Oatmeal

Note: I am reposting my old food columns from Milford Patch. They originally contained step by step photos and accompanying instructions, which I hope to recreate at some point. Until then, I am posting the original text. This post originally appeared on Patch on February 20, 2011...

Suddenly, oatmeal is all the rage. Don’t believe me? Marketing monsters Starbucks and McDonalds are offering up bowls of oatmeal alongside their fancy lattes and humble McMuffins. One the one hand, I understand the trend, because I am a huge fan of steamy bowls of cereal at breakfast. On the other hand, it is as big a mystery to me as the myriad boxes of instant oatmeal that cover nearly half an aisle in the market. Homemade oatmeal is easy, quick and versatile. Why have we fallen for the message that we can’t handle it, or that we don’t have time for it? I promise you, we can, and we do.

Stovetop oatmeal takes 10 minutes, max. Don’t have 10 minutes? You can walk away from the pot while it’s cooking to make lunches or try to find your shoes. Eat breakfast at the office? You can bring in leftover oatmeal that you made yesterday and reheat it in the microwave. You want your kids to make it themselves and don’t want them using the stove? No problem, I’ll give you a microwave option.

The recipe I’m giving you here is for banana oatmeal. Unless you hate banana, I recommend trying this method, because the banana really improves the texture of the oatmeal. Other than that, go wild with the toppings. Honey, maple syrup, cinnamon sugar and brown sugar are in steady rotation around here as sweetener. Almost any fresh or dried fruit works as a topping or cooked right in the pot. I always use nuts, my kids like chocolate chips. A spoonful of peanut butter, or some granola would be great to change up the texture. I like to make the banana oatmeal base and empty out the cabinets to make a toppings bar.

Oatmeal is more of a ratio than a recipe: one part oatmeal to one part milk to one part water. Add a pinch of salt, and in my case a banana and some vanilla, and there you have it. You’ll want to use 1/3 -1/2 cup dry oats per person, and about 1 banana per cup of oatmeal.  So for 2-3 people:

1c rolled oats

1c milk

1c water

Pinch salt

1 banana, sliced

Splash vanilla extract

Put all ingredients in a saucepan over medium low heat (about a 4 out of 10 if you have an electric dial) Stir occasionally until oatmeal starts to bubble, about 5 minutes. Stir, almost constantly, whipping the banana into the oatmeal until it reaches your desired thickness. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Divide into serving bowls and add toppings as desired.

Microwave version:

Put 1/3 -1/2c of quick oats (You can make quick oats by pulsing rolled oats a few times in a food processor or blender. You can also just use rolled oats also.) in a large bowl with same amount of milk and water and a pinch of salt. Cook for 1½ -2 minutes until desired thickness.

Might I suggest: Kids can do this themselves. Set aside a 3-4oz container (maybe an empty yogurt cup) and teach them to fill it once with oats, once with milk and once with water to make their own breakfast. You could take it one step further and prefill some 4oz gladware containers with oats, brown sugar and raisins. The kids can empty the container into a bowl and use the same cup to measure milk and water. See how easy this is?