Oatmeal 4 Ways

Growing up, oatmeal was a soggy bowl of mush foisted upon us every morning! And so no matter how much we hear it's healthy, it just doesn't seem worth eating a bowlful of oatmeal!

But then our doctor tells us things like

• Oats are an easy inexpensive way to add whole grains to your day
• Oats lower LDL cholesterol
• Oats reduce blood sugar and insulin response
• Oats encourage good bacteria in the digestive tract

So we asked, “Where does eating Merry Berry Cheesecake Oat Bars count on the health barometer?”.

And well, you can probably know her answer to that question.

We aren’t reverting back to childhood anytime soon and adulthood seems to be here to stay, so we decided to give a breakfast bowl of oats another try.

Four Ways to Avoid Soggy Mushy Oatmeal

Determined to create a healthy oatmeal habit, we dove into figuring out how to avoid the soggy bowl of mush from our childhoods.

1. Do not cook oats in milk. We’re not sure of the science behind this switch, but it made a big difference. If you’d like milk in your oats, add it after they are cooked.
2. Pick the right oats. Quick oats are very fine and may be the culprit behind those mushy oats we remember. Old Fashioned oats cook fairly quickly, but their texture is better. Steel Cut oats are whole unrolled, unprocessed oats and their texture reminds us of brown rice. They do take 20 minutes to cook instead of the five minutes old fashioned oats require, so if you have a bit of time in the morning try them out as they are delicious.
3. Do not overcook your oats. We can’t stress this enough! It’s okay for oats to have a bit of bite to them.
4. Spice them up! Seriously, add some flavor! And, don’t forget salt. Just a pinch of salt really makes a difference in the flavor of oatmeal.

In the spirit of number 4, we've created the following recipes that are yummy on top of being healthy! Each one is an easy way to add one super healthy meal to your day.

Recipes

Each recipe starts with 1 cup of water to 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats and just a pinch of salt per serving.

It's easy to double, triple, or quadruple the recipe. Dump everything into a pot and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to low and cook for a couple of minutes or until cooked to the texture you like for your oatmeal.

If you'd like to make this in your microwave, add everything to a medium bowl, and hit that 2 minute button. Cook another 30 seconds if needed.

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