of adding cinnamon, I added cocoa powder. I love Nutty Spread because it gives me less of a tummy ache than pure peanut butter, and it can be supped in for peanut butter in most situations.

Spiced Brownie Baked Oatmeal

It may look like a calm, traditional brownie (or at least the baked oatmeal version of one), but this brownie is feisty. He's maybe even a little vicious.

Of course, you have control over his viciousness. You could just give him a little bit of bite. OR you could be like me and drop three generous pinches of cayenne pepper into the batter. It's up to you.

Mocha Almond Fudge Overnight Oatmeal

I need to confess my feelings. My strong, unwavering feelings.

I'm in love.

...with the So Delicious brand.

I've been eating their yogurt for a couple years now, but their pints of ice cream are a new world for me. I stopped buying prepared desserts and snacks several years ago--for a few different reasons. 1) Michael Pollan says to eat as much junk food as you want--as long as it's homemade (the result being you want eat that much junk food because it's hard work to make your own french fries, desserts, etc.). 2) I cut junk food from my budget to help me afford organic produce. 3) IBS, of course. Always.

Frosted Brownie Baked Oatmeal

You know what's fun? Eating dessert for breakfast.

I mean, I could never literally eat dessert for breakfast--at least not what most people consider dessert. Thanks to my IBS, I have the world's most sensitive stomach. Living in New York City, I enjoy a variety of vegan desserts frequently (shout-out to Wild Ginger and the PERFECTION that is their Peanut Butter Bomb Cake), but it never takes long for the pain to settle in! Thus, when I order desserts while eating out, it's often a conscious choice with a careful consideration of the consequences.

Grape and Dark Chocolate Chunk Muesli

...Because chocolate chunks are just plain better than chocolate chips.

Although most of my favorite food blogs are vegan (or at least vegetarian), I take inspiration from all food lifestyles. I check FoodGawker at least twice every day and browse until I have viewed each new recipe, and I know the times of the day that the site is usually updated. It might be an addiction...

Ever since I "met" Haley from Cheap Recipe Blog, hers is one of the sites that I often find inspiration. Recently, she shared a cheap and easy entertaining idea of serving frozen grapes, dark chocolate, and wine for dessert. Um, I love all three of those things, so YES.

Lava Baked Oatmeal [Guest Post]

Hi guys it's me, @laura__kiss, again  :) You may remember me as I was the Oatmeal Enthusiast in March.

I was so happy and excited that so many people liked my guest post!

And I think Lauren liked it to ;) She asked me to send her and all her readers the recipe for the lava baked oatmeal, so here you go :)

Cherry Almond Fudge Oatmeal

Since going to my parents' house a little over a week ago, I've been hooked on my Fudgy Banana & Peanut Butter Oatmeal. Every time that I've had to photograph a new recipe--like this one--I basically had to force myself to say "no" to my beloved favorite. This recipe was a little easier to swallow since it's still "fudgy," but...no peanut butter?! The horror!

Luckily, I am satisfied with my decision as soon as I take the first bite!

I love cherry season. I think frozen cherries lack flavor, and dried cherries are tough and too chewy. Whenever I have fresh cherries to work with, I am a happy lady.

Black Forest PB and J Oatmeal

The frustrating part about moving is having such limited groceries. I'm trying not to purchase any excess food before moving day, which means I'm stuck making oatmeal solely from pantry items. Luckily for you AND me, this gave me a reason to finally share a recipe I've been hoarding recently.

It's easy for me to say that this oatmeal can be whipped up without making an extra trip to the store, but it would be delusional of me to think that everyone keeps chocolate nut butter and cherry jam on hand at all times. I do. ^_^ Thus, when I had no fresh fruit this morning, this was the perfect oatmeal to make.

Berry Blackout Oatmeal

All of my favorite recipes just made a baby.

It's Brownie Batter + Fudgy Banana & PB + Nutty 'Nana Berry. It's the best threesome ever, and their baby is a GODDESS. YOU MUST MAKE THIS NOW. Cocoa powder + banana is my favorite oatmeal base. Strawberries are my favorite fruit topping. Peanut butter is MY LIFE. And this is CHOCOLATE peanut butter, so it's obviously the best thing that's ever happened to me.

White Chocolate Macadamia Baked Oatmeal

McDonald's was the first fast food restaurant I "quit." I haven't been to one since the summer of 2010. The other similar chains followed shortly after: BK, Taco Bell, Wendy's, KFC, etc. One that stuck around for a while was Subway. In fact, I still have Subway a couple times a year in times of desperation.

Subway and I have an interesting history. I loathed it for my entire childhood. It smells so dreadful! Whenever my family would choose to go there for dinner, I would rant and grumble for days. I would order Cheetos and ice cream and refuse to order a sandwich. I eventually overcame that fussiness and started ordering the sandwiches, first having simple turkey and cheese sandwiches, and eventually experimenting with the veggies. Now, of course, my sandwiches are ALL veggies. I am always amused by the worker's faces when I ask for a sandwich with neither meat NOR cheese. "NO cheese? JUST veggies?" Yes. That's what I said.

Anyway, when I think of Subway, I also think of their cookies. I can't remember when I first tried it, but I always loved their white chocolate macadamia cookies. That combination is a killer.

I didn't think there was any way a baked oatmeal recipe could rival that cookie, but IT DID. It tasted EXACTLY like it. I'm continuously amazed at how easily I can recreate cookie recipes using baked oatmeal.

Choco-Banana Oatcakes with Peanut Butter Mousse

Yep, more oatcakes! I know I just posted my Black Forest Oatcakes, but you know it could be months before I post another. (By the way, it's been almost a year since I've posted a muffin recipe!)

