Rise and Shine Oatmeal Bar

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BringYourBestBowl #Target #CollectiveBias

Whether you are an early riser or not, this Rise and Shine Oatmeal Bar is perfect for adding a little flair to your breakfast! All you do is grab a bowl, add some toppings, and enjoy!

Breakfast has always been one of my favorite meals of the day. I don’t often have time to sit down and eat it, but when I do I love making it a family affair. I remember when I was a kid we had big Sunday breakfasts of eggs, bacon, and all the fixins’. It was something I always looked forward to. It was a time for the family to connect, to slow down, and to really have a meal together. I loved those times, and now that I have a family we do weekend breakfasts with our own twist. We normally have any number of things from French toast to pancakes, but this week I went a step further and made it extra special with my favorite Quaker® Oats.

I have this perfect spot in the back yard where the light is gorgeous in the morning, and I love eating at the picnic table, so I decided to give my family a little treat and set up a “Rise and Shine” oatmeal bar with all kinds of great toppings and options. It’s great seeing what combinations everyone comes up with, and it is delicious to boot! I set it up using dishes and decor I got from the dollar section at Target (yes, those bowls were $3 each!), Quaker® Maple & Brown Sugar and One-Minute Oats, and a variety of fruits, mix-ins, nut and toppings.

Oatmeal is a great choice for a “make your own” setting because there are so many different ways to serve it, but also because it’s just so easy – all you have to do is mix with water and voila! I love finding new topping combinations and mix-ins, and voila! Here are some of my personal favorite creations.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

How to make: Combine one cup of Quaker® Quick 1-Minute Oats, 2 tablespoons of dry hot cocoa mix, a teaspoon of nutmeg, and 1/2 cup hot water. Stir to blend, and top with a drizzle of chocolate topping and marshmallows. Yum!

Pina Colada

How to make: Combine on cup of Quaker® Quick 1-minute Oates, 1/2 cup water, and 1 tbsp toasted coconut. Top with pineapple wedges, cinnamon, coconut, and a ribbon of agave nectar or honey.

I also love layering fresh fruits in like strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, and bananas, or when I’m wanting something rich adding Irish cream, caramel and chocolate for a great “Irish” bowl! There are SO many great combinations out there, and it just so happens that Quaker® is looking for them with their Bring Your Best Bowl contest starting in January. The top recipes will be created and sold in stores for a limited time in Fall 2016 – how awesome is that? The big winner gets $250,000 and you can find out more information here. They suggest that all entry recipes have between 2-5 ingredients, so keep that in mind! Winners will be announced in November 2016.

Now let’s check out more of this breakfast bar. I made sure to include lots of toppings that can mix and match, and since I set this up outside I bought one of those big 24 hour hot thermoses to keep my water in. It was perfect! I love all the cute details, and I even created a super cute sign in PicMonkey that took me all of three minutes.