Breakfast Recipe: Homemade Oatmeal (for the Cheap at Heart)

This Oatmeal story has a long history. It started back in 2006 when I moved out of my house I grew up in and realized how much cereal costs. It's not only that cereal is the great rip off, but the milk is too. (I know of a few people that believe in a conspiracy the super markets drop milk prices but increase cereal prices, or vice versa). I also found that with cereal in the house, there was never a bad time to have a bowl, of cereal that is. 8am, 4pm, 10pm, any time during the day could justify a hungry stomach with a bowl of cereal. This created a higher demand for cereal, which let's not forget is expensive to begin with. Note: Now these odd hunger cravings in the day are filled with a large homemade pancake.
     I have always used oatmeal as a temporary alternative to cereal being not on sale, but usually would crave cereal when it was cheep again. When I had access to a Costco membership, I would buy the Quaker box of 55 variety packets for 10 bucks. This worked well, until friends with Costco memberships got their own car. Recently (the past 5 months) I have simply made my own oatmeal from the plain stuff in the stores. It works quite well and is cheaper than the individual packets. As with any Recipe, here are the ingredients:

• 1 (or 2) large Plain Oatmeal Oats
• Brown Sugar
• Raisins

You will need a pot to mix this in. I usually just use a pot that I cook spaghetti noodles in, or my infamous chicken rice and beans dish. Here are some pictures of the Oat's I typically buy, and the mixing process.

I start with pouring about 45% of the pot full of oats. I then top it with a layer of raisins (a few cups) and brown sugar (~2 cups). With room still in the bowl, I will mix this together around and around till the raisins are covered with the brown sugar. 

Every time I make this and stir the oats and the brown sugar and raisins I can't help from thinking of working on a farm. I feel like this kinda work would be something similar to working in a kitchen that is on a farm. Just to add to this image in my head, I usually enjoy a little Ray Lamontagne every now and then and his opening lyrics to Acre of Land give a great picture;

I'm gonna buy me an acre of land

Yes I'm going to build me a home

With my very own hands

Gonna dig me a little garden

And watch that garden grow

And take it slow

Take it slow

Let it roll

Such a great artist!

  Back to reality, once the mixing is done, go ahead and pour in more oats to fill up most of the pot your using. Mixing all this together, adding more raisins and brown sugar as necessary. Once this large batch is all mixed, you can put it back in the container the oats came from.

With the added contents to the oatmeal container, this new oatmeal mixture might not all fit, so extra containers may be necessary. Also, as an added note, hold on to those oatmeal containers! In a few post's you can learn how a simple oatmeal container and plastic bag can help save the landfills, and eventually the world!!

Once the Oatmeal is mixed and stored away, your ready for the breakfast meal. Just like cereal, all you really need is a bowl to pour the oatmeal into and instead of milk, I usually just add hot water. In addition to this great mix of morning goodness I will add a cut up banana (sliced with a spoon) along with one other fruit. Usually some blueberry or sliced strawberries (again, sliced with the side of my spoon) or blackberries. These really help spice thing's up and make it just that much more healthy! To help get some protein in my morning diet, I usually take a spoon full (the same one that split the fruit) of peanut butter and add it to the mix. All this in one heaping bowl!! Here are some pictures of this morning breakfast completed:

There are a few variety that can be added to this breakfast. For example, Yogurt can be added to the mixture for a more wholesome meal. Or the whole thing could be dumped into a blender and blended with a couple other items. It's up to you how you wanna make your breakfast! I should note, that this meal is not as filling as a few bowls of cereal might be, your stomach eventually get's used to this healthier meal and you should continue to be able to Seize the Day!