Oatmeal...So Good When it's Cold Outside!

I don't ever remember my mom making me oatmeal for breakfast when I was growing up. I was always a cereal kind of girl. As a matter of fact, I don't think I ever even had oatmeal packets until my late teens or early 20's. Shoot, they probably didn't even invent them until then!! Unfortunately, I bought into the whole "all food at the grocery store is good for you" notion for many, many years and always had a box of Quaker oatmeal packets on hand for a quick breakfast.

Oh how things have changed. I was never a huge fan of those packets. My kids liked them well enough but I could take them or leave them.

Enter real food. I started making my own oatmeal and, lo and behold, I liked it. I liked it a lot. For me, there is nothing quite so tummy warming on a cold morning than a nice bowl of oatmeal. Now this isn't simply oats and liquid. No, I like to add stuff. Sometimes, lots of stuff. Right now, I have become fixated on the following combo; oats, milk, raisins, white choc. chips (yeah, I know they aren't real food) and nuts.

The process for making oatmeal is really simple.

Here's what I do:

• Pour some milk into a saucepan. How much completely depends on how much you want to make. I usually use somewhere around 2-2 1/2 cups (could be more, I don't measure) for 3 of us.
• Add in old fashioned oats. I guess you could use quick oats but I like the old fashioned ones better.
• Stir in your add ins like raisins, maple syrup, whatever you are in the mood for.
• Always add in a pinch of salt. Why? I don't know but it just should be done.
• Stir over medium to medium low heat until the oatmeal thickens.
• Enjoy!

Until you have made it once or twice, you will probably need to add a little more milk or a few more oats until you get it just the way you want it. There are no rules with oatmeal. Well, maybe don't burn it 'cause that's just nasty. But other than that, make it how you want. If I have leftovers (which isn't very often) I feed them to the chickens. They absolutely love it!