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7 ways to change up your morning oatmeal

7 Ways to Change Up Your Morning Oatmeal // One Lovely Life

This is a sponsored post written in partnership with Chex. All opinions are my own. 

You may have gathered from our rather extensive breakfast section of recipes that I’ve always been a breakfast person. Always. I get hangry (hungry + angry) right away if I don’t eat soon after getting up in the morning.

My children have inherited the same quality. Magnified. Milo can man-shout “OAT-MEOH!” louder and faster than you can imagine. It’s the second thing he says in the morning (after “GARBAGE TWACK!” of course). Sophie’s got an even bigger appetite these days with school added to her weekly schedule. She’s busier than ever and has to go longer between meals, so I need something more substantial than cold cereal or toast to hold her over in the mornings.

One of the best parenting secrets I was ever taught was this: teach your babies to eat oatmeal and you’ll always have something to feed them. It’s true and it’s served me well! Oatmeal is a quick, easy, nutritious solution to our mornings. Chex just came out with a great line of certified gluten free oatmeal. It’s been such a life saver! On school days, I can have breakfast ready for two children in under 5 minutes. That’s as long as it takes us to pop two bowls of oatmeal in the microwave (we only put it in for 30-40 seconds to avoid overcooking it), top it with something delicious and serve it up with a bit of fruit on the side (bananas and berries are favorites).

We love the plain quick-cooking oats, but but for tighter morning schedules, camping, traveling, and more they also have several varieties of flavored instant oatmeal. The ingredient list is short (5 ingredients or less), sweet, and won’t scare you to death. Bowl for bowl, it’s less expensive than most gluten free cereals on the market, and we love knowing the oats are certified gluten free.

As for toppings, oatmeal sometimes has a bad rap for being bland and boring. But it’s not true at all! There are so many delicious options to keep things interesting. One great way to get your children excited about eating oatmeal for breakfast is to let them choose the toppings. You can even set things up buffet-style and let everyone choose their favorites. To celebrate Chex’s new line of gluten free quick-cooking oatmeal, we’re sharing 7 of our favorite ways to eat it! That’s one for every day of the week, folks. Be sure to scroll through for our favorites + a whole list full of oatmeal toppings you can use to set up your own oatmeal bar.

Blueberry Pecan Maple Oatmeal // One Lovely Life Blueberry Pecan Maple Oatmeal // One Lovely Life

Sunday: This is one of our big go-to’s. I love using frozen berries on warm oatmeal. You can easily change out the nuts or fruit if blueberries or pecans aren’t your think. To me, it’s a perfect combination and is sweet enough as it is, but a little drizzle of pure maple syrup never hurt anyone 🙂

Peanut Butter and Honey Oatmeal // One Lovely Life Peanut Butter and Honey Oatmeal // One Lovely Life

Monday: It doesn’t get much simpler than peanut butter and honey. A little protein boost from the peanut butter, and just enough sweetness from the honey make it a childhood favorite. Peanut free? Try almond or cashew butter. Nut free? Sunflower seed butter is another great choice.

Strawberry Cream Oatmeal // One Lovely Life Strawberry Cream Oatmeal // One Lovely Life

Tuesday: Strawberries with coconut milk is such a delicious combination. It’s strawberries and cream without a drop of dairy to be found. Frozen, fresh, or freeze dried strawberries all work great here, and I find it’s just sweet enough without anything extra.

Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal // One Lovely Life Maple Cinnamon Oatmeal // One Lovely Life

Wednesday: This is Milo’s favorite. He eats this most days that we have oatmeal. It’s just hard to go wrong with a shake of cinnamon and a drizzle of syrup.

Monkey Oatmeal with Bananas, Almond Butter, and Coconut // One Lovely Life Monkey Oatmeal with Bananas, Almond Butter, and Coconut // One Lovely Life

Thursday: We call this one Monkey oatmeal. It’s a great combination. The creaminess and heartiness of the almond butter, a little sweetness from the banana, and the perfect coconut sprinkle. You can even add a few mini chocolate chips if you want! If your banana isn’t very ripe and sweet, a little honey or syrup will do the trick.

Chocolate Hazelnut + Raspberry Oatmeal // One Lovely Life Chocolate Hazelnut + Raspberry Oatmeal // One Lovely Life

Friday: What a way to kick off a Friday! Raspberries provide just enough tartness to cut through the sweet of the chocolate hazelnut butter. We’ve fallen head over heels for this lower sugar, dairy and gluten free chocolate hazelnut butter. Certainly good ol’ Nutella is delicious here too, if that’s your thing.

Cherry Almond Oatmeal // One Lovely Life Cherry Almond Oatmeal // One Lovely Life

Saturday: This is so easy, and it’s one of Michael’s all-time favorite breakfasts. Toast your almonds for a little variety, or try with fresh cherries when they’re in season.

And, just in case you didn’t find something you liked… here are a few ideas for a build-your-own oatmeal bar!

Build Your Own Oatmeal Bar // One Lovely Life Build Your Own Oatmeal Bar // One Lovely Life
Well, you made it! Those are 7 of our favorite ways to eat oatmeal, and there are so many ideas out there! There are hundreds of combinations out there you can use. You might be surprised what you and your little ones come up with!

Have a favorite? Be sure to leave it in the comments! For more Chex recipes and ideas, be sure to follow along on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

 

7 Comments

  1. I love all these ideas! Can’t wait to try them out. I love feeding my kids oatmeal for breakfast, it’s the only thing that keeps me from hearing “I’m hunnnngggry!” twenty minutes after we eat. My littlest guy (11mo) won’t eat it so far and I don’t know what I’ll do if he keeps that up! My girls love when I let them sprinkle some chocolate chips in – it’s fun to watch the warm oatmeal melt the chips as they stir them in.

  2. Such a clever post. We eat oatmeal 3 days a week now that school is back in and I’m always looking for a new way to enjoy it and keep the kids interested! Our normal is frozen blueberries + vanilla yogurt + chia. I’m trying the peanut butter on in the morning! YUM Thanks for the idea lady!

  3. Hi Emily, I love your blog, and many of your recipes have become go-to’s in our house. My kids are close to the same ages as yours so a lot of your content is relevant to me. As well we’re trying to adopt a Paleo-ish way of eating around here so I’ve been loving your posts lately especially. But when I saw this post I just had to leave a comment. We have oatmeal every Sunday morning before church, and guess what we have in it: frozen blueberries, toasted pecans (toasting them brings them to a whole new level of yum!), peaches, and maple syrup. It’s simply divine! I thought it was so funny that that was your ‘Sunday’ oatmeal as well. Try it with peaches sometime (we just use the Dole single-serve cups; we live on the east coast of Canada – not exactly prime climate for fresh peaches!) – I don’t know if you’ll ever go back to just blueberries if you do! Anyway thanks for all your creative recipes and your lovely blog. 🙂

  4. All of these combos look amazing. I make overnight oats alot because I want to eat as soon as I open my eyes! I think my five your old will especially love the Nutella/rasberry combo. She will eat almost anything if it has Nutella on it! Thanks for the tips. I didn’t kn
    ow Chex had an oatmeal line. I will have to try it.

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