Autumnal Eats: Breakfast Edition

This weekend the temps dropped and fall hit like a Hefty-bag full of leaves. Granted, we're supposed to see some relief from the sub-50 degree weather soon, but until then I'm going to be enjoying this perfect fall breakfast... Carrot Cake Oatmeal with Maharaja Chai Oolong Tea.

Carrot cake lovers rejoice - there really is a nutritious and delicious carrot-cake-inspired breakfast option, all thanks to the amazing Angela of Oh She Glows. Seriously, you need to make this tomorrow. No excuses. It is so yummy and filling and will keep you energized all morning long. The recipe is below, but you should definitely go check it out on Angela's site for the gorgeous photos on Oh She Glows.
While I suppose any chai tea is nice to wash down the delicious oatmeal with, my favorite has to be Teavana's Maharaja Chai Oolong Tea. As I may have said before, the flavors are so intense and complex, and you get the sweetness without having to add anything but water (a much healthier alternative to boxed chai tea mixes which contain major amounts of sugar). This blend is so good it'll instantly warm you from the inside out.

And now on to the recipe...

Carrot Cake Oatmeal from Oh She Glows
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup regular oats
• 1 cup almond milk (or soy, rice, etc)
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  
• 1 large carrot, finely grated (1 heaping cup)
• 2 tbsp coconut milk cream (use the cream off the top of the full-fat can only)
• 1/2-1 tsp ground cinnamon, to taste
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8th tsp ground nutmeg
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 2 tbsp crushed walnuts, divided
• 1 tbsp coconut milk cream + 1/2 tsp pure maple syrup (to drizzle on top)
• Shredded coconut, for garnish
• Cinnamon, for garnish
• Raisins, for garnish

Directions: Finely grate the large carrot to yield 1 heaping cup of grated carrots. Note that you want to use the fine grate, not the large one so the carrot shreds are very small.

In a medium sized pot over medium heat, add your almond milk, lemon juice, and coconut milk cream. Stir well. Add in your spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger) and salt. Stir again until mixed.

Stir in your grated carrots and oats. Adjust heat if necessary or bring heat to low if it starts to boil. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring frequently. When the mixture has thickened up, stir in the vanilla extract, 1 tbsp crushed walnuts, and 2 tbsp of maple syrup. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl.

Top with 1 tbsp of crushed walnuts and 1 tsp of shredded coconut. Prepare your coconut milk cream + maple syrup mixture and drizzle it over top. Sprinkle with cinnamon for garnish.

Serves 1 large portion or 2 small portions.

How To: Make Awesome Oatmeal

What's that? You're looking for an easy, inexpensive, delicious, healthy breakfast? Well, my sweet, you've come to the right place. I've been making this awesome oatmeal every weekend lately and it's the perfect combination of tasty heartiness to power you through a morning of errands. The recipe is crafted out of items you're likely to already have lurking in the pantry, all of which are quite inexpensive when you realize just how many breakfasts you can squeeze out of one tube of Irish Steel Cut Quick Cook oats (say that five times fast) - I like the Country Choice Organic kind which works out to be $.20/serving or less. On to the recipe...

3/4 Cup water
1/4 Cup Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats
Granny Smith Apple
Small Handful of Raisins
3-4 Dashes of Cinnamon
Drizzle of Maple Syrup

Bring the water to a boil in a small pot, and stir in the oats. Reduce heat to medium-low so that the oats can simmer, covered, for 5-7 minutes. A word to the wise - opt for a longer cooking time and lower heat.. I can't tell you how many times I've let the oats boil over and that will really kill your early morning meditative state. While you wait, cube 1/2 of the apple and eat the other half (or get a little crazy and cube the whole thing!). Toss apple cubes in your favorite cereal bowl, and top with raisins, cinnamon, and maple syrup. When your oats have finished cooking, pour them right over top of your fruity mixture and mix well. Makes 1 serving.


This breakfast is totally filling and so much better for you than prepackaged oatmeal packets, as handy as they may be. On a seemingly unrelated yet completely related note - do you have any odd habits that bring you great joy? The top of my list includes finding spelling or grammatical errors in print. I found this little gem on the back of the oatmeal canister I used to make the breakfast above...

What can I say - it's the little things in life.