Recipe ReDux: Kahlua & Cream Oatmeal [sponsored]

Did you know that 99% of Americans do not meet the daily whole grain recommendations and 85% fall short of dairy recommendations? That means you and your family could be missing out on calcium, Vitamin D, potassium and fiber! Ward off that osteopenia/osteoporosis and keep your GI tract happy! (Your body will thank you for it.)

Quaker Oats and The National Dairy Council challenged me to make a ReDux members to develop creative and tasty breakfasts, snacks or side dishes featuring the power of whole grain oats with the goodness of reduced/low-fat dairy. (By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by National Dairy Council and the Quaker Oats Center of Excellence and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.)

I adore oatmeal, and although I may or may not be very slightly lactose-intolerant, it has not stopped me from drinking the milk from Homestead Creamery. (Apparently, they sell it here too!) I very, very rarely drink alcohol (think 1 tbsp every couple years, if even, and by tablespoon, I mainly just mean Kahlua in a dessert of some sort), but my favorite “drink” is a White Russian without the vodka, which…is essentially just Kahlua & Cream. :P

My favorite way to add some protein to my oatmeal (and to give it a fluffier, creamier texture!) is to throw in an egg, and the chilled sliced bananas add a nice contrast to the hot oatmeal! You can adjust the kahlua:water/milk ratio if you’d like more than just a hint of it in your oatmeal. :] This recipe makes about two servings!

Kahlua & Cream Oatmeal

Ingredients:
-1.5 ripe bananas (1 mashed, 0.5 sliced + chilled)
-1 tsp pure vanilla extract
-1 cup old-fashioned oats
-1 cup 2% Homestead Creamery milk
-1/2 cup water
-1/4 cup Kahlua
-1 egg
-ground cinnamon, to taste
-dash of sea salt

Instructions:
1) Fill a bowl with hot water and place the egg (still in shell) in for ~1 minute.
2) Combine milk, kahlua, water, 1 mashed banana, and oatmeal into a pot on medium/low heat.
2) Crack the egg into the pot and bring the oatmeal to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer. Stir continuously until the oats soften and the liquid thickens.
3) Add the vanilla extract and sea salt.
4) Cook to desired consistency. If it’s too thin, cook it a little longer (may get somewhat mushy though). If it’s too thick, add a little more liquid.
5) Top with sliced bananas and sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

Orange Creamsicle Oatmeal

I saw Arman’s post for Cake Batter Oatmeal a couple weeks ago and decided that I really needed to make it, but at the time, I was in the process of finishing off my Orange Cream milk, so I used that instead and came up with this! (The only real difference here is just the milk, haha.) I still gotta try to make the actual cake batter version sometime, but for now, this will suffice!

Orange Creamsicle Oatmeal

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup quick oats
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 1/4 cups Homestead Creamery Orange Cream milk
-1 scoop vanilla protein powder
-1 egg
-1 tbsp coconut flour
-1 tbsp coconut, shredded

Instructions:
1) Combine oatmeal, salt + milk in a saucepan and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Whisk in egg and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
2) Stir in protein powder + coconut flour, then add the rest of the milk.
3) Refrigerate overnight (preferably), uncovered.
4) The next morning, stir oatmeal and add shredded coconut!

Peach Apricot Baked Oatmeal

I’m on a mission to finish off this protein powder because I can’t stand it. :[ I bought it because it was on sale and had a pretty good nutrition breakdown, but holy eff, it tastes powdery and gross and doesn’t mix well at all. ;_; Sad times. I’ve been trying to throw it into everything I can think of, and I’m almost done with one container, but…I have another one to go. (That’ll teach me to go around buying random things on sale, huh? But it got good reviews! :'( ) Maybe it’s just me.

In any case, I made this a couple weeks ago because I had insomnia and decided that it was better to just food-prep some more for the rest of the week instead of just lying there and doing nothing. Twas a good plan indeed.

Peach Apricot Baked Oatmeal

~7 servings; 169 calories, 26g CHO’s, 3g fat, 10g protein, 3g fiber, 129mg sodium!

Ingredients:
-1 14 oz can apricots
-1 14 oz can peaches
-1 1/2 cup oats
-6 tbsp MLO super high protein powder
-2 tbsp brown sugar
-3 tbsp ground flaxseed
-1/2 tsp salt
~1 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 375.
2) Combine all ingredients into large pan.
3) Bake for ~40 minutes.
4) Top it off with walnuts, shredded coconut, almonds, dried fruit…whatever tickles your fancy!

Sweet Potato Baked Oatmeal

Pre-baked oatmeal is a genius plan that I wish I’d thought of earlier. :O This is awesome for portioning out food too! Since sweet potatoes have been so awesomely cheap lately, I got a whole bunch and have been steadily making recipes with em’ ever since. Due to the colder weather, my freezing cold protein shakes haven’t been such a pleasant thought in the mornings. They’re delicious, but like I said, they’re cold. ;_;

This made me around 17 “muffins.” (They can seriously just be eaten as muffins.) I adapted the recipe from here. I didn’t really add any sweetener, so I’d recommend you do that if you want a sweeter, more dessert-like baked oatmeal. :] You can make an “icing” of sorts with Greek yogurt + protein powder, drizzle with some honey, throw in some nuts and dried fruits…

Sweet Potato Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients:
-4 medium sweet potatoes, peeled + boiled + mashed
-2 eggs
-3 cups 1 minute-oats
-3 tbsp MLO Super High Protein Powder
-1 tsp almond extract
-1/2 tsp maple syrup
-1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
-1 tbsp ground ginger
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 1/3 cups unsweetened almond milk (vanilla)

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Mix sweet potato, egg, milk + extracts together. Stir in oats, spices and baking powder.
3) Scoop/pour into tins and bake for 20-25 minutes.

*These can be frozen (let them cool completely first though) for storage and then reheated (microwave for 45 seconds)!

Pistachio Cranberry Protein Oatmeal

I originally discovered this wonderful soul when I was looking for cottage cheese recipes (I wanted to find some way to eat it where I wouldn’t hate it). This tasted kinda like the oatmeal version of thin mints! :]

Pistachio Cranberry Protein Oatmeal
Nutritional Info: 527 cal, 11g fat (1g sat’d), 68g CHO’s, 39g protein, 22g sugar, 808mg sodium.

Ingredients:
-1/2 cup rolled oats
-1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk
-2/3 cup water
-1 1/2 servings instant sugar free fat free pistachio jello
-1 scoop chocolate protein powder
-1/2 tsp peppermint extract (careful with this one! it’s pretty strong!)
-2 tbsp cocoa powder
-15 pistachio nuts (15g)
-1/8 cup (20g) dried cranberries

Instructions:
1) Add oatmeal, almond milk + water into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for ~2 minutes.
2) Add in the rest of the ingredients while the oatmeal is still hot. :]