Instant Oatmeal

I had a desire to make some instant oatmeal (like the packets you buy at the store) after seeing some recipes on my favorite blogs.  Instant oatmeal isn’t that much less work than regular oatmeal if you ask me, but Matt used to LOVE to eat that every morning (back when I let him buy the packets), and I think he might go for this.  I used this recipe from Money Saving Mom and this recipe from Tammy’s Recipes as “inspiration” since neither was exactly what I wanted.  This is what I think I did, since I was kind of playing around and not exactly measuring everything.

Ingredients:

1 small canister quick cooking oats

1 small canister old fashioned oats

1/2 cup dry milk powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix the oats all together in a big bowl (I actually had the small canister of quick oats, but I measured about 6 cups of the old fashioned oats out of the big canister).  Take out 1 1/2 cups of the mix and pulse them in whatever you got that chops stuff really small (I used my Magic Bullet; food processor or blender would be good too) until you have a powder.  Add the powder back in to the oats along with the milk and cinnamon.  Stir really well or put it into a container with a lid and shake.  You can portion it out if you want, but I just put mine into a container with a lid so everybody can eat as much as they want.  For the girls this morning, I put 1/4 cup of the mix into a bowl and poured boiling water over it.  I’m thinking it’s about a 1:1 ratio of water to oatmeal, but that’s a guess.  I added applesauce to theirs for flavor and to cool it down.  It’s ready to eat right away!  They both cleaned their bowls and asked for more.  Some people would probably prefer more cinnamon in the mixture, but for me a little goes a long way.  I can taste it in this without it being overpowering.  I ate some after I made it yesterday plain and I liked it!  Another thing I like to do with the girls’ oatmeal is add chopped frozen strawberries (or other berry) and maybe a little honey.  The strawberries cool down the oatmeal while the oatmeal thaws the strawberries.  Perfect!

I would say I prefer old fashioned oatmeal cooked in milk (actually half milk half water for me) on the stove, but this does take less time and you don’t have a pan to clean!  I’m pretty sure you could do this in the microwave too, although I prefer heating water in a kettle on the stove.  I was thinking that a slightly older child could do this in the microwave without adult help, and that might be nice!  You can customize the flavor exactly how you like it, and there’s nothing in it I don’t want my kids having.  I just checked Quaker’s website for the ingredients to the instant packets, and this is what’s in them: WHOLE GRAIN ROLLED OATS, OAT FLOUR, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SALT, GUAR GUM, CARAMEL COLOR, REDUCED IRON, VITAMIN A PALMITATE.  Ummm… ew.  Although Matt does really love them.  :)  I’ve always thought they were grody, and I don’t think the girls have had them, but I could be wrong.  Anyway, I think this kitchen experiment was a success, and hopefully it will make for a few easy hot breakfasts!

Reading this, I realize it’s awfully rambling, but I’m just living with it!