Basically, I felt like I ate my Fudgy PB & Banana Oatmeal way too often, and I wanted to switch it up...but I still wanted banana, peanut butter, and chocolate. I put my favorite porridge into pancake form, and problem solved!

Lemon White Chocolate Oatmeal

Is it spring? I thought it was, but then I went to Philadelphia with my spring coat and basically froze to death. As soon as I returned to my apartment in New York, I switched back to my heavy winter coat. Ugh!

To fool myself into thinking it is, in fact, spring, I returned to my beloved lemon-flavored oats. Every spring, I just can't get enough lemon in my oatmeal!  This time, I combined it with white chocolate chips. The tang of the lemon and the sweet white chocolate are definitely a winning combination!

Black Forest Oatcakes...and my blog's 2nd birthday!

Two years. TWO YEARS! Considering I've been running this blog during the two most challenging years of my life (student teaching/senior year, my year of service in Newark, and my first year of teaching in NYC), it's a pretty big deal that I've managed to maintain this blog through it all. To celebrate, I made oatcakes:

But first, let me indulge in my nostalgia. Three fantastic things have happened since the Oatmeal Artist's first birthday.

1. I began my partnership with Country Choice Organic, which has completely changed my life. 
2. I began the Oatmeal Enthusiast series, which showed me that there are SO MANY PEOPLE that eat oatmeal every single morning, just like me.
3. The #oatmealartist hashtag began on Instagram, which always gives me a nice ego boost whenever I'm feeling down. As of right now, there's over 2,000 pictures on Instagram with the #oatmealartist tag. So cool!

Salted Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal

Is it breakfast, or dessert?

Either.

I actually had to go several weeks (if not months?) without buying chocolate chips because I eat them by the handful(s). Because of my IBS, this causes many problems, so I had to quit them.

Wanting to make this recipe (and a few others), I caved and brought them back into my life.

Brownie Baked Oatmeal Parfait

I feel like I picked the right time to go herbivore. It's so exciting to watch new vegan products pop up on mainstream grocery shelves all the time. It seems like every time I go to the store, I find a new vegan product. Now, I try not to fill my diet with mock meats and fake dairy, but it is amusing to experiment with them from time to time.

My local produce market, which understandably has a tiny dairy section, just added Almond Dream yogurt to its selection. They only carry two flavors--coconut and strawberry--but I am completely fine with that. The coconut flavor is one of my favorites anyway.

To celebrate, I made this parfait. I typically eat one of my banana/peanut butter recipes on weekends, so I actually had to FORCE myself to make this. I think I pouted the entire time until I was finally spooning the results into my mouth. Then the sacrifice seemed worth it.

Tiramisu Overnight Oatmeal

The Thursday before my birthday, my friend and I were out and about in Manhattan enjoying some good eats. After some delightful vegan soul food at Red Bamboo, we moved on to Peacefood Cafe on 11th St. The dinner food is great there, but I particularly love their desserts. VEGAN. TIRAMISU. I didn't see it coming, but their vegan tiramisu was infinitely better than any tiramisu (vegan or not) I've ever had. The cream portion was unbelievable and I have no idea what it was made of.

Strawberry White Hot Chocolate Oatmeal

Valentine's Day is coming up. I was contacted recently by the Brilliant Earth Create a Little Love Campaign to join them in...well...creating a little love. :) Brilliant Earth specializes in "honest, ethical" jewelry. It's a perfect option for those of you who are looking into an upcoming engagement (while I simultaneously binge on peanut butter and Buzzfeed quizzes, of course). When I first thought about making a V-Day themed recipe, I had a moment of anxiety. How would I write a post about Valentine's Day? Oh, the horror!

Those who know me personally know that Valentine's Day is my least favorite holiday. I don't feel like getting into the reasons now, but I've always loathed it. In high school, people criticized me for being a cynic and a "hater of love," and--to prove that they were wrong--I began celebrating my own holiday: Hug's Day. When people wished me a "Happy Valentine's Day!", I would respond, "Happy Hug's Day!" I gave out "Happy Hug's Day!" cards and celebrated "Happy Hug's Day!" with my boyfriend at the time. Sadly, it didn't catch on.

Blood Orange White Chocolate Oatmeal

Blood oranges are the most mysterious fruit to me. Sometimes, I think I know what flavors it will pair well with; I'm rarely correct. I've had many failed attempts with blood oranges.

This is not one of them.

Not only do the white chocolate chips complement the blood oranges beautifully, but the vanilla bean paste also paired well. I don't normally use vanilla extract in my citrus recipes, but I knew this recipe would need something else. Lo and behold, the vanilla bean paste was the answer.

Sweet Potato Fudge Oatmeal

If you like Brownie Batter Oatmeal (and it appears that most of you do), then you will love this. Bonus: NO BANANA. To me, that's a downer, but to some of you, it will seal the deal.

Now let's be real. Have I ever steered you wrong with any recipe that contained the word "fudge"? Let's look at the evidence: Raspberry Fudge Oatmeal. Fudgy Banana and Peanut Butter Oatmeal. Ummm, CASE CLOSED.

Salted Brownie Baked Oatmeal: Revisited

Despite its popularity, I've never been particularly proud of the original Salted Brownie Baked Oatmeal. At the time, I was a bit precarious with my recipes. I knew it wasn't perfect (it tasted like bananas, for Pete's sake!), but I enjoyed it, and it sounded fancy, so I posted it before I should have. Much to my anxiety, this recipe became a hit. I wasn't surprised that people were excited about the recipe itself, but I was stunned when people actually tried it and liked it. Really? But it tastes like bananas!!