The truth is…
While I have shared with you all the good food from the past two days, it’s been a pretty tough week.
Following that delicious Vietnamese meal I posted for WIAW, I went back to a hotel room where I worked until 4am.
And my computer crashed before I saved. Twice.
The next morning I learned my spreadsheet fun isn’t over and I’m now in the middle of a new circle of hell another pile of VLOOKUPs and analysis.
I really do love my job… but I really do hate Excel.
The week has also left me short of time to workout. I did manage to hit the hotel dreadmill for a quick mile… only to discover my knee still isn’t better. Like clockwork, at 0.8 miles it hurts and feels like it’s going to buckle under me.
So today I’m not feeling wordy. Nor do I have time to be.
Bad hotel breakfasts also drag me down. What I really wanted was this:
This breakfast really is a good one. Hotels, please take note.
Baked oats with mashed banana and peanut butter. Topped with blueberries, chopped hazelnuts, and syrup at the very end.
It’s comfort food. And I need to be held.
End of the bowl = end of my pity party today.
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Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal
- 1/2 ripe banana, mashed
- 1 T peanut butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4-1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 4-5 drops vanilla stevia
- 1 tsp coconut oil (optional)
- Shake of salt
- 1/3 C oatmeal
- 1/4 C unsweetened almond milk
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place all ingredients except oats and milk in small bowl. Mix until combined, then add raw oats and milk. Pour into a ramekin and cook for 15-20 mins, or until firm. Finish on broil for just a few seconds to brown the top.
Optional toppings: nuts, blueberries, more peanut butter, coconut oil, syrup
Serves 1.
***
Now I feel bad whining because I really am grateful for a lot this week: being in the Top 9, my awesome mom, and having a good job.
Do you ever need a pity party… and feel bad about said pity party?
What are you grateful for this week?
Yes and yes! I think it’s fine to throw yourself a pity party every now and then, as long as you pick yourself back up and keep going.
I am really grateful for my mom this week. She’s my ray of sunshine!
Mom’s are the best, aren’t they?
this is very similar to the baked oatmeal i make, but i mix the blueberries in before baking!! yummmmmm
Yeah… I remembered I had them after the fact. Surprisingly, the hot baked oats still warmed them enough to be juicy!
Oh girl, I’m sorry! I’m sending you virtual hugs and big bowls of comfort food!!!
Hope the week is getting better. At least it’s Thursday!
I’ve been kind of having a “meh” week myself. Hope the funk doesn’t last for you!
The oatmeal sounds fantastic, I’ve never actually baked oatmeal…
Sorry you’re having one of those weeks too!
Let me know if you try it! I love baked oatmeal because it’s like a little cake for breakfast.
I am a firm believer in the healing powers of oatmeal!
I eat oatmeal almost everyday…but I’ll take it minus the bananas.
Well… that’s just bananas. b-a-n-a-n-a-s.
We should get some bloggers together, from various cities, and start up a boutique chain of hotels that serve the type of food we would like to get.
How awesome would that be? Always photo worthy and never NEVER contain watered down oats (YUCK!).
That is a AWESOME idea! I bet it would be a hit. There are so many boutique hotel popping up everywhere already. We just need an investor…
Haha love that ‘file missing’ button! Yes please to wine! And thank you for the breakfast idea as I ran out of cereal yesterday and plain old porridge bored me to death today so you KNOW your baked oatmeal is happening tomorrow! Can’t wait!!
I hope next week is much better for you love!
It is bad that I’ve been looking forward to a glass (or 3) for a solid 48 hours? LOL!
Single serving sized baked oatmeal? I could just kiss you right now. This means I can have baked oatmeal every day! I just made a big batch for all of us yesterday which was supposed to serve 6. It only served 3. I was throwing myself a pity party yesterday too, which I feel bad about now. All that snow and all I could think about was the plans I had to cancel and schedule I had to change when I should have just been thankful for a day off to spend playing with my kids. Ugh.
Snow is definitely a good excuse for a pity party! At least it’s been a mild season. On the bright side, the snow does is perfect oatmeal weather.
What is it that makes baked oats so satisfying? Microwaving them to save time isn’t the same result, either!
I know what you mean – the day-to-day frustrations get to me sometimes and then I think about how good I really do have it….But I still have those little “sad” moments sometimes, I think that’s only natural.
I’m sorry about your day and hope it gets better. I am the VIP to all the pity parties;)
Definitely! What is it about women, we feel guilty for feeling bad… those days come, and there is no need to bash ourselves for not being happy all the time! I haven’t made baked oatmeal in a long time, yours looks sooo good!!
I couldn’t agree more. We are way to hard on ourselves. At least we have high standards… right?
Peanut butter and banana oatmeal is one of my favorite breakfasts
Dude, I love this one. I’m keeping this on regular rotation. Really sorry to hear your job has been keeping you up at night (literally). Excel is the devil. Hang tough!
Thanks, friend! At least I was properly fueled with pho.
Aww, I’m sorry that your knee is STILL bugging you. Foam roll your glutes, hips, and hams!!!
I know, I know… I need to spend a LOT more time with my foam roller. Thanks for the push.
This would be the perfect dish to brighten a mood! Hope you’re feeling better. Just think of this- the weekend is only 1.25 days away!
Oh no! You have had a hard week! This breakfast is serious comfort food, indeed–hope your week gets better.
Seriously? Seriously?!???! Your computer crashed twice?!?!?!? I’m sorry dude! At least there’s brotip #205 … and oatmeal!
Hope your weekend is better!
That was my reaction… plus a few expletives.
Oh man! I hope your upcoming week is much better :). Baked Oatmeal is one my favorite breakfasts! I think I’ll make it again tomorrow – You’ve inspired me!
That recipe looks awesome, Laura! It’s the first thing I’m going to add back to my diet once I stop my gluten-free thing (the gluten-free oats here in Scotland are crazy expensive).
Hope your week is getting better!
That’s terrible you can’t get them! When you get back, try the Bob’s Mill Gluten-Free. They are my favorite oats and I’m not even GF!
I love this post!! And I’m so grateful you posted this recipe!! Yumm!!
<3 I'm sorry you had a crap day. At least the weekend is here?
I’m hoping this weekend will make up for any bad day you’ve had this past week. Such a lovely oatmeal recipe! I love oats, PB, Bananas… great combination! Take care
I love peanut butter and bananas and I’m so excited to try this!
Thanks for sharing!
I always love the oatmeal recipes you share! I love peanut butter and bananas so this is totally my kind of breakfast! I also hate bad hotel breakfasts. I don’t want to eat a bunch of pastries for breakfast!
Thank you! I love finding new ways to shake it up. It seems life is too short to eat plain food.
I may or may not have just had a quick cry in a bathroom so that no one would see, so yes, pity parties do happen in my world. I would’ve given you a great big hug, my dear, for yours. xo
WOAH what just happened?? Why did my googlereader give me this post?! It’s from January! Ah well…. Sorry for the crazy random posting
That was actually well-timed! I had forgotten about this recipe and I have a banana in need of use.
I may have to try and figure out how to adjust this to make the muffin tin baked oatmeal like your raspberry and sweet potato oatmeals. It looks really good!
That’s such a good idea! I may have to do that too!