January is Oatmeal Month

Mmm…oatmeal. Yeah, it’s the stuff of retirement, stubborn bowels and baby experimentation. But it’s also a quite delicious, hearty, filling, warming breakfast food that can help get you going in the morning. Think not? Then you haven’t been eating MY oatmeal!

For starters, we use plain Quaker rolled oats in our breakfast. Boring, I know! That’s why we add honey, cinnamon, and flaxseed—and yogurt if we have it in the house—for a delicious, nutrient-packed treat that tastes like we’re eating dessert for breakfast. Yum! And if we want to jazz it up or skip the cinnamon for the day, we use frozen fruit—usually blueberries—or banana slices instead. Doesn’t that make your mouth water?

If not, here are a few more ideas to jazz up that heart-healthy breakfast. Enjoy!

Add hot cocoa powder to make it into a chocolaty treat.

For you peanut butter fans, spoon in some of your favorite peanutty snack and have at it.

Swirl in some jam, dried cranberries, cherries or raisins, or other favorite treat.

Buy the packets flavored with maple, apple cinnamon, peaches, berries and cream or other varieties. Most of them are pretty delicious! (To save money, you might just want to drizzle it with maple syrup, eat it with some fresh peaches, etc.)

Toss in some chocolate chips, pecans, sunflower seeds, soy nuts or whatever you’ve got on hand to try.

Top a delicious fruit and yogurt parfait or cottage cheese with oatmeal.

Add some pumpkin spice during the holidays for a festive treat.

Butter and sugar it up—that’s how my husband likes his. Of course, that makes it a little less nutritionally sound!

Eat in tiny amounts—I know that if I eat a lot of oatmeal I start to get a bit sick, so I can only eat it in small amounts. Use it as a side dish for a breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt.

Make oatmeal cookies according to the recipe on the box or any that you prefer. Again, it’s not as nutrient-packed as some of the other choices available, but it’s probably better than nothing. And if nothing else, you might simply start to enjoy the taste of oatmeal through them.

If all else fails and you simply hate the stuff, add it to your daily protein shake or a main dish, like meatloaf, to bulk the dish up and add nutrition.