Things You Should Make Yourself - 'Instant' Oatmeal

Oatmeal is one of the most perfect and nutritious foods you can eat  and it's perfect for breakfast. It's fast, easy and filling. I don't really understand why people pay money for packets of that instant oatmeal when all oatmeal is essentially instant.

You can have cooked, old-fashioned oatmeal from a microwave in 40 seconds. You can make your own 'instant' oatmeal packets very inexpensively.

It takes me under 2 minutes to make oatmeal in the morning.

You take 1/2 cup of old-fashioned oats and 2/3 cup water and place that in a microwave safe bowl. Micro for about 40 seconds and it's a blank canvas ready for your creativity!

My favorite oatmeal recipe:

Banana-Maple-Walnut:
Cut a banana in half, take one half and dice it into small chunks and add it to the cooked oatmeal.  Take the other and save it for tomorrow or pop it in the freezer for a smoothie later on. Take a couple tablespoons of walnuts and toss those in, sprinkle in a little cinnamon and a tsp or two of real maple syrup.

To make packets, just measure out the 1/2 cup oats, add in some powdered sweetener like sucanat or evaporated cane juice (not a lot!), cinnamon and if you like dried fruit and nuts, add those. You can dehydrate your own fruits or buy them. These days you can even find more exotic dried fruits like strawberries and mango if you know where to look. Of course, you can also take fresh fruit with you and toss that in.

Then all you need is access to some water and a microwave. Think of how much money you'll save, not to mention the benefits of not eating preservatives and a ton of sugar.