Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Avena Oat Smoothie

While I do love smoothies, I'm not in the habit of having one for breakfast or even for a snack.  But, I decided to try a new smoothie this week for the Food Network Chef's Cooking Challenge because it uses -- oddly enough -- my favorite ingredients.  Oats and cinnamon.



Have I told you how much I love oats?  And cinnamon?  Oh, and vanilla.

Yes.  I do.

I should go to therapy.  Really.

I have 30 (now 31) recipes on here that use oats.

And, I am almost to the point where I eat oats daily.

Maybe I'm a horse?  I hear they like oats too.

Anyway, with my love for oats, I decided I give Ingrid Hoffman's Old-Fashioned Avena Oatmeal Smoothie a try.

I have to admit -- it took me a long time to try this.  It could have gone either way... really tasty, or really awful.  My first thought was -- how can this be good?!  But, I read the comments people left on her recipe, and was inclined to try.

Old-Fashioned Avena Oatmeal Breakfast Smoothie - From Ingrid Hoffman

1/2 C Old-Fashioned Oats
3 C milk
2 T brown sugar (or honey)
1-2 tsp. cinnamon (to taste)
1 tsp. vanilla

Begin the night before by cooking the oats and the milk in a saucepan for 10-15 minutes -- stir continuously.  The oatmeal will be really thick.




Remove from the burner and add the cinnamon and honey, to taste.



Allow the oatmeal mixture to cool for a bit.  Transfer to a container to refrigerate overnight.



Strain the liquid from the oatmeal.



Hmmmm....



How exactly does one do that?

Mine, certainly did not strain.

I ended up blending mine in a blender with a little more milk, and some vanilla.





Now, that looks more like it.



I tried drinking it cold... but no such luck.  Maybe with blueberries or raspberries it would be better cold.

I ended up warming it up, and it was okay.



It certainly did not ruin my love for oatmeal, but, this is one oatmeal dish I will pass on making again.

I did enjoy it really thick and warm on the first night -- like a cinnamon-y pudding.

And, I used the leftovers in my favorite oatmeal waffles... so all was not lost.

Have you ever heard of such a smoothie before?

20 comments:

  1. It looked promising:-) I am sorry to hear it didn't turn out.

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  2. Hmm, I'm not sure I'd like this either and I love my morning oatmeal too. Good idea to make the waffles.

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  3. In a way it sounds good. Kind of like rice pudding, which I really like. But....I don't know about drinking it. Kind of gross.

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  4. No, I haven't heard of cooking the oats beforehand but adding oatmeal is a good filler in any smoothie. Thanks for sharing even the recipes that don't work out, for our future reference. Love your site.
    Laurie@DomesticProductions

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  5. This has nothing to do with your smoothie (although, I am surprised it wasn't tasty--I love oats and cinnamon too!)

    I DID want to let you know that I tried your honey trick (spraying the measuring cup with non-stick spray), and it really worked! I never doubted you, but I also didn’t realize that it would just slide out so easily. :) I am in love with this little tip now. Thanks so much!

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  6. That does not sound like my kind of smoothie. But kudos to you for trying it out!

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  7. It just goes to show that not all recipes turn out and people have different tastes. I am glad you posted a recipe that you didn't consider to be "the best". I thought I was the only one who did that.

    Love your site!

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  8. are you sure it wasn't a smoothie for your face or hair? i love to sprinkle cinnamon in my coffee. and we use honey instead of sugar in our coffee. so good.

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  9. What kind of waffle maker do you have or would you recommned? I would like to start making waffles but don't want waffle maker to purchase. Thanks for you help in advance.

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  10. I drink a smoothie a day, but for the fruit, not really the roughage... doesn't sound like something i would even try, so koudoos for trying

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  11. Darn. When I started reading this recipe, I thought, "YUM!" because I love oatmeal. But now I think I'll take your word for it and skip trying it. :-)

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  12. That is an interested smoothie, do you think you were suppose to stain the liquid and just drink that? From the picture on food network it doesn't look like it has any oats in it? Hmmm, not sure.

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  13. Oh, well, it sounded like a good idea! I still may give it a try as a pudding kind of thing...the waffles sound yummy!

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  14. This recipe really looked promising, too bad it was weird! It kinda looked good at the pre-straining stage.

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  15. I think you should be given the title of Comfort Food Queen. I love your recipes.

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  16. I looked at this recipe as well but skipped it after seeing you had to cook the oats. I love adding a packet of peaches (or stawberry) and cream oatmeal to my smoothies (without cooking it). I can see it being good warm. Nice job going out on the limb with this one. Glad you could use it for waffles!

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  17. That did look promising! I have used oats in a smoothie before, but not cooked. I put the oats in the blender and chop them up very fine, then add other things like yogurt, frozen fruit, honey and milk.

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  18. So funny, I made that this week too!
    I prepped the night before and tried to start straining in the morning. Nothing much was happening so I didn't strain it and nuked it as is for a milky oatmeal!
    Great idea to make waffles with it, waste not want not!

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  19. Maybe if you mixed fruit in it? I think I would rather eat my oats.....not drink them!

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Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear from you; especially how you're finding JOY in your kitchen.

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