Banana Nut Muffin Oatmeal

The other day I ran into a friend at the grocery store and we started talking about oatmeal (I know a strange topic). Both his family and our family eat a lot of oatmeal because it is cheap, healthy and tastes good - just don't ask my kids about the last part. I noticed he had banana's also in his cart and it got me thinking.

Banana's are one of my favorite fruits. A little bit of tropical delight for the palette that is high in potassium (and slightly radioactive). Despite common misconceptions, banana's don't grow on trees, but are actually one of the largest flowering plants on the planet. Anyway, I digress.

After our meeting, I got to thinking about other ways to make oatmeal more edible for the kids. They love banana breads and muffins. And muffins and breads are a good way to hid oatmeal. But my chosen task was to make a traditional porridge that they would not only eat, but also like. I knew I wanted to use bananas and oatmeal but what else. So I began my quest where it all started, by wandering the isles of the grocery store.

I started with the rolled oats (not instant) and bananas but I kept coming back to banana muffins and so decided to make a banana muffin porridge. I needed to change not only the flavor of the oats but the texture as well. So here is a recipe that not only tastes good (according to the kids), but will warm the heart and fill the belly.

Banana Nut Muffin Oatmeal

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

4 cups Rolled Oats

8 cups Water

3 Banana's cut into slices

1 cup Grape Nuts Cereal®

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp Banana Extract

Glazed Pecans to top

Directions

1. In a food processor on pulse, cut the rolled oats to a med-fine texture. (An optional step to make the oatmeal smoother but can easily be skipped).

2. Add brown sugar and banana extract to the water and stir to dissolve. Bring to a boil. Slowly add rolled oats (to avoid clumping) and Grape Nuts Cereal® to water and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add desired amount of cooked oatmeal, sliced banana's, glazed pecans and top with heavy cream and/or milk.

Enjoy