DIY Instant Breakfast

Last week of classes!!!

And not a scrap of food in my house. Well, there is food, but most of it is stuff like spaghetti sauce, and thai green curry, and chicken tortilla soup, and red beans all packaged in handy meal-sized portions in the freezer. Not much in the way of blog posts.

So, with finals looming and a mostly bare pantry, I thought I'd share one of my ongoing experiments with you: Instant Oatmeal.

You know those little packets of sugary powder that you just dump into a mug at work? Well, I'm determined to make some kind of home version of them that doesn't include preservatives and dehydrating chemicals.

I've made a few attempts now, and I think I'm getting closer. Here's what I've done so far:

Home Made Instant Oatmeal:

• 1 c quick cooking rolled oats
• 1/2 c dried fruit
• 1/3 c powdered milk
• 1/4 c cinnamon sugar
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed

I used my handy dandy jar of cinnamon sugar, but if you don't have one (why don't you have a jar of cinnamon sugar??) you can use whatever sugar you like best in your oatmeal and add a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. 

Dump all the stuff into a container.

If you're using raisins in your oatmeal (you're weird, they're gross) you can just dump them in. I had som dried pears so I diced them into tiny chunks first. Dried apricots, cherries, or blueberries would also be awesome.

Mix everything up.

This is so much work.

Scoop about 1/2 a cup of the mixture into a bowl. (I only made 1/3 c but it really didn't seem like enough. 1/2 is probably just about right for a single serving; 3/4 if you're really hungry)

Pour in about 1/2 c of boiled water. This is one of the those times that a microwave is really handy. You can nuke the water in less time than it takes to put the coffee together.

At first, the mixture will seem pretty soupy, but if you leave it alone for 5 minutes while you go get dressed, do your hair, make the bed, whatever you have to do in the morning, it will thicken up by the time you're done.

If you do this in a go-mug instead of a bowl, you will have perfect oatmeal when you get to work.

Pour on a bit of milk or cream, or, if you're at work, a couple of those little creamer containers.

Sliced almonds are a nice bit of texture and protein.

It's not the prettiest breakfast, and I think I still need to work on my proportions a bit, but it actually kinda works!!

Home made convenience food!

What's your favourite convenience food? I wonder if I could make it at home...

Comments

[angel]

I would consider this. Sounds good actually. Thanks Seeley.

[Seeley deBorn]

Angel, if you try it, let me know how it works, and what (if anything) you did differently. I think I'm close with this version but it sitll needs.... something....