I go through breakfast phases.  Phases where I pretty much eat the same thing day after day after day for weeks on end until one day I wake up in the mood for something different.  This is how it always goes.  I eventually grow tired of the same old, same old, get some new breakfast idea and the cycle starts all over again.

Right now I am in a cold oatmeal phase.  I have been here before and will be here again I’m sure.  This means that my husband and children are also in a cold oatmeal phase.  As the primary meal preparer in this house, they are pretty much at the mercy of whatever breakfast phase I’m in.  Alternate breakfast requests are usually honored provided I have enough notice.

During some phases I hiss and spit and shout obscenities at grains and dairy.  And then other times I care a little less about consuming cow’s milk products or unsprouted grains as long as they are organic.  It those during those phases – like the one I am currently in – where I find myself busting through the door after a run or bike ride, ready to dive head first into breakfasts made from rolled oats and yogurt.

This morning before a speed work session I put together three bowls of oaty goodness.

That’s right.  Three bowls.  One for Mama Bear, one for Papa Bear and one for School-Aged Bear.  Pre-School Aged Bear would rather hiss and spit at Mama Bear than eat cold oatmeal.  This means that Pre-School Aged Bear gets toast and eggs, a phase she’s been in for about two years now.

Each of the three bowls pictured here contains about a half cup of oats.  That’s pretty much where the similarities end.  You know how the story goes… too hot, too cold and just right.

Ava gets rice milk with agave nectar, a little ground flax and exactly 9 granules of cinnamon.  I counted.  10 granules and she won’t eat it because it’s “too spicy”.

Zak gets almond milk, raisins, cinnamon, flax, agave and absolutely no yogurt lest he hiss and spit and shout obscenities at the sourness that is fermented dairy.

My bowl contained just oats until I was home after a little hissing and spitting and shouting obscenities on the track.

Two bowls in the fridge to get their soak on, one on the counter to wait for moisture until I returned.  Time to run.

On today’s schedule was 3 sets of 1600 meter sprints.   Translation: one mile repeats at about a 7:30/m pace with a half mile recovery at 11:00/m pace.  x3.  Might I add here that I was NOT feeling speed work this morning?  Not at all.  But thanks to the Working Out with a Buddy phase I’m currently in (vs. my Working Out Solo phase) I was dragged to the track by my friend and we got the job done despite any early-AM speed work reluctance.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig, my favorite oaty combo du jour is a couple spoolfuls of 2% Fage (plain) with unsweetened almond milk.  As much as I love overnight oats, a brand new aspect of this current oatmeal phase involves enjoying the consistency of oats soaked until the count of 10.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10!  Time for a reverse three and a half somersault tuck into my bowl of oats, yogurt and fruit.

No sweetener is necessary when you’ve got a hearty helping of strawberries and blueberries to load on top.  I am very happy to be at the mercy of this awesome summer fruit phase we’re in!

Phase or no phase, breakfast was fabulous today and will be tomorrow too.