2015-01-07

Welcome to the Foodie Extravaganza!



We are a group of bloggers who love to blog about food!  Each month we decide on an all-famous National Monthly Food Holiday to will base our recipes around. This month’s the ingredient is oatmeal.  Yes, January is National Oatmeal Month along with a whole array of other delightful things!! Get excited!

We hope you all enjoy our delicious oatmeal treats this month and come back to see what we bring for you next month.  If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza.  We would love to have you! If you’re a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE. Be sure to enter the rafflecopter giveaway below for the fabulous Oatrageous Oatmeal cookbook by Kathy Hester!

Without further adieu, here is my twist on oats!



Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. So many yummy possibilities. This Blueberry Oatmeal Super Smoothie is fun way to get some extra nutrients into my kiddos before school. Oats are a staple at our house and so I loved discovering that they make a great smoothie ingredient. The blender chops up the oats very finely so you get the nutrition of oatmeal – in a smoothie!

Blueberry Oatmeal Super Smoothie

Yields 4 cups

1/2 cup ice cubes

2 very ripe frozen bananas

4 ounces fresh or frozen blackberries (or substitute with berries of choice!)

2 tablespoons natural peanut butter

1/3 cup old fashioned oats

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup coconut water

Place all the ingredients into a blender and blitz on high speed for a few minutes. Serve with optional garnish of banana slices and a drizzle of honey.



As you can see – this smoothie was a success at our house and is an old family favorite. Using frozen bananas and berries vs. fresh definitely gives it more of the smoothie texture. I love that the smoothie contains so many ingredients that I can feel good about giving my children. The oats and peanut butter fill their tummies and the fruits load them up with vitamins and minerals for the day. There aren’t huge amounts of each of the ingredients in the smoothie, but it sure beats a bowl of sugary cereal! Plus they think they are getting a treat for breakfast – can’t beat that.

Here are some of the benefits:

Calcium, from the milk

Vitamin D

Fiber, from the banana, blackberries, and oats

Protein, from the milk and peanut butter

Vitamin C, from the blackberries

In addition, you get all the health benefits from coconut water, too! Coconut water raises your metabolism, boosts your immune system, fights viruses, and aids in digestion!

Another of my favorite oatmeal breakfast recipes is my super easy Overnight Baked Oatmeal. I love that it uses fruit as a natural sweetener instead of a lot of extra sugar.And if you are looking for more berry recipes – the Quinoa Blueberry Breakfast is uber healthy! You can indulge and still be healthy with my Healthier Blueberry Crepes, too.

Be sure to check out these other yummy oatmeal recipes and enter the giveaway below!

Mushroom Ginger Congee / Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies / Making Miracles
Southwestern Oatmeal Cakes / A Day in the Life on the Farm
Oatmeal Pancakes / Sew You Think You Can Cook

Savory Ginger Lemon Oat Porridge / The Joyful Foodie
Chickpea Veggie Soup / Food Lust People Love
Salted Vanilla Oatmeal Cookies / Baking in Pyjamas
Berry Oatmeal Super Smoothie / Keep Moving Forward With Me

Bacon Whole Grain Granola Bars / Pantry Friendly Cooking
Apple Pie Overnight Oats / Wallflour Girl
Homemade Cranberry Almond Granola / Rhubarb and Honey
Mango Poppyseed Oat Muffins / The Sweet {Tooth} Life
Brown Sugar Barbecue Meatballs / Fearlessly Creative Mammas

Oat Cinnamon Rolls / Passion Kneaded
Peanut Butter Oat Snack Balls / Mrs. Penguin

Mini Oatmeal Meatballs / The Freshman Cook
Monster Cookie Granola / From Gate to Plate

The oat-guru Kathy Hester has been so generous in donating one of her books to one of our lucky Foodie Extravaganza readers. With her book OATrageous Oatmeals: Delicious & Surprising Plant-Based Dishes From This Humble, Heart-Healthy Grain (affiliate link), you will learn how to use heart-healthy oatmeal in new and exciting ways! You can find recipes such as Steel-cut Oat Sausage Crumbles, Chickpea Veggie Soup, and Blackberry Mojito Overnight Oats. Now go enter this awesome giveaway because I’m super jealous that I can’t enter! If you don’t win, feel free to grab the link from above to purchase your own!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms & Conditions: This giveaway is open to residents of the United States and Canada only, age 18 and older. The OATragous Oatmeals Cookbook giveaway runs from Wednesday, January 7, 2015 12:00am ET through Thursday, January 15, 2015 12:00am ET. Winners will be randomly chosen and announced on January 16, 2015. Winners will also be contacted by email and will have 24 hours to respond to the email. If a winner does not respond in that time a new winner will be chosen.

What is your favorite oat recipe?

What breakfast disappears fastest at your house?

Did you make a healthy resolution this year?

The post Berry Oatmeal Super Smoothie + Giveaway #FoodieExtravaganza appeared first on Keep Moving Forward With Me.

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