Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Works For Me Wednesday



~ Oatmeal ~


We have switched from instant oatmeal to the regular cooked kind for several reasons; price and natrual ingredients are just two of them. It was hard to make the change intially. And it wasn't just the kids balking at it. It was me. I couldn't stand the bland oatmeal taste and it was hard to get over the texture of it, too. Don't ask me how it was different I couldn't tell you, but it was. Well after several tries my husband successfully got me to try and several more tries later, actually like regular oatmeal. I couldn't tell you how the texture issue worked itself out but I can tell you about the taste issue.

We make our own flavored oatmeal! Our favorite right now is apple cinnamon. (incedentally the favorite instant oatmeal as well). It is easily accomplished too. When I boil the water for the oatmeal I replace 1/3 to 1/2 of it with 100% apple juice concentrate. When I measure out the oatmeal to cook, I add 1 tsp to 1 Tbsp of cinnamon - this depends on how many I am making for. As the oatmeal is cooking I prepare the bowls. I slice and finely chop apples on the bottom of the each bowl. When the oatmeal is ready I ladle a serving in each bowl (not that my oatmeal is that runny it is just an easy way to serve and I don't have complaints that "s/he got more than me".) Top each bowl with a heaping tablespoon of brown sugar and a generous splash of milk and they are ready to go.

I am going to try banana nut next, well for the kids anyway. Banana is one fruit I CAN'T STAND!

For more great ideas see Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer

7 comments:

Laura Talbert said...

I personally cannot stand oatmeal at all, but my beloved son eats it quite a bit.

Thanks for the great idea!

Musical Mommy said...

Oatmeal...blech...BUT my family likes it so I make it on occasion...this sounds MUCH better though then all of the sodium and sugar you find in instant...thanks for the tip!

The Roaming Southerner said...

My hubs loves regular oatmeal, but I don't like it all the time. I will definately try this because my favorite is apple cinnamon!

Susanne said...

That's funny 'cause I'm the opposite. Love the texture of "real" oatmeal, don't like the pre flavored kind. At our house we mix all kinds of stuff in. Try maple syrup with nuts, any kind of more % fruit is good too! This way you can control the amount of sugar going in! Have fun experimenting

Anonymous said...

I love oatmeal. I have really been missing it during these early weeks of South Beach. But next week I get it back!! My favorite Oatmeal recipe is from Pam Smith's Good Life cookbook. It's

1/3 cup quick oats
1/4 C apple juice
1/2 cup skim milk (protein - yay!)

Mix in a microwave safe bowl and zap for about two minutes.

Dash of cinnamon
Dash of vanilla

YUM!
of coarse, you could make it in bulk on the stove...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great tip! My kids will be so surprised in the morning!

amelia said...

I do something similar to this, but I have a fruit dryer, so I mix the dried fruit in with the oatmeal while it's cooking. Thanks for stopping by my site!