Last night as I watched American Idol draw out two long hours of results, I had some time to do some thinking.
I wanted to create a fun Friday breakfast to celebrate the approaching weekend, incorporating fresh sweet potato into my morning oatmeal. I wasn’t in the mood to bake anything or for it to take longer than 10 minutes, so I decided that finely grating the fresh sweet potato into my oatmeal would be a sneaky way to cut down the cooking time that is normally required for such a tater.
Oh, and it worked. It worked wonderfully!
And because I was already sneaking in some veggies into my breakfast, I decided that some chocolate was in order to round it out. It’s all about the balance, right?
Normally, I am not a fan of overly sweet things in the morning, but I found that just a tablespoon of cocoa powder and 1/2 square of dark chocolate was enough to turn a normal bowl of oatmeal into something quite decadent, while still being nutritious and energizing.
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Double Chocolate Sweet Potato Oatmeal
Inspired by my Carrot Cake Oatmeal and Live Well 360.
Super chocolaty without a ton of sugar, this bowl of oatmeal is high in volume and taste. The grated sweet potato is a wonderful way to sneak a veggie into your morning routine!
Yield: 1 serving
Base Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup oats
- 3/4 cup finely grated sweet potato
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 cup non-dairy milk (I used organic soy)
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1/4-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Directions:
1. In a medium sized pot, stir together the oats, milk, chia seeds, and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Now stir in the grated sweet potato and the 1/4 cup of water. Cook on medium, stirring often, for a few more minutes.
2. Stir in the cocoa powder and cinnamon, being sure to get out any clumps. When the mixture has thickened up nicely, stir in the vanilla and maple syrup and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl and top with a bit of dark chocolate or your desired toppings.
Toppings I used: 1/2 square dark chocolate, 1 tbsp Chocolate Crunch Dessert Granola, few shreds of sweet potato for garnish.
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First, bring the oats, milk, chia seeds, and salt to a low boil and reduce heat to medium. Now stir in the finely grated sweet potato and 1/4 cup of water. Cook on medium, stirring frequently, for a few minutes.
Now stir in the cinnamon and cocoa powder, making sure to get out all the clumps!
Chocolaty goodness!
Cook for a few more minutes, stirring frequently. Now add in the maple syrup and vanilla and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl and add your desired toppings!
On top: 1/2 square chopped dark chocolate (it got all melty and wonderful!), a few shreds of sweet potato for garnish, and 1 tbsp of granola.
The result is a super chocolaty and decadent-tasting bowl of oatmeal with a ton of volume thanks to the sweet potato. It was just the right amount of sweetness for me, but of course you can always adjust to your own taste buds!
I’ve seen this blog survey making the rounds so I decided to fill it out myself (I also did this while watching American Idol last night!).
A-Z Survey
A. Age: 27
B. Bed size: King (as of 2011)…can’t believe we waited so long! I think my legs are getting longer from all the stretching I do now.
C. Chore you dislike: Scrubbing tile floors
D. Dogs: growing up- Pepper + Jasmine….RIP!! Both muts, both amazing dogs. I can’t wait to adopt my next one. I’m a huge, huge, huge dog lover. I was never a cat fan until Eric bought Sketchie! Now I love both cats and dogs, but I am still partial to dogs….shhhh.
E. Essential start to your day: Slippers
F. Favorite color: I can’t pick just one so- Blue, Pink, Orange, Green. I love colour!
G. Gold or silver: Gold…I’m old school and it looks best with my skin tone. I prefer silver for house décor though.
H. Height: 5’4.5" (but with my stilettos 5’9"!)
I. Instruments you play(ed): Well, let me just say that my best friend and I were formerly (currently!?) known as the ‘Squeak Sistas’…we rocked that Clarinet throughout school! Squeak!
J. Job title: Business owner/recipe developer/photographer/blogger/dish washer/molly maid.
K. Kids: Just Sketchie and our stuffed animals right now!
L. Live: Gorgeous green & hilly countryside…aka: The Sticks. We have 1 traffic light. Seriously. We did the big city thing for a couple years and did not enjoy the traffic headaches, pollution, and congestion.
M. Mom’s name: OSGMOM….Or Lori.
N. Nicknames: Dawn (middle name), Angie/Ange, Granola (one of my friends started calling me this when I went vegan! ha), Martha, shots, Lulu, Lil Gal, Skirts, Lids.
O. Overnight hospital stays: None yet…*knocks on wood*
P. Pet peeves: Stinky feet, finding another person’s hair in a hotel bathroom, pesticides on produce, finding used bandaids on the ground/swimming pool, when post office loses my parcels, Tigerblood, thinking I have a food in the fridge and finding out it is GONE!
Q. Quote from a movie: ‘You guys look like a bunch of ice cream cones!’ (Any guesses?)
R. Righty or lefty: Righty, but I used to try to teach myself how to be ambidextrous when I was young. no such luck.
S. Siblings: Sister Kristi, half-sis and half-bro: Kerrie and Chris, Step sis and step bro: Jennifer and Michael.
T. Time you wake up: Between 7-7:30am. Bedtime is 11:30-12:00 (we are both night owls and LOVE to stay up late, especially on weekends!).
U. Underwear: Oh I didn’t think this was that kind of questionnaire!
V. Vegetables you don’t like: Chard. That is the only one I can think of, so I guess I’m doing good!
W. What makes you run late: Traffic, Blogging, unexpected clothing freak-outs. I’m usually early though and hate to be late.
X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, pelvic area (when I had pelvic strain from running in 2009), Head (I fell on the ice and hit my head in 2008…outcome still unclear!).
Y. Yummy food you make: I’m really loving my spin-off oatmeals lately.
Z. Zoo animal favorites: The animals that are released back into the wild!
PS– My current American Idol Favs are: Paul, Pia, Haley, and Casey! What about you?
