Tried something new today and thought I would share our success. We make almost everything here from scratch, less because I am a SUPER-mom and more because I am sensitive to corn and cows milk and you can forget buying anything without one of those in it.  Add to that the fact that I am SUPER-cheap.  Oh, and also rather taken with nutrition as a hobby. Put all that together and it makes for slow food.  That’s ok most of the time but we reached an impasse, my family and I, over breakfast.   They don’t like oatmeal unless it comes in little paper packages with labels like ‘Apples and Cinnamon’ or ‘Maple and Brown Sugar’ on the label.  Convinced, as I am, that there is nothing a person cannot find by googling, I surfed to see if some good soul out there had figured out a copycat recipe for same.  They have.

This morning we mixed up our first batch of instant oatmeal and thus far it looks to be the same as the Quaker variety.  The basic recipe involves blenderizing 1/4 of the oats to a powder then mixing all the oats with sweetner and spices and perhaps dried fruit to mimic the boxed flavors. You then bag in 1/2 c measures into baggies.  Voila!  (I know you hate that word Jen!; ))

While we were on a food prep roll we also made up all the sandwich fixings into lunches for Dad this week and froze them so there is some hope they will still be available when he leaves for work. This isn’t exactly once a month cooking but doing little bits of food prep en masse whenever possible saves minutes (and lunch dollars) later in the week.

Here are the oatmeal mix recipes:

Plain Instant Oatmeal
Yields: 8 servings

3 cups quick-cooking oats: Blend 1 c of the oats in a food processor =
until powdery (if using a blender, blend 1/2 c @ a time). Leave the =
other 2 c as is.
You will need 8 plastic sandwich bags.
Optional flavor ingredients (below)

Into each sandwich bag: 1/4 c unpowdered oats, 2 TBSP powdered oats, and
a scant 1/4 tsp salt. Store in a box or airtight container.

To make:  Empty packet into a bowl/cup. Add 3/4 c boiling water; stir and
let stand for 2 minutes. For thicker oatmeal, use less water; for
thinner, use more water.
Note: For a creamier oatmeal: Mix the bag with 3/4 c cold water; let
stand 1 – 2 min; then cook to heat thru (or eat as is).

VARIATIONS:
Sweetened Oatmeal
To each packet, add 1-2 tsp sugar.

Creamy Oatmeal
To each packet, add 1 TBSP powdered dry milk.

Creamy & Sweetened Oatmeal
To each packet, add 1-2 tsp sugar & 1 TBSP powdered dry milk.

Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal
To each packet, add 1-2 tsp sugar, dash or 2 of cinnamon, and 2 TBSP
chopped dried apples.

Cinnamon-Spice Oatmeal
To each packet, add 1-2 tsp sugar, 2 dashes of cinnamon, and a dash of
nutmeg.

Oatmeal with Raisins & Brown Sugar
To each packet, add 1 tsp packed brown sugar and 1 TBSP raisins.

Wheat Germ Oatmeal
To each packet, add 2 tsp wheat germ.

Fruit & Cream
To each packet, add 1 TBSP powdered dry milk and 2 TBSP chopped dried
fruit.

(In addition to the above) To flavor, sweeten, & fortify bland oatmeal,
try:
Extracts: (1/8-1/4 tsp of 1 ext.) vanilla, almond, rum, etc; cloves,
allspice, mace (very strong spices; use as a ‘dash of’); instant coffee,
brown sugar, date sugar or dates, molasses, honey, syrups, dehydrated
fruit compote or fruit medley, rehydrated; crushed candies, Red Hot
candies (cinnamony); chocolate, butterscotch, or peanut butter chips;
mini marshmallows, any dried fruits (or a combo of any), instant drink
mixes/crystals/powders, instant cocoa (mixes), malted milk powder,
jams/jellies, yogurt (plain/flavored), flavored gelatins, pudding mixes,
seeds &/or nuts, fruit leathers, peanut butter (or other nut butter),
margarine (or Butter Buds), BacoBits, (meat) jerky bits, tofu "bacon",
tofu jerky, bits of mincemeat or pemmican, dried &/or candied
orange/lemon peel, Nutella, or anything from your gorp bag, etc, etc.

Try combining other quick-cooking cereals (cream of wheat/rice/barley,
Malt-O-Meal, etc) or dry cereals (granolas, muesli, Bran Buds, All-Bran,
etc) to the oatmeal packets.

*For an even creamier oatmeal, add 1-2 generous heaping tsp powdered
creamer (& it improves the taste of the dry milk, when used).
(recipes copied from Backcountry.net)

Here is a more basic version:

Instant Oatmeal

8 C oatmeal
1T cinnamon
1C dried fruit (raisins, dates, apples, whatever)
1C brown sugar

Mix together well.
To serve: put 1/2C cup oatmeal mix into cereal bowl, add 1C water and microwave 2 – 2 1/2 min. Let stand 3-4 min.