Oatmeal

Oatmeal is what I eat every day for breakfast. I've been eating it every morning for as long as I can remember. I was never much of a cereal and milk girl.  Oatmeal is easy, it's healthy, it's cheap, and it's good. It changes with the seasons, too. I add chopped freshly picked apples and cinnamon in the fall, blueberries and raspberries in the summer, and dried fruits and nuts in the winter...the list goes on and on. Add cut up bananas and walnuts and it's divine. Right now, I'm loving simple raisins, cinnamon, a touch of honey, walnuts, and almonds. It's that easy.


I've read recently in Michael Pollan's book 'The Omnivore's Dilemma' about today's processed cereals that are pretty much devoid of nutrients until they're fortified the hell out of with vitamins and minerals. They're also packed with sugar. Just take a look at any label and sugar (or high fructose corn syrup) is pretty close to the top of the ingredient list. And, the cereals themselves are full of corn, because apparently that's like the only crop grown in the United States (kidding. kidding.)

Personally, instead of eating a processed cereal that says it has whole grains in it, I'd rather eat a cereal that is a whole grain. Those little rolled oats are whole grains! Along with reaping the health benefits, I save a lot of money on my oats. I buy whole rolled oats in the bulk bins at the grocery store, health food store, or food co-ops and I can have oatmeal for a week for about two dollars (plus the add-ins, like the fruit and nuts).

Did I mention you can make a bowl of oatmeal in the same amount of time that you can pour a bowl of cereal? Fill your bowl with oats, add nuts, fruit, or whatever else you like, and pour some boiling water over it all. In only 2 minutes or so, your oats will absorb that water and you have oatmeal. It's that easy. Give it a try.