Dark Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal

Alaina is quite the crafty individual. This morning we hung out at her apartment to work on some baby shower gifts. See her in action below! I'm so impressed with her baby blanket making skills. My limited sewing experience meant I was in charge of making breakfast, pulling pins and providing moral support. For breakfast I made jalapeño bacon and my favorite breakfast food item, oatmeal. I found this oatmeal concept in Women's Running magazine. The combination of chocolate, cherries and almonds was delicious. I'll be adding this to my morning oatmeal menu of options.

Ingredients:
2/3 cup oatmeal (1/2 if you don't wake up super hungry)
1 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons crushed almonds
A few dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup frozen cherries, defrosted
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Zest of half a lemon

Directions:

Using a food processor, process the cherries, almond extract, zest and maple syrup. Place in a small bowl.

Everyone has their own way of making oatmeal. I use the microwave to make my oatmeal, putting the oatmeal in a bowl, pouring in the almond milk and microwaving for 1.5 minutes. Microwaves are not all the same, it might take more or less time. You can also cook the oatmeal on the stove by bringing the required amount of water or milk to a simmer and adding the oats and stirring until the oats are cooked through.

When the oatmeal is ready, top with the cherry mixture, almonds and dark chocolate chips. Enjoy!