Chocolate Strawberry Oatmeal

For some people, weekends mean making elaborate breakfasts with pancakes, bacon, eggs, and glugs of maple syrup. ("Glugs" is a word, right?)

For me, weekends mean adding chocolate to my oatmeal.

This week was extra special for me because I had strawberries. I generally try to stick to the produce that's in season, and I usually avoid all conventionally grown berries because of the pesticides. However, I was dying for strawberries, and after several weeks of thinking of them constantly, I gave in. So thanks for the strawberries, California!

Throughout the week, I ate them diced up in my oatmeal along with some mashed banana. It was quite delightful, but when Saturday came around, I was ready to amp it up. My original plan was simply to swirl in some chocolate chips at the end, but then I convinced myself to use cocoa powder instead to avoid the extra sugar (not to mention how expensive that bag of chocolate chips was!). To keep it from being too bitter, I used half a mashed banana. Perfect!

How I did it:

1. Cook the oatmeal as you normally would. As I've said many times before, I use an equal mixture of almond milk and water to cook my oats. I also cook mine with a spoonful of flax. 
2. Next, mash a banana well (I only used half a banana), and stir that in (the banana is optional. If you don't need the sweetness, you could leave it out!). 
3. Once more of the liquid has dissolved, add several spoonfuls of cocoa powder until the oatmeal takes on a dark, luxurious, creamy texture. :) I recommend tasting it after every spoonful so you can judge for yourself how much you want. If you don't use enough, it will just taste weirdly bitter and bland. You have to use at least two spoonfuls. :) 
4. Add a splash of vanilla extract and a pinch of salt. Stir, stir, stir! 
5. Finally, add some diced strawberries (I use about 4-6 berries). You want to save this for last so the strawberries don't become mushy and dull while cooking.

I served mine with sliced almonds and another splash of almond milk. It would also be appropriate to add chocolate chips...if you're wild like that. :)

By the way, I recently found out that Hershey's has a dark chocolate powder... I must have this! Soon! But I should probably finish my current tub of cocoa powder. I guess that gives me an excuse to add it to my oatmeal every day from now on!

**You can check out my other oatmeal recipes here, or by clicking the oatmeal tag. You can also find dozens of other oatmeal recipes on my Pinterest board (along with tons of other meatless recipes!). Thanks!