Once I started cooking I realized the fun I could have making food look pretty, and THEN I realized that after I had spent the time making it look pretty, it tasted a heck of a lot better (or at least it seemed to). Isn’t it amusing the way the mind works?
It’s funny because I’m really not much of a perfectionist when it comes to most things in life, but when it involves the creative part of the mind, I’m all in. And I mean I’m one of those people who gets so focused on a project I can hardly hold a conversation until I’ve executed it. That’s how I feel about my Jars of Yumminess (JOYs). That’s also why they are the perfect breakfast food for me to make, because I can take my time mixing and blending and experimenting and positioning and creating until everything looks and tastes just as I’d imagined it in my head.
That being said, certain JOYs can only be made when I have the time to dedicate to them. Sometimes there’s nothing wrong with a simple bowl of oats when life gets in the way. (Darn life!! Always taking up so much time.) This is a JOY I make when I have that extra time. And who doesn’t LOVE waking up in the morning and realizing you have hours and hours to spend doing whatever the hell you want? God, that’s got to be one of the best feelings on earth.
This JOY doesn’t take hours and hours, more like one hour or so. Maybe you should make yourself a mini green smoothie in the mean time because you might start to get a little hungry playing around with all of these yummy ingredients!
I like to call this the OG Rainbow JOY, because it was one of the first of its kind that I made…. And thus began my ardent love affair with layered, fruity, flavor-bursting blended oats. You ready? Here it is:
Serves 2.
Ingredients:
– 2 cups of organic, gluten-free oats
– 2 ripe bananas
– ½ cup kale
– ½ kiwi
– ¼ avocado
– 5 cherries
– 5 strawberries
– 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
– 1 tablespoon organic almond butter
– 1 tablespoon chocolate protein powder (I use Vega One)
– Granola of choice (I use Whole Foods’ chia ginger superfood cereal)
– Sprinkle of coconut shreds
– Handful of blueberries
– Extra sliced banana and berries for layering purposes. Refer to step 3 in the directions for more information on this!
- Important to have one medium sized mason jar for all JOYs.
Directions:
- Boil the oats in water until the water is soaked in. Should be about 10 minutes with this amount.
- Cinnamon Banana layer of oats: Blend ½ cup boiled oats with ½ banana and sprinkle in cinnamon. Layer this mixture at the bottom of the jar.
- Green layer of oats: Blend ½ cup boiled oats with the kale, kiwi and avocado. Layer this mixture on top of the Cinnamon Banana oats. (If you are having trouble layering and you feel as if the oats are soaking into one another, you can put a “barrier” between them of sliced bananas or berries. I often do this, and the extra fruit is a great little treat when you’re eating the finished product!)
- Red layer of oats: Blend ½ cup of oats with strawberries and cherries, and layer mixture on top of the green oats or the “fruit barrier” you’ve created.
- Chocolate layer of oats: Blend ½ cup of oats with cacao powder, almond butter and chocolate protein powder. Layer on top of red oats or fruit barrier.
- Top with granola, coconut shreds, and blueberries.
- Snap a photo of that thing because you’ve just worked your hungry little butt off to make it look pretty.
Voila! Enjoy with a friend or eat the whole damn thing if you so desire. I have been known to do either or, depending on how generous I’m feeling. You can also eat until you’re full and save the rest for a snack later in the day or for the next morning… the flavors soak in and it gets even better!!!