If you’d like, copy and paste this survey below and have a go at it! I love finding out about you guys.
this looks delicous! Thanks for sharing. This will be on my week menu to try. Today I am going to try butternut squash oatmeal with coconut butter, and tomorrow I was going to try Maca powder/cocoa Oats. Have you ever heard of Maca powder? I stumbled across it the other day in someone’s blog, and I don’t think you have any recipes that include Maca powder. You should look into it, it may be something you want to try =) Let me know if you ever tried it or if you do have recipes that include it was i bought some and need ways to use it up =) have a good weekend angela! I live in Barrie, ON so its pretty close to you, wonder if your getting the same rain i am?? ttyl
Hey Cristal! Yes I do use Maca powder on a regular basis. I don’t like the taste but I do enjoy it ‘masked’ in a green monster. I only use about 1/2-1 tsp per smoothie. Hope this helps!
Ange
Great idea putting sweet potato into oatmeal! I must try this.
I am loving Paul on AI, and Lauren Alaina – she is adorable!
After reading this, I think I am going to have oatmeal for lunch too!!!! It sounds amazing! :D
I love that Ice Cream quote! I wish I knew where it was from.
xoxo
Kathleen
Have you ever noticed how gorgeous your readers are? I love seeing all the pretty happy people!
A. Age: 24
B. Bed size: Not sure, either a full or a queen. I think it’s a full and would definitely like a bigger bed some day. Me and the hubs like to sprawl. haha
C. Chore you dislike: cleaning the bathroom! It’s gross!
D. Dogs: I have a cocker spaniel named Lady. We have a love/hate relationship. I love her but usually don’t like her. haha
E. Essential start to your day: Seeing my little baby’s smile. It is priceless.
F. Favorite color: Green, like the baby leaf color.
G. Gold or silver: Silver
H. Height: 5’5″ Average. Average height, average weight, and everything!
I. Instruments you play(ed): violin and piano. I don’t have a piano now but plan to get one when we move. I used to play the violin all the time but it’s been too long. Being a mom takes a lot of time!
J. Job title: Just got hire as a stay at home mom! Quit my job as an executive assistant at an international corporation
K. Kids: I have a little six month old! He’s so much fun and I can’t believe how much I love being a mom.
L. Live: In KC, MO with my hubs.
M. Mom’s name: Weird question! My mom’s name is Catherine.
N. Nicknames: Banana, D, Princess Di…..
O. Overnight hospital stays: Just one, for when my baby was born!
P. Pet peeves: people who walk lethargically in store isles. It happens at walmart and that is one reason why I never go there.
Q. Quote from a movie: “There *was* nothing wrong with it… until I was about twelve years old and that no-talent ass clown became famous and started winning Grammys. ” Micheal Bolton Office Space.
R. Righty or lefty: Righty.
S. Siblings: 7 kids in my fam, five girls, two boys and I’m the third kid from the top.
T. Time you wake up: 7:30 because I have a little alarm clock named Avery who coos that time every day.
U. Underwear: I like it boycut baby.
V. Vegetables you don’t like: mushrooms, I didn’t like celery or green bell peppers until this week. I HATE okra too.
W. What makes you run late: making sure I have everything I need. Having a baby complicates that but even before the baby I’d forget my cellphone or something!
X. X-rays you’ve had: dental, ankle, foot, well, pretty much everything!
Y. Yummy food you make: hummus, pizza, my hubby says I make a wicked hot wing but I don’t eat meat haha, pumpking pie and muffins!
Z. Zoo animal favorites: I’m not really much of a zoo fan because it’s sad to see the animals cooped up but I love watching the seals swim and play. They’re so graceful underwater and awkward on land.
Tigerblood!!! HAHAHA
I read your blog all the time, I don’t know how I missed this one. I got a whole bunch of chard yesterday at my CSA and was hoping you would have some kind of recipes to use it all up in – sadly my search turned up this survey and since you don’t like chard I’m guessing I’m not going to have any luck finding any chard recipes on here ;). Ooooh well, I’m just glad my search turned up this post that I guess I somehow missed because this oatmeal looks SOOO good. I eat oatmeal every morning and I tend to just stick to easy (delicious yet boring) oatmeal. I need to start spicing it up a bit!
We had this for breakfast this morning. My toddler kept saying “I don’t want sweet potato in my porridge!” Which I ignored of course because she a)loves sweet potato and b)doesn’t know what she is talking about. I also added half a banana because she was upset that I wasn’t making banana porridge so that was my comprimise. Of course, when breakfast tasted like chocolate pudding she stopped complaining. So thank you so much for this recipe, it was wonderful. I didn’t add the extra chocolate though – I think that sets a bad precedent for a 3-year old’s breakfast (somehow banana porridge just won’t cut it anymore when you can have chocolate porridge!)
haha that is such a cute story! Glad it was enjoyed after all. :)
Ok, so first of all, I LOVE the recipes that you create. Thank you! and this one is NO exception. As I was making it I was a bit skeptical of the flavors together, but one bite and I was totally won over! I have been craving chocolate all week, and this HIT the spot. I also have to say that I used a left-over half of a baked sweet potato (no toppings) instead of shredded fresh, which worked great since I was in a rush trying to head out the door to work. it worked GREAT@! and tasted wonderful, to the point that I am sharing the recipe around the office. Thank you for creating the things you do and putting them out there for us! I am so glad to follow your blog.
p.s. you inspire me because I’ve had a very similar journey in weight and self-image.
beautiful! looks amazing!! a sweet potato once landed in my morning oatmeal.. and now with chocolate =perfect, like sweet potato brownies!!! thanks Angela!!