Banana Plum Oatmeal

I truly pity anyone who doesn't like bananas in their oatmeal. Now, I can understand not liking bananas plain--even I struggle with that one sometimes, especially if it's not perfectly overripe. :) But bananas in oatmeal? It yields such creamy, sweet, and luxurious porridge. Also, combined with the soluble fiber of the oats, it makes my digestive system feel sooooooooo great afterwards.

This recipe is similar to Banana Bread Oatmeal--using many of the same ingredients--but it is peppered with small bites of silky red plums. It shows that you can add other fruits to another recipe to vary up the tastes and textures. You don't always have to invent; sometimes, you can just innovate. :)

Plum Almond Oatmeal

If you liked my Pear Almond Baked Oatmeal, methinks you'll like this. It has a similar profile, but it's better because it's pear-less and made on the stove.

You've probably noticed a lack of baked recipes lately (except for the occasional brownie, of course). I much prefer stove-top recipes because they're easier to control and significantly faster. Additionally, I make all my oatmeal for the week on Saturday and Sunday, and then I reheat them throughout the week. I don't own a microwave (I know, right?), so I heat the oatmeal on the stove while I'm doing my hair and makeup at 4:45 am. It's ridiculously difficult to reheat a baked oatmeal on the stove, so it rarely happens these days.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that plums are better than pears, stove-top is better than baked, and almond extract is wonderful. Or something like that.

Plum Almond Oatmeal

by The Oatmeal Artist

Prep Time: 3 min

Cook Time: 5 min

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Ingredients (serves 1)

• 1 plum
• 1 cup milk of choice, or water
• 1/2 cup rolled oats (I use Country Choice Organic)
• 1/4 tsp almond extract
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Prep your plum by dicing it into small cubes.
2. Bring milk (I use 1/2 c almond milk and 1/2 c water) to a boil, add plum cubes and oats, and reduce heat to medium. (If you'd like to add a teaspoon of flax or chia seeds, do so now.)
3. Once more of the liquid has absorbed, add almond extract and salt. Stir.
4. When you're pleased with the consistency of the oatmeal, transfer to a bowl. Add a splash of your milk of choice and any other additional toppings (sliced almonds, shredded coconut, nuts, etc.).

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Orange Plum Oatmeal

Close followers of the blog have probably recognized my fruit phases. One month, I'll have a bunch of strawberry recipes, followed by a string of apple recipes, and then a random fig phase. There was even about a month or two last year when I *gasp* liked pears and made several recipes with them.

Right now, I love plums. I love their small size, the squishy interior, the slight peachy taste, and the deep red color. Unfortunately, it's not exactly plum season. :( Despite this, I was able to find someone at my local produce market--success!

Sadly, I've learned that plums don't "star" well in oatmeal. They need a little help. For this recipe, I paired a plum with an orange (specificially, a cara cara orange...my favorite!). I love pairing other fruits with oranges. The sweet citrus flavor is subtle (oranges also don't "star" well), and just enough to complement the subtle plums.

Salted Plum Oatmeal

Bubble tea (or “boba,” if you prefer) is the best. I sometimes feel like I judge people on whether or not they like bubble tea. Not in a “You don’t like boba = you suck at life” kind of way, but in a “You don’t like boba = I don’t understand you and we can’t be friends” kind of way. Like, I’m sure you’re a great person…but we just can’t be friends.

My favorite bubble tea place—despite all the wonderful teas I’ve had in NYC—is the Tea Garden in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I’m serious. The best. You can actually taste the TEA, and it’s not just a sugar/juice-fest. They also have a ton of different flavors, and you can mix and match up to three flavors at one time. How is that NOT awesome?

Raspberry Plum Oatmeal

I love plums. I didn't realize it until fairly recently. They're such a pleasant size, easy to eat, not messy, and silky-soft on the inside. They are like a beautiful marriage between peaches and apples.

Unfortunately, I haven't had great luck with them in oatmeal. In my experience, they just don't give off much flavor. Pairing them with raspberries was quite successful, though! The raspberries provided the much-needed pow of flavor, and the cubes of soft plums could simply add a little variety to each spoonful.

Fruit-on-the-Bottom Oatmeal

I'll be honest right from the start: I have never had (nor do I have the desire to try) fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt. First of all, it's not available in nondairy varieties, so that's an obvious deterrent. Moreso, the "fruit" on the bottom has been heavily processed and coated with sickeningly sweet high fructose corn syrup. Um, no.

Like most of my recipes, I've been eager to try this one for a while. It required me to have yogurt on hand, which I usually lack. Whenever I have it, I end up demolishing it before I can even attempt this or the other yogurt-demanding recipes.

Spiced Plum Overnight Oatmeal

My pear obsession has officially moved on to a plum obsession. Plums are great. They're smaller than pears and apples, which makes them perfect for snacking. I despise when I eat an apple for a mid-morning snack and it stuffs me so much that I can't enjoy my lunch! Switching to the humble plum has cured this dilemma.

In oatmeal, plums taste quite similar to apples. However, plums don't brown like apples do, so they are much better suited for overnight recipes! To continue the resemblance to apples, I used classic apple pie spices to complement the plums. As you can see from the picture, I topped the final product with granola!