We ran out of oatmeal...

See the oats at the top getting ready to be smoothied?

And I felt SO lost in the kitchen. The funny thing is, a warm bowl of plain oatmeal (or even fruit and oatmeal) is one of the LAST things I'd have for breakfast in the morning. I have even tried to make my oatmeal interesting by thinking of the three bears sitting at the table, eating their porridge...

Ok, I don't do that.

BUT, because I know oatmeal is so good for us, I have an obligatory bowl from time to time. It's just not my thing. It's okay though, because I do love using oatmeal in a lot of other recipes. I use it so much so that when we're out, it's kind of a big deal.

Like I mentioned before, oatmeal has a bunch of great health benefits and is totally clean; so, it's a pantry staple in this house for sure! Here are some ideas for using it in your clean eating meal plans without having to sit down to a boring bowl of bear food:

• Incorporate it in smoothies. I use 1/4 - 1/2 cup raw old-fashioned oats in my smoothies (depending on how much fits in the smoothie cup). Just blend really well. One of my favorite combos is: frozen banana, honey, blueberries or strawberries, oatmeal and unsweetened almond milk. YUM!
• Make two-ingredient cookies. Okay, we all know these cookies are the real reason I was wigging out without my oatmeal. I can't help it. They are SO good and good for you! I make them at least once a week and they are clean (well, I don't know that the 2TB of vegan chocolate chips I throw in are *entirely* clean, but close enough for me). 
• Granola/cereal bars. I used to think "eating right" involved grabbing a high-sugar/low-cal pre-packaged cereal bar when I went to work in the morning and starving myself until lunch. Um, no. Now I often make my own granola bars (and eat them as PART of my morning meals). I now know that those breakfast bars are packed with lots of sugar and other crap that we don't need. You can easily make them yourself, like I do; and, many of the recipes include oats. You can make something yourself, quickly and easily, with oats, natural peanut butter, flax, coconut oil...you get the picture. Consult Google and Pinterest for more yummy recipe ideas.
• As a binding agent. Instead of breadcrumbs, I use oats in meatloaves, hamburgers and meatballs. No one knows the difference. :) 
• In muffins. Remember my clean carrot cake muffins? I'm not trying to brag, but...oh my word, those are good.
• Homemade granola. If you've never made your own granola, please start now. Willing Cook's recipe is my favorite. 

And, if you want to know even more about oatmeal, check out The Oatmeal Artist. Now, this lady knows her oats!