I did it! I ate oatmeal. When I was little I was a huge fan of cold cereal. I was quick, inexpensive, and easy to make. My father would buy Shredded Wheat, Cheerios, or Corn Flakes. He didn’t buy much cereal that had all the sugar in it. I remember trying oatmeal once and didn’t like it. I didn’t like the texture or the color – everything about it turned me off.

As an adult, I still don’t like it. Well, up until now. A friend of mine makes it all the time. It’s a staple in their home. They add blueberries, chia seeds, hemp hearts, cocoa nibs, goji berries, peanut butter, and anything they have on hand that is a non-milk product. They pop it in the microwave for a minute, and eat it. It looks delicious watching them make it, but the thought of mushy oatmeal just doesn’t appease me.

Then I thought, why not take all those ingredients and blend them together into a bar. Eliminating the blueberries and the peanut butter, I added a little maple syrup and ground everything with almonds instead of peanut butter. The only other difference was the oats. I used stone ground oatmeal instead. I had to cook it first and then added it to the blend. The bars came out really well.

I saw another video with their daughter making this same concoction – oatmeal bowl again!! This time, I said, “I’m gonna do it!” It looks so tasty, but I knew I won’t like the mushy oatmeal. I grabbed my stone ground oatmeal, cooked a half a cup stone ground oatmeal with one cup of water. I let is sit inside the fridge until it was cold. I added fresh blueberries and slices of mandarin oranges to it, a little maple syrup, some chia seeds, and hemp hearts, goji berries, and a tablespoon of crunch almond butter. I didn’t put any almond milk in it, but could have. Best oatmeal I’ve ever had. It was crunchy, nutty, hearty, flavorful and just the right blend of everything. Try it!!