Oatmeal- Love it or Leave it

As a kid I hated oatmeal. My mom always cooked it to death. By the time I got a bowl, it was mush. A sticky, gloppy bowl of flavorless mush. Now, I love oatmeal and my kids love oatmeal. There are a few simple super easy tricks to cooking good oatmeal. Using these tricks allows you to add a super nutritious, super cheap, and super easy breakfast to your repertoire. First start with whole oats, not the instant stuff. Then in a pot put water, a pat or two of butter and a bit of salt. How much exactly will depend on how much oatmeal you are making. Bring this to a boil and then add your oats. Cook for about two minutes. You want to cook the oats long enough that they are soft, but not so much that you have a mushy gloopy mess. Remove from heat and serve. We like to add fruit, maple syrup, raw honey, or brown sugar to ours. The great thing is that the additions make it different each time. If I am adding hard fruit like pears or apples I will either used some already canned or chop the fresh ones up and cook in the oatmeal water with the oatmeal to soften them a bit. They are also great for adding some flavor and sweet to the oatmeal. A bowl of oatmeal combined with a boiled egg is one of our favorite breakfasts. Blessings, Kat