Brekkie Cranberry-Almond Oats

We're baaaaaaaaack!

Boston was fun!  What I saw of it, that is... Most of my days were spent inside a room with no windows but plenty of computer-monitor-tanning going on...  At the end of it, I emerged a pale but certified Avid instructor.  Yay!

The last Saturday at the Jamaica Plain Music Festival was awesome, hope to return next year.  Amber was a great hostess throughout the day, showing us where to have coffee and tagging along while we tried to find vegan fare.  We came across an AMAZING place called Fiore's Bakery (they apparently don't have a website of their own, but here's a link to their description on Yelp.com http://www.yelp.com/biz/fiores-bakery-jamaica-plain  Our review was that it was FANTASTIC, and the cupcakes were delicious, the free cookie he offered was great, and the sandwich was to die for!!!!  Total thumbs up!)

So anywho, I've been back and cooking away.  I apologize for the delay in postings but I've been dealing with computer and internet issues, so my recipes and pictures have been stacking up.  Today, I bring you breakfast!  Hey, it's still before noon :)

BREKKIE CRANBERRY-ALMOND OATS

2 servings

I wanted porridge for breakfast, and I wanted flavor... so I pulled various ingredients from the fridge and pantry and came up with this tasty concoction.  Hope you enjoy!

CONTENTS:

1/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (Not instant! I had enough of that from the hotel!)

2/3 cup milk of choice

3 TBS slivered almonds

2 TBS unsweetened shredded coconut

2 tsp almond extract

1 TBS brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 TBS cranberries

FASCIST DIRECTIONS:

1. Lay out all of your ingredients and admire them

2. Prepare oats with milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. 

3. Meanwhile, heat oven to 350F and toast the almonds for 5 minutes on the lowest rack.  When done, remove pan from heat, sprinkle on the coconut and return to oven.  Leave 1 minute and then turn off the oven. Leave in about 2 more minutes, careful not to burn the coconut! 

Your porridge should be thickening up nicely right about now.

4. Add the cranberries, almond extract, brown sugar, and salt and stir well.  Cook about 3 minutes so the cranberries moisten and get plumper... if that's a word... Then add the coconut and almonds, remove from heat and stir.  Allow to cool about 3 minutes before dishing into two bowls.

Since I was serving us both I knew I needed to provide a little more... so I made a little side of pita bread sprinkled with mozarella daiya and some thyme and oregano sprinkled on top.  It was yummy! 

Very yummy indeed!  In total it took about 10 minutes to make this from start to finish. Not too shabby!