Mocha steel cut oats

I love weekends.  They're the best!  Last night my classmates all came over and we hit up some little dive taco joints - we called it a taco crawl.  Unfortunately we discovered that none of the little dives served margaritas with their authentic Mexican food.  That was a little disappointing, but nothing some amazing burritos, tacos, and Coronas couldn't fix.  Since Josh and I moved here in November, we had yet to eat anywhere besides picking up Casey's pizza from the gas station.  That's all changed now.  We found one place that seriously has the best burritos I've ever had.  It was very authentic, and a little hole in the wall.  And when I say authentic, they had things like Tripe tacos, beef tongue, and beef cheek on the menu!  We're not quite ready to experience those things yet, but the shredded beef and chicken were fantastic.  We plan on going back sooner rather than later.

After such an exciting night of mexican and some nasty storms in the area, I decided it would be a good idea to mix my coffee into my oats this morning.  Give me a little extra jolt of caffeine (because I really need that ;) ).  These lovely oats were born.  Yes, it is perfectly acceptable to eat chocolate for breakfast too.  Dark chocolate has antioxidants after all...

Mocha Steel Cut Oats
(serves 2)

Ingredients -

• 3/4 c steel cut oats
• 3/4 c milk (I used vanilla unsweetened almond milk)
• 2/3 c coffee (leftover from yesterday)
• 1/8 c instant coffee granules
• 1/8 c cocoa powder
• 1 banana
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 T chia seeds
• sweetener to taste (Vanilla Stevia drops)
• toppings: peanut butter, chocolate chips

Directions -


-Mix oats, milk, and coffee in a pot over medium heat

-Slice banana very thinly
-After oats come to a boil stir in instant coffee and cocoa powder
-When oats start to "gurgle", whisk in banana, vanilla extract, and chia seeds until banana "melts" and oats are light and fluffy

-After your oats are thoroughly whipped, let cook 1-2 more minutes until desired thickness is reached, stir in sweetener (I used about 10 drops of liquid vanilla stevia)
-Serve with a little peanut butter and chocolate chips if desired

Enjoy!

Josh ended up stirring some milk into his to make them runny and he said it was good that way.  This is my standard way of making steel cut oats, minus the coffee and cocoa powder.  The sliced banana sweetens the oats naturally, and makes them light and fluffy when combined with the chia seeds.