oatmeal

Who doesn't love cupping their hands around a warm bowl of oatmeal, especially during colder, Winter months? Aside from a satisfying breakfast, the nutritional power of fiber- and protein-filled oats can be enjoyed in other ways as well. If you're tired of oatmeal for breakfast, reap the benefits of oats with these ideas.

1. Meatloaf or veggie burgers: Since oats have a sticky, gelatinous consistency when wet, they're great at binding ingredients. Try this basic meatloaf recipe from YumSugar, or if you're a vegetarian, substitute oats for the quinoa in this recipe for chickpea barley and quinoa veggie burgers.
2. Pancakes: Try adding oats to pancake batter for a heartier stack of flapjacks. Here's one of my favorites: banana almond oatmeal pancakes.
3. Topping on toast: Add fiber and protein by sprinkling rolled oats on toast smeared with almond butter, jam, or this homemade pumpkin butter.
4. Cookies: Oatmeal cookies are a delicious way to enjoy oats, but if you're looking for a twist on the basic recipe, bake up these Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies made with bananas and peanut butter.
5. Energy bars: Oats taste amazing when paired with nuts and fruit, so if you're looking for a way to bite into oats, cook up these quinoa, apricot, and nut clusters, or a batch of these chewy pumpkin oatmeal coconut bars.

In celebration of National Oatmeal Month (I know, I had no idea January was devoted to this whole grain either!), here are some tips on how to whip up a healthy bowl of this whole grain.

To increase the fiber and protein: Choose rolled oats over quick oats. They'll take slightly longer to cook, but a half-cup serving offers five grams of fiber and seven grams of protein — the quick oats only offer four grams of fiber and five grams of protein.

To increase the protein: After your oats have cooked, stir in a tablespoon of almond butter, peanut butter, or half a cup of plain Greek yogurt.

To increase the fiber: Cut up some dried apricots, throw in some fresh or frozen berries, or toss in some diced fresh pear or mango. Chia seeds are also bursting with fiber — one tablespoon has over five grams.

To get your fill of omega-3s: Sprinkle on one tablespoon of ground flaxseed. It offers 1.6 grams of omega-3s (1.1 is the recommended amount per day).

To decrease the amount of sugar: Instead of adding maple syrup, brown sugar, or honey to your bowl, sweeten your breakfast with unsweetened applesauce, mashed banana, or pureed strawberries.

Source: Flickr User norwichnuts

Check out this recipe for pumpkin oatmeal with pecans and cranberries from FitSugar reader For The Love Of Fiber. She shared it in the Healthy Recipe community group.

This oatmeal is a powerful and nutritious breakfast for any Fall morning. Combining all of the flavors of the season with heart-healthy and glycemic index-friendly steel cut oats and metabolism-boosting cinnamon, this meal will keep you going well until lunch. Use organic ingredients when possible.

See the recipe after the break!

It's easy to see why breakfast is the most important meal of the day when you eye these delicious-looking blueberry oatmeal pancakes, which FitSugar reader HealthyDiva posted in our Healthy Recipe group.

Love oats? Love pancakes?
Have both!

Check out the recipe after the break.

We were just pondering the next big health food trend — and perhaps one to consider is oatmeal, bearing in mind the pivotal role it's taken on as the star of morning menus at Starbucks, Jamba Juice, McDonald's, and other fast food chains.

Oatmeal's looking like the big cash cow in fast food's breakfast wars. The latest big chain on the oatmeal breakfast train? Burger King, which debuted its whole grain breakfast offering Monday. BK's customers can choose from either the chain's original or fruit-topped maple oatmeal for $1.99 — the exact same price as the pictured oats from McDonald's.

It remains to be seen whether wholesome offerings like oatmeal will help Burger King improve its flagging sales. What do you think?

Vegetables can be just what your breakfast needs. Just ask FitSugar reader Sprint2theTable, who shared this recipe for zucchini oatmeal in our Healthy Recipe group.

I like zucchini bread for breakfast. Zucchinis are in season and especially delicious from the local farmer's market. These factors lead me down a path to an obvious breakfast conclusion . . . zucchini oatmeal.

Read on for the full recipe!

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Self here on FitSugar!

We're not going to lie: transforming your body from head to toe isn't always the fastest process, because it takes time to burn fat and build muscle. However, there is an exception: With the right diet and workout, you can see a difference in your belly (and maybe even reveal an ab or two!) in just a couple of days. The secret? Beat bloat.

Generally, the best way to avoid bloat is to stay away from soda, alcohol and greasy, salty, fatty meals, which slow the stomach and the intestines from emptying, according to Timothy S. Harlan (a.k.a. Dr. Gourmet), M.D., medical director of Tulane University's School of Medicine.

Here are 5 of our favorite bloat-busting foods, and a few moves to add to your belly-shrinking workout routine.

• Papaya: There's some research that says the enzyme in papaya may aid digestion. Try mixing diced papaya into plain organic yogurt for breakfast.
• Oatmeal: According to Harlan, in a recent meta-analysis of a number of studies related to digestion, researchers found that oat bran can be particularly beneficial. Harlan recommends having oatmeal for breakfast. Warning: Avoid McDonald's new oatmeal, which has more sugar than a Snickers bar, according to this recent New York Times article. Yikes!

More foods to decrease the bloat, so keep reading.

FitSugar reader prepel shared this recipe for an apple cinnamon oatmeal recipe in the Healthy Recipe Community group.

Apple cinnamon oatmeal made from scratch. Total time — 10 minutes!

Get this fast and easy breakfast recipe by just reading more.

• Packaged chicken is more likely to give you salmonella than fresh chicken. — The Telegraph
• An inside look at America's team at the Bocuse d'Or. — Eater
• The newest Iron Chef, Marc Forgione, has lost his first battle in kitchen stadium. — The Feast NY
• New coffee words you should learn in 2011. — Esquire
• Natives of Vermont will get real maple syrup in their McDonald's oatmeal. — The Consumerist
• Speaking of McDonald's, as its profit increases, so will its prices. — The New York Times
• DiGiorno has released new packaging that combines pizza with cookies and wings. — Huffington Post Food
• Thomas Keller is planning a pop-up restaurant to open at London's Harrods. — Big Hospitality
• Grant Achatz's memoir is now on sale for preorder. — Grant Achatz Memoir
• Good news: alcohol doesn't actually kill brain cells! — The Atlantic