Chocolate Raspberry Oatmeal

As a kid, I hated oatmeal with a passion. Mom would make the gloopiest oatmeal, and I hated the texture and the blandness. I was late for classes in elementary and middle school frequently because we couldn’t leave until everyone finished breakfast, and I was so slow eating the oatmeal.

I’ve always been very particular about texture. Even the chocolate oatmeal Mom made somehow tasted bad to me be cause it was too gloopy.

Needless to say, 8 year old Natalie definitely did not imagine that two decades later I’d be willingly eating oatmeal. I started eating it more in college where it was readily available, and I could make it sweet and dessert like. 

I also much prefer my oats nearly raw, so I generally microwave my oatmeal, instead of cooking over a stovetop, and I always buy the old fashioned ones, instead of the instant oats (the instant oats would cook too quickly and it would be too soft)

I usually keep my oatmeal very simple, but I had a lot of fun with this Chocolate Raspberry Oatmeal.

It’s quick and easy, and I made a a few batches for the whole week. Photographing this was a lot of fun because of the colors.

I’ve been craving and eating chocolate items three times a day because of all the stress. It’s been a race to the finish line in residency, and I’ve had a lot of busy clinical rotations and research deadlines!

The deadline for the research project I’ve been working on the past year is here, and I’ve been frantically working on collecting and analyzing data on cancer patients and infections every spare minute between 28 hr call and the ICU.

This oatmeal definitely is a mood pick me up. It’s going to be a busy few months, so I’m trying to be efficient with food prep – you”ll be seeing a lot of quick and easy recipes. 

Chocolate Raspberry Oatmeal

Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup chocolate almond milk
2-3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup raspberries
3 tablespoons chopped almonds
3 tablespoons coconut flakes

Directions
Combine your oats, milk, cocoa powder over stovetop on medium heat until softened (or you can microwave for 3-4 minutes). Spoon chocolate into a bowl. Top with raspberries, almonds, and coconut flakes. Enjoy!