Recipe: Amped up Oatmeal

Sure, the oatmeal box has the recipe for your standard oatmeal. This is no standard oatmeal, though. And sure, oatmeal seems the most uninteresting dish to share. But here's the deal, its the most used recipe in the house. And though we have hot cereal 6 days out of 7, the kids still ask almost every weekday morning, "Dad, are you making oatmeal today?" They look forward to it, and I'm glad because, as I said, this is no standard oatmeal. I sneak in all kinds of goodness for their benefit.

I use the 2:1 ratio as the box suggests. So 2 cups of water to every cup of oatmeal. The oats I use are the "old fashioned" type, as opposed to the instant 1-minute oats. Less processing ahead of time usually means more nutrients.

You'll need to plan about 15 minutes for this recipe. It only takes a few minutes of your time, but I allow the oats to soak in hot water, which takes about 10 minutes to soften to the oats to the right consistency.

Here's the recipe I use for the family of four.

4 cups water
2 cups dry oats
pinch o' salt
1/2 cup brown sugar (yes, pack it in)http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
1 T wheat germ
1 T ground flax seed
2 T peanutbutter
chopped peanuts (optional)

Put the water on to boil in a sauce pan and add the pinch o' salt. When the water starts to boil, remove the pan from the heat. Add the oats and stir in.

Approx. 10 minutes later stir in the remaining ingredients: brown sugar, wheat germ, flax seed and peanutbutter. (Optionally) toss on the (optional) peanuts and serve it up.

There are a number of health benefits with this recipe. Oatmeal hates cancer and lays the smackdown. It's loaded with nutrients. Flaxseed is an excellent source of Omega-3 fat and a host of other nutrients. This page covers more benefits for omega-3 than I care to repeat. If you don't want to follow the link, just know its goooood for you. Wheat germ is a power pack in and of itself, too, though folic acid is a strong suit.

The peanutbutter is really only for taste, because the kids love the flavor. It packs a bit of protein, but realistically its not the best source unless you use a natural peanutbutter... which we don't (but we should).

Occasionally I replace the peanutbutter with fresh strawberries or raspberries, or sometimes use a few shakes of cinnamon and top with walnuts instead of peanuts. Once in a great while I slice and cook an apple in a bit of cinnamon and brown sugar and use that as a topping. But most days we go with the recipe above, because most days it is exactly what the kids want... and what the doctor ordered.