Mornings at our house right now are kind of a blur. Not because we are busy or have places to go, but simply because my exhaustion from being up most of the night with our baby seems to prevent my brain from fully functioning the first few hours of the day. She just turned 5 months old a couple days ago (tear!) and is still waking up at a minimum of 2-3 times per night, sometimes more. This is unfamiliar territory for me since my now three year old was an excellent sleeper, and still is. He started sleeping through the night at 12 weeks old, but that’s not the case for little sister!
I’m getting ready to start her on solids soon, so I’m hoping that will help her to sleep longer. Lots of people I’ve talked to about her sleep habits, including her pediatrician, suggested I go ahead and start her on solids at 4 months. I’ve been apprehensive about doing so, however, for one reason in particular: there is research that suggests starting solids too soon can lead to allergies, including one that we are very familiar with: peanuts.
Yep, our son has a peanut allergy, and my husband and I spend a lot of time worrying about his exposure to peanuts, especially once he goes to school. He’s very aware of his allergy and will ask if foods have peanuts in them (as he says, “Peanuts make me sick!”) but I still worry about him constantly and am OCD about making sure that we have the Epi-Pen with us at all times. I really don’t want our daughter to have to go though the same difficulties of having a life-threatening allergy, too. Waiting longer to start solids isn’t necessarily the answer for everyone with little babies, but since it seems ours might be a little predisposed to allergies, we’re going to give it a try. If there’s a chance we can prevent it by waiting until she is 6 months, that’s what we’ll do! I will probably continue to look like a walking zombie until then, so I apologize to any of you that have to see me in person. 😉
So, in the morning I need simple. Easy. A lot of mornings we have cereal or smoothies, but now that I’ve created this quick and yummy oatmeal, we eat it a lot too. We LOVE almond butter, by the way! While we are a peanut-free house, we most definitely are not almond-free! Our son is thankfully not allergic to all nuts, just specifically peanuts, so we use almond butter in place of peanut butter. We also use Sunbutter which is made from sunflower seeds!
This is so so SO easy, it only requires four ingredients!
Yep, that’s IT, and this is definitely my favorite oatmeal, not including this recipe for Baked Oatmeal. Justin’s Maple Almond Butter
is so stinking good, y’all, I can’t even describe it. The MAPLE kind is out of this world delicious, and it is from a certified peanut-free facility, so that makes it even better!
You can tell that our jar of Justin’s Maple Almond Butter has been loved on, for sure. It’s almost empty, eeek! Need to add that to my shopping list…
If you feel the need to eat a spoonful all by itself first, go ahead. I won’t judge.
To make this, just whip up a bowl of plain oatmeal. I like to use the kind in the picture; it’s an organic oat blend that I got from Target. I just mix 1/2 cup of it with some almond milk and microwave for a couple of minutes. Once it’s cooked add in a couple of tablespoons of almond butter and stir until it’s nice and smooth. I like to top mine with a chopped up banana and dig in!
This is a wonderfully filling breakfast. On days that I actually have enough energy (haha!) to get on the treadmill, this breakfast is what keeps me going long enough to finish a run. And other days it just gives me enough oomph to maybe do a load of laundry. Well, some days… 😉
Hope y’all have a wonderful weekend.
Maple Almond Butter Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup multigrain oat blend, (or make with quick oats or rolled oats)
- 2/3 cup almond milk
- 2 Tablespoons Maple Almond Butter
- 1 banana,, peeled and sliced
Instructions
- Combine oats and almond milk in microwave-safe bowl and stir. Microwave on high for 2 minutes.
- Remove from microwave and stir. Add more almond milk or return to microwave to obtain desired consistency.
- Add Maple Almond Butter and stir until smooth.
- Top with sliced banana and enjoy!
Cara Edwards@cacennicara.blogspot says
This looks like such a hearty warm breakfast!! Will definately be trying this with my new cashew butter (I prefer it to peanut or almond!:) )
Ashlyn {Belle of the Kitchen} says
Sounds delicious to me! 🙂
Miz Helen says
What a great combination for the Oatmeal. I love the addition of the Almond Butter. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and have a great weekend!
Miz Helen
Jen @ Yummy Healthy Easy says
My nephew has a severe peanut allergy too! It’s so scary! My youngest son did NOT sleep well. I can totally sympathize! I’m sorry! Hopefully feeding her solids will help her sleep longer! Maybe it’s just a phase she’ll outgrow. I’m with you, eating a healthy breakfast is so hard. This oatmeal recipe looks amazing! I just posted a homemade almond butter recipe that you should totally check out! It’s easy and healthy and WAY cheaper than Justin’s stuff! Thanks for sharing this on Saturday Night Fever, pinning now to our Group recipe board! I hope you’ll link up again tomorrow night (6pm PST!) Good luck with the solids!
Ashlyn {Belle of the Kitchen} says
Oooh, I will be checking out your recipe! You are so right, the Justin’s almond butter is good but expensive! I’ve been wanting to make my own so I will definitely give yours a try!