Are you an oatmeal breakfast junkie? Or do you avoid it at all costs? People are usually oatmeal lovers or oatmeal haters. Not too many in between. I love oatmeal, but I also make sure to dress it up so it’s flavorful and packed with nutrition. Oatmeal can be pretty boring and mushy otherwise, right? I’ve noticed lots of people kind of forget that they can add stuff to their oatmeal, and just go on eating it plain. It can get boring very quickly…and then you’re back to the dreaded bagel & cream cheese.
All oatmeal is not created equally. You want to avoid most of the pre-packaged packets that you microwave. They’re highly processed and usually contain unnecessary sugar and preservatives. If you have the time, steel cuts oats are one of the best options because they’re all natural whole grains and not processed. If you’re short on time, look for quick-cooking steel cut oats or any other old-fashioned oats with one ingredient. You can add lots of flavor later. I usually mix my oatmeal with water, but occasionally add a dash of soy milk for some creaminess.
Once you cook your oats, there are lots of fun toppings you can add in to pack it with flavor and nutrition. Here’s a few of my favorites:
- Toasted walnuts or almonds
- Fresh or frozen berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries)
- Dried goji berries
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla (little goes a long way)
- Honey
- Plums, peaches, pineapple, banana
- Cacao powder
Hoping this inspires you to “flavor up” your boring breakfast! If you keep a few of these things on hand, you can always have delicious oatmeal ready in 5 or 10 minutes.
Cheers! Leave me a comment if you have more ideas for dressing up your oats.
Update: This post was featured on FocusOrganic.Com’s All Things Eco Blog Carnival Volume 92.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
These are some of my mixes, and I get alot of ideas from katheats:
*always mashed banana for sweetness
*canned pumpkin
*yogurt (plain regular or greek)
*apples (chopped)
*frozen or fresh berries
*cinnamon
*vanilla
*toppings of granola or nuts
*dollop of peanut butter
I have become addicted to oats!
I put peanut butter (~1-2 tbsp?) in my oatmeal as well and it’s amazing.
Another thing I do is buy big packages of frozen berries/fruit, thaw them, and mushify that in a blender. That goes wonderfully into oatmeal or yogurt. Just gets incorporated better.
I recently tried Bob’s Red Mill 100% whole stone ground Scottish oatmeal. I’m in love! It’s a little more finely ground than regular steel cut, so it cooks in 5 min. like the quick-cooking steel cut oats. I bring 1/4c. oats and 3/4c. water and 1 T. olive oil to a boil in only a minute or so; turn it to the lowest setting, set my timer for 5 min., walk away and keep getting ready for work. Throw in a handful of frozen berries for a couple of minutes, scoop it out with a silicone bowl scraper, and it never sticks. Almost no cleanup – takes a quick swish of warm soapy water.
Hey Cait,
I love the word “mushify”! I’ll be adding that to my culinary vocab!
Nancy
Thanks for your comments and ideas everyone!
I love mine with chopped dates and a sprinkling of toasted coconut! Delish!!