Recipe of the Week

This is a drink called Avena which is Spanish for oatmeal. It is rich and delicious. Reminds me a little of eggnog but not nearly as strongly flavored. I find egg nog way too strong. Jada is fanatic for this stuff. She calls it smoothie, "I want smoothie ". It am always excited to find a new way to serve oatmeal. Some of our favorite ways to eat it include oatmeal breakfast cookies, cinnamon bun, chocolate chip cookie dough or yogurt and fruit topped baked oatmeals, oatmeal raisin pudding (like rice pudding), just basic oatmeal with fruit and now this Avena drink. We also love to replace some of the flour with oats when making muffins, really adds to the flavor and texture for us.
My grandparents ate oatmeal every day for breakfast as I remember. I wasn't a fan as a kid but I have discovered so many wonderful ways to eat it now that it has become a favorite breakfast of mine. People call oatmeal a super food because of it's amazing health benefits. If you eat oats regularly it reduces your risk of heart disease and diabetes II, they are a nutritional powerhouse, aid in weight control and promotes weight loss. They are cheap and store well. We love them around our house.

½ cup old fashioned oatmeal
4 cups milk
1 cup water
1 cinnamon stick or 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves or 2 whole cloves
3 ½ tablespoons sugar

Place the water, milk and oatmeal in a medium pot over medium heat and cook about 15 minutes, stirring frequently. If you use quick oats you can reduce the cooking time to 3 minutes.
Add the cinnamon stick, ground cloves and sugar and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 more minutes covered.
Remove from the heat and refrigerate for a least 3 hours. It is also convenient to cook it the night before and chill it overnight in the fridge and so it is ready to go for breakfast.
Discard the cinnamon stick and place the mixture in a blender and blend for 2 minutes.

Serve cold.