Pan-Fried Banana berry oatmeal-Guest post from Becca

Hello Everyone,
To kick off my week of guest posts for you I bring you Becca. She has become a dear friend of mine :-) She loves bacon and dilly bars....that in my book makes her awesome haha! In all honesty though, Becca is a great person and cook. So please make sure you go like her page and send her some love. She's bringing you a fantastic recipe so enjoy!! I will be back soon but I'm very grateful for those who have stepped in to help me out.
-Lysska
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Hi everyone! I'm happy to "meet" you all :) I'm so grateful to Lysska for allowing me to share a recipe with all of you today. I'm glad that she's taking a little blogging break. She's got SO much going on in her life right now...just thinking about it makes my head spin!

Like many of you, Lysska is a very busy parent. She's juggling lots of activities and responsibilities and she mentions often that she needs quick and easy meal ideas. If you're a busy parent like she is, I think you'll love this recipe for pan-fried banana berry oatmeal. 

Until recently, I had never even heard of fried oatmeal. A Facebook friend of mine brought it to my attention last week (thanks, Cliff!) and as he described it, all I could think of was DEEP FRIED oatmeal, which sounded less than stellar to me. Once he explained that the oatmeal isn't slathered in batter and tossed into 4 inches of hot oil, but rather, nestled into a tablespoon of melted butter, my entire outlook on making the dish changed. This was something I HAD to try! Cliff's recipe calls for making traditional oatmeal, just as if you're going to eat it from the bowl. Because I'm trying to lose some weight, I wanted to make mine sure that my version would allow me to burn some extra energy, so I added a little bit of Greek yogurt, a banana, and a scoop of vanilla whey protein powder. If you're not into adding all of those extras into your oatmeal, feel free to leave them out and just make up the oatmeal any way that you know you'll enjoy it. Chill it in a loaf pan until it sets and then slice and pan fry per my instructions below.

No matter how you decide to make and serve this, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! For more quick and easy, family friendly meals, feel free to visit me at It's Yummilicious or stop by my Facebook Page any time!

PAN-FRIED BANANA BERRY OATMEAL

from: Chef Becca Heflin / It's Yummilicious

Serves 4-6

INGREDIENTS

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking or instant)

1 scoop Pure Protein Whey Powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 large, ripe banana

3 ounces (about 1/2 container) raspberry flavored Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 ounces (1/2 liquid cup) water

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

INSTRUCTIONS

Grease the inside of a standard sized loaf pan with butter or non-stick spray. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mash banana. Add yogurt, vanilla extract, and water; stir to combine.

In a large microwaveable dish, whisk together rolled oats, cinnamon, and protein powder. Add wet ingredients to bowl with dry ingredients. Use a spatula and stir until well combined.

Place dish into microwave and cook for 3 minutes. Remove dish from microwave, and use a spatula to transfer oatmeal into the loaf pan; spread evenly. Cover pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10-20 minutes, or until oatmeal has set and is firm enough to slice. (I allowed mine to sit in the refrigerator over night. It popped right out of the pan and was very easy to cut into slices)

Melt butter in a frying pan over medium high heat.

Slice oatmeal loaf into 8 -12 even slices (each serving will be 2 slices). When butter has melted and is bubbling, lay slices of oatmeal in pan and allow them to cook for 2 minutes, or until lightly crispy. Flip slice and repeat on other side.

Serve with warm syrup or fruit compote.

For more delicious recipes, visit Becca's site, It's Yummilicious, at http://www.itsyummi.com