Oatmeal. Protein.

Oatmeal is one of the simplest breakfasts. Not The Oatmeal (which I also love) but oats, dehusked, steamed, and flattened.

By itself, oatmeal is mostly carbs with some protein and fat (by calories: 69% carbs, 16% protein, 15% fat), but adding some casein can tip that balance toward protein and add some delicious creaminess at the same time.

Ingredients

70g old fashioned oatmeal
1-1.5c water
salt
60g casein
30g peanut butter

Adjustments

You can use different varieties of oatmeal (quick cooking, steel cut, etc.) – adjust the cook time and water accordingly.
Oatmeal doesn’t have a huge flavor on its own, so you can swap in many different spices or mixins – fruit, berries, cinnamon, apple pie spice, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, etc.
If you’re adding fat, peanut butter, cream, butter are good choices. Or don’t, if you’re going for a lower fat option.
If you’re going for low carb… well… oatmeal’s not the best choice.

Method

Like many recipes, we’ll start with a bowl and zero the scale.
Add the oatmeal. Salt it heavily – I always like to keep a lot of salt in my diet particularly when cutting. Yes, dropping salt will give you a momentary weight decrease but that’s all water weight. Salt and other related electrolytes are key for performance, and lots is lost via sweat -- so salting your food will make sure your supplies stay high.
Add water. Normal oats take a 1-1 ratio of oats to water by volume (1 c oats = 1 c water). In this case we’ll be adding casein which thickens a lot, so you’ll need extra water. Start with 1.5 c and you can always add water later until you get the right ratio.
Microwave – 4 minutes for old fashioned. I like to go a little longer here because we’re mixing in casein.
Now casein… delicious creamy protein. I used vanilla here.
And finally, peanut butter.
Mix. If it’s super thick, add water and mix again.

It’ll be hot so you’ll want to wait a few minutes for it to cool before you dig in -- goldilocks style. Enjoy!