Easy Oatmeal with Diced Apples
When trying to get away from eating all fifteen boxes of our stockpiled $0.50 cereal in one week, I realize that hot breakfasts need to be served 4-5 times a week to preserve.
Since we were at basketball tournaments all weekend, my intended freezer breakfast meals didn’t get made, so I’m going to have to get my head in the meal planning game this week, and think ahead. I had a bag of marked down apples that were no longer good for snacking on, but perfect for cooking, so I decided to do some easy oatmeal with fried apples. I often add raisins, but we were all out.
I did a quick peel of the apples and then diced them.
Wanting only one pot to wash, I tossed the apples in my 6 quart pot on the stove, with just a little butter, sugar, cinnamon, cooking until soft. I then added six cups water with 3 cups oatmeal till it was done cooking (the ratio for oatmeal is always two parts liquid, one part oatmeal).
Top with a bit of brown sugar and milk and you have a healthy, filling breakfast for six of us (my hubby missed out) for literally $2 total.
Of course, you can omit the brown sugar and add your sweetener of choice – honey, syrup, sucanat etc.
I’m not a morning girl, but there is something magical about how the sun was shining so brightly through my window this morning. It glistened on the bowl just perfectly.
I’ve been eating a lot of oatmeal with chopped up apples & nuts with brown sugar. Since there aren’t many in my family I make it quickly in the microwave. I agree…it’s a yummy way to start the day. Hmmm…I might make some for dinner!
[Reply]
We love oatmeal, too, and don’t mind making it in the morning… but did you know you can cook it overnight in the crock pot? You can make any cereal this way … cracked wheat, grits, cornmeal mush or oatmeal. Just spray your crock with cooking spray (or use butter or margarine to grease it). Add your water, salt and oatmeal. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours. Do not use quick cooking varieties. These are the instructions from my 1977 crock pot!!
[Reply]
Jens Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 8:08 pm
@Patti, I love making it in the crockpot, and I’ll be posting that recipe soon…I have a huge crockpot though and I didn’t have enough rolled oats to make a big pot of it. I haven’t done any other grains besides oatmeal though…you have me thinking if the kids would like cracked wheat…I have TONS of it. 🙂
[Reply]
Yum! I love to add fruit to oatmeal!
[Reply]
Oh yum!! This sounds really good, I will have to try it soon 🙂
I recently made some omelets in ziplock freezer bags – they get boiled in a pot of water for 13 minutes and you can do up to 8 in a pot at a time. Really simple!!
I plan on adding it to your Tasty Tuesday when it’s up 🙂
[Reply]
Jens Reply:
March 1st, 2010 at 10:22 pm
@Jessica @ Life as I See It, that is such a fun idea….
just FYI – Tasty Tuesday will be up early tomorrow morning. Didn’t want you to wait up. I just can’t get it done tonight.
[Reply]
ooh. i like this recipe idea. i am so not a morning person, but I too believe in serving hot breakfast to my kids. otherwise they are hungry in 30 minutes:)
just bought my ticket for Relevant at midnight last night! soooo excited!
[Reply]
For those who don’t just love oatmeal, if you make it with apple juice as the liquid instead of water it gets a deeper fruit flavor. Add pieces of pear in season. Add raisins or craisins when you are out of fresh fruit. Yes, juice makes it more expensive than water but if you get frozen concentrate on sale it’s very affordable.
[Reply]
We love breakfasts like these! I found, with sweet apples, there is no need for sugar, just a little cinnamon 🙂
[Reply]
My comment is for the smoothie. How do you keep your smoothies cold and how does it keep it from getting watery for their lunches? My kids love smoothies, and they would lovr it for lunch. Thanks 🙂
[Reply]
I just whipped this up for breakfast. It seemed like the perfect thing for our snow day, yes, a snow day in Atlanta, in March, go figure. It is delicious and I will be making it more often.
[Reply]
I made this recipe yesterday and YUM. I gave up sugar for Lent, so the sweetness from the apples really helped turn my bland oatmeal into more of a treat. THANKS!
[Reply]
YUM YUM YUM Tried this today and we are LOVING it! Oatmeal and other hot breakfasts go a lot further even for my preschoolers (and myself) than bowls of cold cereal! And we’ve started getting reduced price apples at our store – just for asking. 🙂
[Reply]
I don’t peel the apples so there is more fiber. Organic apples give good peel.
No sweetner since the fruit is so naturally sweet.
THANKS
[Reply]