Intro to Cooking: Yummy and Customized Oatmeal

September 20, 2009 11:30 am     Posted in Reality  Carly - Grinnell g+ page

Remember those nasty instant-oatmeal packages you would toss in the microwave on those mornings when you were all hungover but starving? Yeah, forget them. This isn’t that. This is waaaaay, way better.


By Carly

Oatmeal is the perfect breakfast to warm you on a cold winter morning, or to keep you full and alive in a long, boring lecture until lunch. It’s tasty, healthy and super versatile, meaning it’s pretty much the perfect college meal.

So how do you make it well? It’s simple.

First, you need to get yourself some rolled oats. Not the quick-cooking kind – the regular kind. The only other staples you’ll need are milk (any kind, even soy is OK) and salt. And we all have that stuff lying around, right? Once you’ve got that down, then you can lay out your own personal oatmeal sundae bar: nuts, dried fruit, cream, sugar, honey, fresh berries, yogurt, chocolate chips, etc.

So here’s how you make your oatmeal:

1. In a small saucepan, put 1 cup of milk (or 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup milk) and a sprinkle of salt. Set the saucepan on medium-high heat.
2. When the milk starts to bubble up and simmer, pour in 1/2 cup rolled oats. Reduce the heat to low.
3. Cook at a simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring every so often so the oatmeal doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
4. When the oatmeal is the consistency you like, scoop it out and serve it!

Some of my personal favorite oatmeal combos:

• A teaspoon of honey, a few drizzles of heavy cream, and a fresh peace sliced up on top.
• Brown sugar and berries: blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, whatever.
• Vanilla yogurt and sliced almonds with honey.
• Wheat germ with mashed banana and a few chocolate chips.
• Some chai tea or chai spices right in the bowl with cream, sugar, and raisins.

Any other great combos out there? Share ‘em here!

8 Comments on "Intro to Cooking: Yummy and Customized Oatmeal"

  1. grace b says:
    Sun, 20th Sep 20097:50 am 

    Yeah a microwave is sufficient.

    When you do have a stove available–adding the bananas before the oats and letting them melt in the oatmeal. Delish.

    Next time I get to the grocery store I'm picking me up a cannister of oats. It's been too long!

  2. JenniferUofR says:
    Sun, 20th Sep 20098:15 am 

    I think the best oatmeal is Irish Stone Cut oatmeal, it takes 50 minutes to make, but on a cold Saturday morning it's the best thing ever. Of course you need to sprinkle some brown sugar on top with some sliced strawberries or raspberries. Served with a side of hot cocoa or coffee if you prefer. My other favorite is sadly the instant Peaches and Cream flavor that I have loved since I was five which is the daily stand by in winter, because I'm not getting up extra early to make my oatmeal.

  3. Bec says:
    Sun, 20th Sep 200911:13 am 

    I put peanut butter and chocolate chips on mine!

  4. Brittney says:
    Sun, 20th Sep 200912:40 pm 

    Yeah, too bad this doesn’t work in the dorms. I’ll stick with instant oatmeal.

  5. Carly - Grinnell says:
    Mon, 21st Sep 20094:36 am 

    Sorry about the typo, guys. Obvi it should say "a fresh peach" in the post instead of "a fresh peace."

    Brittney, most dorms have common kitchens somewhere, no? You could always hijack the kitchen in the morning and whip up a bowl of oatmeal. Everybody else will probably be jealous when they smell it.

    Jennifer, I love Irish oats and steel-cut oats! Sooooo good, and so good for you.

  6. Joan says:
    Mon, 21st Sep 20095:25 am 

    Do you guys not grammar and spell check your articles before posting them?

  7. A says:
    Mon, 21st Sep 20096:19 am 

    This sounds like an awesome recipe, but I definitely don't have enough time in the morning to head down to the kitchen, cook, and clean up. The second list has some good ideas to spice things up though. I'll have to stock up on berries.

  8. blackdove says:
    Tue, 2nd Mar 20109:20 pm 

    If you're tired of the same old regular flavors, you could easily have an alternative Asian flavor for your instant oatmeal. And it's just as "instant".

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