Simple hearty oatmeal loaded with assortment of fresh Berries, easy to prepare, can be made ahead of time, good for your health and delicious. What else at you looking for? This Very Berry Explosion Oatmeal is exactly what is says it is. Explosion of Berries inside and out, its pure deliciousness for breakfast.

Flavor of the Month: Very Berry Explosion Oatmeal

This time around, our oatmeal flavor of the moth is Very Berry Explosion Oatmeal. I guess this does not merit a lot of introduction as you can see, it’s almost everything Berries in this bowl (sorry Blackberry, can’t find you). A hearty breakfast bowl loaded with fresh berries and a hearty rolled oats. This oatmeal have berries inside and out. You cannot see it but the oatmeal itself have Blueberry sauce mix with it. This oatmeal is so filling, it will keep you going the whole morning without craving to munch something, not that munching is not allowed but we can save that for snack time. I’ve used red Cherry, Blueberry, Raspberry and Strawberry, all of which are fresh. Don’t you just love it when you can just eat these Berries without getting brain freeze? Who needs brain freeze in the morning anyway. You can use any Berries combination, mix and match and have fun. This breakfast bowl is freshness in every spoonful and literally screams SUMMER! And we love Summer, right? Summer is not going to last forever, so let us make the most of it and load our breakfast with as much fresh fruits as we can have.

Types of Oatmeal

Steel Cut Oats (Irish Oats) – This type of oats has a finer texture but is chewier than traditional oats, they are digested more slowly and it makes you feel full easily. This type is perfect for breakfast cereals as they make you feel full longer.

Rolled Oats (Old Fashioned) – This type of oats are flat, thin and have bigger pieces than Steel Cut Oats. It cooks faster, about 10 minutes for 1/3 cup (depending on how chewy you like it). Although filling, it is not as filling as using Steel Cut Oats, but if your recipe requires minimal cooking time or you do not have much time on hand, this is the perfect type of oats to use. I find that this type is also the one perfect for baking cookies, bars, bread or pancakes.

Quick Oats – This type of oats have flat, light and even thinner pieces as compared to Rolled Oats. This cooks in about 1-2 minutes and are perfect for recipes that calls for a very minimal cooking time. Although it is also a good option for breakfast, it is not as filling as using Steel Cut Oats and Rolled Oats.

Instant Oats – This type of oatmeal has been pre-cooked and dried, because of this, it require no cooking time at all. You just need to add boiling water and let sit for few minutes to soften. This type of oatmeal doesn’t have chewiness and texture and can get mushy at times. This if perfect option when you are traveling and you need something on the go. Simply add hot water and you have an instant breakfast with you.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Rolled Oats
• 1 3/4 cup Milk (Can be substituted with a mix of water and milk in any proportion)
• 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar (can be substituted with other sweetener of your choice)
• 3 tablespoon Raisins
• 1 teaspoon Chia Seed
• 1/3 cup fresh Assorted Berries
• 1/4 cup Blueberry (for the sauce)
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon Honey

For additional Blueberry Sauce, get the RECIPE HERE

Instructions:

1. Make the Blueberry Sauce: In the pan, transfer blueberry, honey and water. Cook for 5 – 7 minutes or until the blueberry starts to burst and juice comes out. For a large batch of Blueberry Sauce, get the RECIPE HERE
2. Make the Base Oatmeal: Pour milk in a pan. Add rolled oats and simmer in medium heat for about 10 minutes. Make sure to stir from time to time to avoid sticking at the bottom and from forming a “film”  or “skin” on top. Add brown sugar, raisins and chia seed. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes. You can serve it at this stage but if you want a smoother creamier consistency, cover and cook in low heat for another 10 minutes. Taste and adjust sweetness as desired. The consistency of the oats will thicken as it cools, if you are serving it immediately, you can cook it a little bit longer to get a thick consistency. Cooking time is flexible, cook less or more time to adjust to the texture and consistency that you prefer.
3. Add Blueberry Sauce: Mix the Blueberry Sauce in the cooked oatmeal. You can use as less or use all. I like using all the Blueberry sauce mixed with the oatmeal
4. Serve: Transfer the oatmeal in a bowl and top with assorted Berries of your choice. I used Cherry, Raspberry, Strawberry and Blueberry.

Re-heating

One tip when reheating it, add few spoonful of water or milk to thin out the consistency. The oatmeal with or  without chia seed will thicken as it cools, even more when refrigerated. So to bring it back to nice consistency, you need to add a little bit of liquid. For single serving, add 1-2 tbsp of liquid and stir then simply pop it in the microwave for 1 minute. take it out and stir again, adding more liquid as  necessary to achieve the consistency that you like. Easy breezy! Enjoy

Recipe Notes

I am using quite a lot of liquid here because I like my Oatmeal consistency to be not too thick and also because I like to cook it longer than 15 minutes for a smoother creamier texture. Also, chia seed absorbs liquid and makes a jelly like consistency. If you like a thick oatmeal, use 1 1/4 cup of liquid but bear in mind that the oatmeal thickens as it cools. If you are making it ahead of time (overnight), I suggest use 1 3/4 cups of liquid so that it wouldn’t be too thick the following day.

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My Latest Video

What’s New

This time around I am sharing with you the recent recipe that I updated, Strawberry Shortbread Cheese Tart. This is one of the first few recipes that I posted when I was just starting on my blog. Of course that time, I thought  the photos were amazing, but as I look back at it now, I have to say not really. I photo certainly do not gives justice to this recipe. So I thought a make over was needed, and what better timing than during the Summer season when fresh Strawberry are its best. This base of this tart used my Shortbread tart dough and the filling uses my homemade Strawberry Jam. It is super delicious, the sweet and tangy taste of cream cheese, plus the butter crust and homemade Strawberry jam is such a wonderful combination. Check it out. GET THE FULL RECIPE.

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