The Glade 4.0

Okay, I eat the instant stuff and usually a maple brown sugar or cinnamon roll version. I want to make my oatmeal healthier though. I tried plain instant oatmeal and chucked in some frozen blueberries and raspberries and it didn't work out so well. I tasted the tartness of the fruit, but none of the sweet. It was okay I suppose, but not worth the effort.

Anybody have advice for how to make oatmeal tasty, yet healthy?

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The Dude abides.

I don't know if it's very healthy, but I usually add a little honey to mine to give it a bit of sweetness.

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"I've got twenty ways to tell you shut the f*ck up / nineteen of them are twenty-four bars long / the other one goes: SHUT THE F*CK UP" - Aesop Rock
"There is no God higher than truth." -- Gandhi
Formerly: Tulamian

Use an all-fruit preserves to sweeten it.

A quick substitution takes care of it. Swap oatmeal for Lucky Charms. Problem solved.

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If you want the oatmeal to taste better, give up on Quaker Oats.

Try McCann's Steel Cut Oats, takes longer to prepare but the taste is worth it. Other brands of Steel Cut Oats are available, and in some places you can buy them in bulk. I just like McCann's - occasionally, I'm usually in too much of a hurry in the morning.

If you want the Maple Syrup taste, use real Maple Syrup, not Corn Syrup flavored with minute drops of real maple syrup, if any at all. Thumbs up by the way, Taamar gives excellent advice on the all-fruit preserves.

Here is a humorous video on cooking steel cut oats, you might laugh at the name of the show.

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

If you're going to do steel cut oats get a mini crockpot. Load it and set it on low just before you go to bed and you'll have perfect oatmeal in the morning. Add warm water and a drop of dishsoap to the pot and leave it on low while you're at work for easy cleaning. The Whole Foods steel cut oats are quite good at a great price (cheaper per serving than your packets, not quite as cheap as Quaker oats). Sweeten with real maple or a dark muscovado sugar. As with many things, the real deal brown sugar blows the half-assed away.

I dunno, I eat a lot of cheap oats - Quaker, store-brand.

It may be an acquired taste, Scree. I used to eat mine pretty much straight, no sweetener, just banana. Usually what I do is cut up a ripe (not too ripe, not too green) banana into the water as it's boiling. Then add the oats and cook as normal.

It's almost more of a savory taste for breakfast. Once you get over that hump - that it's not a sweet breakfast oatmeal - you can appreciate the oatey, chewy goodness. (I also don't cook my oats to death, so the consistency comes closer to the steel-cut variety.)

Lately, though, I've taken to adding just a bit of honey.

Ooh, ooh, I know what might work for you: Florida's Natural Brand Natural Fruit Snacks (I think they need a better name). My kids love these - they're basically juice nuggets. The frozen fruit you used won't be quite sweet enough, but once I noticed a pack of these while cooking up some oatmeal, and threw them in. It was pretty good - the nuggets didn't dissolve all the way, but enough to sweeten the water a bit. The strawberry and blueberry flavors work well.

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

I sometimes mix one packet of maple & brown sugar with one packet plain...not the best solution, but fast and easy.

Yeah, I've done that, too, Lon.

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

Try not eating oatmeal, because it is **** disgusting.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Sure, if you overcook the crap out of it. Everyone seems to think it's supposed to be mushy. If you get "old-fashioned" oats - the five-minute kind - and cook them per the directions, it comes out with nice texture, discrete flakes, etc. Oats rock.

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This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge

I've never liked oatmeal, no matter how it is prepared.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

I know everyone has their own tastes, but it irritates the hell out of me when someone says 'X is disgusting' rather than 'Yeah, I've just never cared for X'. Too many people confuse personal opinions with absolute value judgements.

My hatred for oatmeal goes well beyond "I never cared for it". If oatmeal were a country, I'd invade it and go all "Skywalker v. Sand People" on it.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

Hah. I'm telling you all. Oatmeal + wild blueberries + strawberry whey + some fresh red grapes. It's fantabulous.

Equal parts water and oatmeal, I do 1 cup and 1 cup. Little more or less water depending on the consistency you like. Nuke for a minute and a half.
Mix in a good amount of frozen blueberries. Nuke for 30 seconds. Stir it up, nuke for another 30 seconds.

Mix in 3/4 scoop of whey. Add in the grapes on top. Eat.

About 500 calories, 29 grams of protein 87g carbs and 8g fat.

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Speaking of oatmeal, I just had McCann's Irish Oatmeal and added some tupelo honey and berries to it. It was fantastic. The oatmeal had a better texture than the plain instant variety and tasted more strongly of oats. The tupelo honey added a nice flowerly fragrance and taste to it as well as sweetening it up a bit. And the berries added a little more sweetness along with a little tartness. I think that may become a go-to breakfast for me now.

Whey is nasty, vile ****, and about as healthy for you as mainlining High Fructose Corn Syrup. One should not confuse Whey (which when powdered is almost indubitably nothing more than condensed lactose) with Whey Protein, which constitutes such a minor portion of Whey as to be negligible unless strictly isolated. Whey Protein Isolate is awesome and healthy. Whey is not.

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Yeah the above pictured supplement is whey protein isolates, you whey elitist!

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

Come now Dash, no name calling in the food forum. Besides, calling Khross a particular kind of elitist isn't really necessary. He is Dr. Doom, he is an Elitist Bastard, narrowing it down further than that isn't really necessary.

Why do I hear the unmistakable sound of Doombots coming from the east?

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

I reregistered for this site (AGAIN) for another of my infrequent posts to suggest this:

Replace oatmeal with Quinoa. It's so good. Texture like steel cut oats, cooks fast. Mix in what you would for oatmeal, honey, berries, whey protein, etc... It's one of the only(if not the only) whole grain with all essential amino acids, tons of protein, no gluten, light, nutty flavor. I try to use it in place of rice, and even some pasta dishes. Tastes great, and about as healthy a whole grain as you'll ever find. It's a little expensive, but you can buy bulk from Bob's Red Mill for a decent discount. They seem to have the best prices available. I love the stuff.

w00t! I drew out a lurker!

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The Dude abides.

Oh, good call! Lots of natural foods stores have it in the bulk aisle also. Amaranth is the other amino-complete grain.

My wife has experimented with quinoa, and it's kind of hit or miss with me. Never thought of it for breakfast, though, might have to try that.

_________________
This cold and dark tormented hell
Is all I`ll ever know
So when you get to heaven
May the devil be the judge