Breakfast Pudding.

I'm non-traditional.

....but you should know this already. 

I'm not a big hot oatmeal person. My sister tells me this stems from a bad experience when I was a child. But from what I can remember from my few experiences this "oatmeal" our ancestors grew up on went from hot & messy to brown glue in under 8 minutes. Who would want to eat that? Didn't they tell you in kindergarten not to eat paste? Maybe some kids just thought the oatmeal had gotten cold. 

So I embarked on a way to eat oats without actually eating the oats.

First I tried my original fruit smoothie with rolled oats added to the blender....yum! It's like a milk shake in consistency, but healthy!

Then I had a customer show me oat milk; all the rave in Europe. Tastes like oaty almond or rice milk. But is as thick as whole milk, and froths up for a perfect cappuccino! 

Needless to say, once I made a hot chocolate with it I was hooked. I now keep oat milk on hand for EVERYTHING. 

So this morning after my run I knew I needed something fast and filling for breakfast, but I'm not an eggs and bacon girl. My mother wanted a smoothie so I whipped up these few things for her:

Mom's Breakfast Smoothie:

1 mango

1 cup strawberries

1/2 cup blueberries

2 dates

Ice

Pinch of cinnamon

Squeeze of agave

1-1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk

~blend away~

I accidentally read the side of the blender wrong (not my blender). I wanted to put in 8 oz of almond milk and ended up with 16...oops! So I had a little extra after filling her 32 ounce travel container. 

Not wanting to waste the remainder, and not wanting to clean the blender between smoothies, I decided to add a few more things from the cabinet for myself. 

Pantry Additions:

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 tbsp cocoa nibs

1 date 

2 tbsp hemp powder

1 tbsp super greens powder

2 tbsp decedent flax/chia/coconut blend powder

Pinch cayenne

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup blueberries

1 tbsp slivered almonds

6 golden berries 

1 dried fig 

(Decided against peanut butter today but otherwise there'd be a tbsp or two in there)

1 cup oatmeal

1/4 unsweetened almond milk 

1 apricot

1 banana (optional)

1 Bosc pear

~blend until smooth-ish~

Yes it's thick! And I can eat it with a spoon. But it's awesome! Its chocolate and fruity. A little fruity, a tad nutty. But it satisfies  the "oh, i miss pancakes" and "man i want a slice of cake" craving i usually have in the morning. (No, i have never had a slice of cake fore breakfast, but I've thought about it!) All I'd need to add to make a drinkable is some rice milk or water. But I think breakfast pudding is a good start to the Vegan breakfast recipe section.

My Original Smoothie:

1 bag of strawberries

1 bag blueberries

1 quart vanilla rice milk

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp flax seeds

1/2 tsp chia seeds 

2 tbsp peanut or cashew butter

1 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 rolled oats or pre-soaked steel cut oats

16 oz coconut water

~blend until really smooth. You may have to split the recipe because it will be bigger than one blender bowl. Usually makes a little over a 1/2 gal.   

Happy Blending!