Sunday, May 1, 2011

Instant Oatmeal Packs (update)

This was posted as a Facebook note several weeks ago, I thought I would share it on the blog.


Nick LOOOVES oatmeal, he'll eat two packets a day. But have you bought a box of Quaker instant oatmeal lately? It's usually $3-$4 for a box of 10 (which might last us a week).  I try to buy it on sale but we have a tiny apartment and I can't buy enough and store it for the two to three months it takes for the sale cycle to repeat itself.

That being said, I was doing some research on freezable foods and came across this recipe on www.moneysavingmom.com. It is for make your own instant oatmeal packs. I found it today so I haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but we are coming to the end of our current, and last, box of Quaker so I thought I would give it a try.

If you decide to try it, let me know what you or your kids think.

Oatmeal Packets Recipe

1 large canister quick oats
1 large canister rolled oats
1/8 cup cinnamon
2 cups flax seed, ground (optional)
1 box of snack-sized zip-top baggies
Mix rolled oats, quick oats and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Take 2 cups of mixture and grind it in a blender or food processor until it becomes powder-like.
Set up an assembly line with a small bowl of the ground flax seed, a small bowl of the ground oat mixture and the large bowl of oats. Take a baggie and put in 1/8 cup flax seed, 1/8 cup ground oats and ¾ cup oat mixture. Seal the baggie.
Repeat until you’ve successfully filled all your baggies.
To prepare, add ½ to ¾ cup boiling water and stir. Top with dried fruit, nuts or sweetener of your choice.
If you add in the ground flax seed, you’ll want to store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer and use within 1-2 months to prevent the flax seed from going rancid.

Since this was posted on Facebook I have used several of the packets. Nick absolutely loves them. I did not put the flax in it. I do have to add a heaping teaspoon of brown sugar to make it taste good. I didn't add sugar at first and I tasted it-Seriously gross. Nick also likes to add raisins to his oatmeal. This recipe makes about twice as much as one packet of store bought oatmeal so he normally eats only one packet as opposed to his 2-3 store bought packs.
I really like this too. I have always loved instant oatmeal and I would eat real oatmeal but I never really liked the texture. This recipe has the taste of real oatmeal but the texture of instant packets. Win Win!
Let me know if you like this or not and let me know if you have any ideas on how to improve this/things to add to it.

Happy breakfasting!!
Cathy

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