Oatmeal Enthusiasts: Meet Taylor!

Sometimes I worry that people will see my Instagram handle (@oatmealartist) and be concerned about my strange interests. Thankfully, I'm not alone. It amuses me to see other people on Instagram with oatmeal-related usernames. For example, this month's enthusiast is Taylor, but I met her as "thehealthyoatmealer." We are not alone, oatmeal lovers! Keep spreading the love.

Heeeeellllllloooooo fellow oatmealers!!!

My name is Taylor and as you can see, Lauren has asked me to be the Oatmeal Enthusiast for June!!! After reading the comment on Instagram asking me to be June’s Oatmeal Enthusiast, I started jumping around, dancing crazily, and screaming “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!!!”, which earned me a few “She finally went over the edge.” stares from the rest of my family. Ah well, getting to write this post definitely makes up for the whispering and the tentative suggestions that I had gone crazy. :0)

Now here’s a bit about me. I am a 14 year old health nut, yogi, runner, newbie martial artist, and wow, here’s something you definitely couldn’t have guessed (Sarcasm people, sarcasm.): I absolutely adore (a.k.a I am obsessed.) oatmeal. I even made up a name for us oatmeal lovers….oatmealers! We have to be called something right?

Anyways, when I was younger, I would skip breakfast because there was nothing that I was really interested in eating, never mind that it was said to be the most important meal of the day. Eventually, I started eating those brands of sugary cereal (Ew.) that most little kids happen to love. When I tried oatmeal on a whim for the first time, I must admit, I thought it was gnarly (I know, I have no idea what was wrong with me either.), so I went back to my boring bowl of sadness.

I tried oatmeal again when I went to Ireland with my family and the first thought that went through my mind was “Nope, still gross.”. I’m not really sure why I decided to try oatmeal again after that, seeing as how I had had two bad experiences with it, but boy am I glad that I did! I guess third time’s the charm because when I tried oatmeal for the third time (this bowl with apples, cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins) I actually enjoyed it, and oatmeal permanently became part of my morning routine. I had the same thing every morning, sometimes with a little dollop of peanut butter and I was pretty happy with it, but I was getting bored and wanted to try something new. I did a little research, and soon enough I stumbled across a treasure chest of exotic and delicious looking oatmeal recipes...which happens to be the website you are currently reading this post on.

I could not believe my eyeballs. A whole website dedicated to oatmeal! I spent hours combing through every oatmeal recipe that was documented, and soon I had written down a handful in a little notebook to try out ASAP. Ever since that fateful day, I have had oatmeal every morning (and sometimes for dinner!), but I try not to eat the same recipe twice. Unless of course it happens to be uber delicious. Then it gets an exception. Of course, with my oatmeal obsession I have found quite a few other websites that feature a lot of oatmeal, and I definitely use those recipes too (Sometimes I even make my own!), but this blog in particular has a special place in my heart for being the place that started me on oatmeal. :0) Before I begin I’d just like to say thank you one more time to Lauren for giving me this wonderful opportunity to express my love for such an amazing, versatile breakfast food.

Now enough boring fluff! On to the main attraction…...oatmeal!

Sunday Oats:

Blueberry Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal with coconut and peanut butter. I can only have baked oatmeal and weekends because of school, so this was definitely a treat. Sadly, even on weekends I’m usually too lazy to make baked oatmeal, but after this recipe, I’m going to have to motivate myself to make them more often! Just look at those baked bananas!!!

Monday Oats:

This bowl o’ Caramel Oatmeal topped with peanut butter, banana, a dried fig, and coconut helped make my Monday less Monday-ish. :0) Nums…...

Tuesday Oats:

This here is a bowl of what I like to call Spicy Zoats topped with peanut butter, a dried fig, a date, coconut and dried cranberries. It was actually my first time trying zucchini in my oatmeal and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it left no taste, but added volume and nutrients. I’ll definitely be using zucchini more often!

Wednesday Oats:

I hadn’t realized that Black Forest cake included cherries until I read the Oatmeal Artist’s recipe for Black Forest Cake Oatmeal. Huh. Well that’s besides the point. What I am really trying to tell you is that The Oatmeal Artist’s recipe for Black Forest Cake Oatmeal topped with coconut flakes, coconut butter, and dried cherries is better than the cake version. I suggest that you go to your kitchen immediately and eat some like, right this minute. Once you're done reading my post of course. ;0)

Thursday Oats:

Okay, I know watermelon is not the first thing that comes to mind when I think oatmeal, but I had to try it. I topped this bowl with toasted and regular coconut flakes, coconut butter, and chocolate chips (Choco-coconut Watermelon Oatmeal?) and it actually worked out really well! Who knew watermelon could be put in oatmeal? Just a warning though: if you add watermelon chunks to your oatmeal, EAT WITH CAUTION because boy, do they heat up! I burned my tongue at least three different times while eating this bowl of oatmeal! :0P

Friday Oats:

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Overnight Oats Parfait? Um, yes please! Ok, this should actually be layered in a mason jar, but it is physically impossible for me to take decent mason jar photos, so I layered it in a ramekin. It still tasted great though. I mean, come on, how could chocolate sweet potato pudding and peanut butter overnight oats topped with more peanut butter (because you can never have enough) and peanuts taste bad? Please ignore the fact that the sweet potato pudding looks like a pile of poo(and my bad lighting). It did not taste like poo, I swear. I now give you permission to drool. ^-^

Saturday Oats:

Ah, we have come to the final bowl of oatmeal….it’s so sad. :*0( This magical thing that you are looking at is a Deep Dish Oatmeal Breakfast Cookie (a.k.a. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Baked Oatmeal deliciousness.) topped with banana, coconut, a dried fig, and Greek yogurt. I bet right now you're imagining breaking into its crispy outside, warm from the oven, and delving into the oatmeal’s gooey innards….. Ok, maybe innards wasn’t the best choice of words but you get my point. ;0)

OH THE HORROR! It’s been a week already!!! How time flies when you have oatmeal to document….*sigh* Well, I’d best wrap this post up (even though it breaks my heart to do so), but first I’d like to thank Lauren one last time (Sorry, I lied before, but I promise this is the last time! Pinky swear!) for including me in this wonderful celebration of oatmealers. It has been a dream come true and an experience I never would have imagined that I could ever have. I wish all you oatmealers happy times oatmealing your way through life! Thank y’all for reading and I hope that there are many oatastic (Haha, you get it? I’m so funny….Ok maybe not. Sorry.) bowls of oatmeal in your life to come!

Taylor :0)

[Editor's Note: If you're interested in becoming my next Oatmeal Enthusiast, be sure to show your enthusiasm by tagging your oatmeal pictures with #oatmealartist on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook! Thank you for all your love and support!]

**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!