In the most exciting turn of events ever, school was canceled today!

Adam says I shouldn’t be that excited about not having to go to a place that we pay money to allow me to go to (got all that?), but today was my extra long day (11-8:40), and it ended in my awful music class.  So “yippie” I say!

I’m also pretty jazzed about the bowl of Snow Day Oats I whipped up.

I started with a batch of stove top oats – 1/3 cup oats, 1 cup water, 1 small banana, and a pinch of salt.  Then I added some snow (coconut) and 3 Tbsp of fresh granola (more on that in a bit).

The oat base was good, but not as good as when I use half skim milk and half water.  I think I’m going to experiment a bit with soy/almond milk and if all else fails I’ll make my base a little lighter and my toppings a little heavier this month.

Now about that granola.  The other day I was intrigued when Brandi made stove top granola.  So today I did something wonderful.

Simply Sweet Granola

• 2/3 cup raw oats
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp vanilla soy milk

1. Toast the oats in a skillet over medium heat.  2-4minutes, but use your nose and eyes to guide you.
2. Remove oats to another container and lightly wipe any oat dust out of your pan.
3. Add sugar and water to pan and allow to caramelize.  Do NOT stir, just lightly swirl the pan with the handle.  Cook just until a light brown color develops.
4. Carefully pour soy milk into caramelized sugar.  Turn off the heat, and return toasted oats to pan.
5. Using a wooden spatula, fold mixture together until well-combined.
6. Spread onto a flat surface and allow to dry.

This granola was so quick and easy to make and the end results were soooo good!  Super crunchy and sweet but each 1/3 cup serving has only ~200calories (and as a topping you only need a few tablespoons or so).

We even made fancy coffee.

I usually hate the taste of creamers, but the nutritional stats on the Silk Hazelnut Soy Creamer we bought for Adam compelled me to try some.

Pretty darn good.

I’ve got a warm, full belly, cuddling weather, and somebody to cuddle with – life is good!

Have you gotten any snow days yet this season?