Recipe: Quick and Easy Week-Day Oatmeal
Let’s be honest, I try to keep my morning routine to a minimum because I really like my sleep! So I don’t make cooked breakfast during the week. However, I have found that oatmeal is very quick to prepare and quite affordable.
I love eating oatmeal for breakfast on a chilly winter morning; But those instant packs of flavored oatmeal aren’t all that healthy and can be pricey. With four ingredients and 5 minutes, you can just make your own!
What To Do
Simply mix 1/2C quick oats with 1C boiling water in a small bowl. Stir 1 min. Cover for 2 min. Remove cover and add 2 dashes of cinnamon with some brown sugar. Stir well and eat!
Or you can just use cold water then microwave for 1 minute.
I promise you this is super quick and just as tasty as the packets! I am wondering if you could mix the oatmeal, cinnamon and brown sugar together first then just add water. That way you could just bring the ready-made container with you for a good on-the-go breakfast. I will try this next week and keep you posted!
Cost
The 42oz. container of quick oats is $2.59 at my local Wegmans. Comparatively, the same store is selling 10 instant packets of Maple & Brown Sugar oatmeal for $2.29. For $0.30 more you are getting twice as much oatmeal!
I’m assuming you have brown sugar & cinnamon on hand and that you will use it for things other than oatmeal. The cost of using both items per bowl of oatmeal is just cents.
Healthier Option
Looking over the information of both items on Wegman’s website, you can easily see that the quick oats has 5g protein, 0g sodium, 0g sugars, and 23g carbs.
The oatmeal packet has 4g protein, 230mg sodium, 13g sugars, and 33g carbs. Granted, you’ve added the brown sugar and cinnamon, the sugars will go up – but the key is that you can control this!
You shouldn’t need more than 2 packed teaspoons of brown sugar (~8g). I don’t add any salt to mine and it doesn’t seem to make a difference. For me, that 230mg of sodium in the packet is just junk.
Note: The serving sizes are pretty similar: 43g for the packet and 39g for the quick oats. However, the few grams can make a difference so keep that in mind when comparing the two.
If you’re looking for a quick, cheap breakfast, give this a shot! Or if you already eat yummy oatmeal, share your favorite flavor combinations!
27 and Frugal» Blog Archive » Resourcefulness At It’s Best said:
Dec 21, 09 at 5:07 pm[...] milk ran out, I turned to toast and eggs. Now that the bread and eggs are gone, I’m eating oatmeal. I always have oatmeal on hand for cookies but haven’t eaten it for breakfast in years! [...]
27 and Frugal» Blog Archive » Resourcefulness At It’s Best said:
Dec 21, 09 at 5:07 pm[...] milk ran out, I turned to toast and eggs. Now that the bread and eggs are gone, I’m eating oatmeal. I always have oatmeal on hand for cookies but haven’t eaten it for breakfast in years! [...]
Kayla said:
Aug 09, 10 at 7:43 amI’ve found that oatmeal cooks quite nicely in a rice cooker/steamer. It takes about 15 minutes, but there’s no labor involved aside from dumping some water and oats in the pot. I typically use 1 part oats to 3 parts water, which makes it pretty creamy, but a 1:2 ratio isn’t bad either.
I love your site, thanks for all your tips!
27 and Frugal» Blog Archive » Balancing Consumerism With Frugality said:
Sep 24, 10 at 9:57 pm[...] you learn how to make your own oatmeal! This is much cheaper than even the generic stuff and you can make it just how you like it. Choice & price dictates the purchase of ingredients. You sacrifice some convenience, as you [...]