Santa Claus comes TONIGHT...so leave him this:)

Morning everyone and Merry Christmas Eve!  Can you even believe it??  I feel like I blinked and it was LAST Christmas Eve!  (even if those awful summer months drag endlesslyJ)  Even I, who had quite a bit of 'extra time' this year, still managed to see this month skyrocket by and found myself going "Christmas crazy" at the last second.  Seesh!  Hope you guys are 'surviving' OKJ

Well, one thing my month hasn't been lacking in is CHRISTMAS BREAKFASTS!  Between my gingerbread, eggnog almond & cookie butter oats, I've been pretty well stocked in sugar & spice this season.  But dear friends, I have yet another creation for you and this one may be my most favorite yet: 

EGGNOG OATMEAL PUDDING!

So this was the first Christmas is YEARRRRRRRRRRRS that I allowed myself to have eggnog in the house.  (I usually whip up Hungry Girl's version, which is pretty tasty I might add!!)  I LOVEEEEEE it, but Scott's not a fan (aka-the whole container is MINE!) and those *SCARY* stats always made me turn my 'not worth it' back on the festive treat.  This year though?  I caved. (and GOD, is it GOOD!  So very, very good)

Soooo....this left me with finding a way to NOT just stick a staw in the carton & finish it off in one session.  And as with all of my decadent ingredients this year, I decided oatmeal was my 'flavor savour!'

And to help balance it out a bit, I enlisted a little help from my favorite "LESS" milk substitute:  Unsweetened vanilla almond milk!

I mean, really, these stats couldn't be on the FURTHER end of the spectrum from one another!!!

Soooo...back to the oats.  What I first did was add to my pan a serving of COOKED oats.  (1/4 cup of steel cut oats cooked in 1 cup of water)....

Next into the pan...the angel & the devil. 

• 1/2 cup of almond milk
• 1/2 cup of eggnog. 

This is still BEYOND decadent...buttttttt at least the 1/2 cup of almond milk only adds 20 calories to the mix and saves you from adding a full cup (aka-360 calories!) to the oats!

I will admit, I even tried making this with 3/4 cups almond milk & 1/4 cup eggnog and it just wasn't the same.  The 1/2 a cup of each REALLY made the flavor BURST!  But you can try it out for yourself and see what you like!

Bring the milk & oats to a boil, before turning down to simmer for 20 minutes...

Stirring occasionally to make a pudding-like consistency...

About 3 minutes before the oats were done, I tossed in:

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar

...and a small handful of craisins...just cause they're so darn prettyJ

So I thought the REGULAR oatmeal pudding was good, but this one TAKES. THE. OATS CAKE!  It was suppppppppppppper creamy and you could taste the eggnog throughout the entire bowl.  Christmas bliss...let me tell ya!  (And let's not forget the "extra volume" from the longer cooking time!)

Hey, why not leaving some of this out for Santa Claus tonight??  I'm sure he's had his fill of milk & cookies...hehehehehheeJ

Well, I'm off to prep our "Christmas morning breakfast" (think CINNAMON!) & WORKOUT (did I mention the 'eggnog stats??') before heading to my in-laws for dinner and then trying to keep myself awake during midnight mass. Hahahahhahaa...hope you guys ENJOY all that the holidays have in store for you!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!J