Before Thanksgiving, my mom visited me for a few days while Matt was on a business trip. I picked my mom up from the airport and surprised her by taking her to a cookbook signing for Giada’s new book Giada’s Feel Good Food. The signing was at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, which is beautiful, so that was a plus. We waited in line for 2 hours and finally we got to meet Giada.
I have never been to something like this and of course, I was so starstruck I couldn’t think of anything to say when it was our turn. While I was smiling awkwardly, my mom kept talking to Giada about how much she loves her shows and books while Giada signed our books. When we walked away, we had a really good laugh about how we reacted to seeing Giada! We went to the restaurant next door and sat outside for a great dinner. We even got to see Giada again when she left the book signing from our table at the restaurant.
When we got home that night, we decided to make one of the oatmeal recipes in her book that I happened to have all the ingredients for. We reheated the oatmeal for the next two mornings for breakfast and it was so delicious and filling. During the whole month of December I made this oatmeal on Sunday night to have for breakfast for the whole week . I put each serving of oatmeal in a lidded container and stored then in the refrigerator. When I got to work, I would reheat it for 1 -1 1/2 minutes in the microwave. I really enjoyed the oatmeal and found myself look forward to it. This breakfast gave me the energy during the holiday season and stopped me from feeling sluggish.
Now that it is January and things are back to normal around here, this oatmeal is definitely going to be a breakfast staple. I am back to Weight Watchers after last month’s cookies so this breakfast fits perfectly into my plan.
- 3½ cup almond milk
- ⅛ tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 2 tbsp. dried cranberries
- 1 tbsp. brown sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp. granulated sugar
- Add almond milk, kosher salt, and vanilla extract to a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once the milk begins to boil, add in oats and cook for 6-7 minutes. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes if you prefer a thicker oatmeal.
- Stir in dried cranberries and brown sugar. In a small bowl combine the ground cinnamon and sugar. Separate the oatmeal into four bowls and sprinkle each bowl with ¼th the cinnamon sugar mix.
- To make ahead- Separate cooked oatmeal into 4 lidded containers and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Store in the refrigerator until needed. To reheat oatmeal remove lid and microwave for about 1-1½ minutes. Stir and enjoy!
Source- Adapted from Giada’s Feel Good Food (disclosure: this is an Amazon affiliate link)
