Oatmeal Mix

I used to be more of a morning person, but after 6 plus years of interrupted sleep at night and/or being awakened much earlier than I wish, I can d-r-a-g in slow motion some mornings. Even on mornings when I set my alarm to have an early morning jog or workout session, and am in high spirits, the day in, day out preparing of two breakfasts can sometimes wear on this mom. If R and G were both habitual cereal eaters, perhaps I wouldn’t bemoan breakfast preparation, but I am often asked to whip up French toast and scrambled eggs in the morning. Not an unreasonable request for a lazy or weekend morning, but on a manic Monday when we are trying to get out the door to school, well, short order chef, I am not. However, I have one solution that has worked wonders in our kitchen…homemade oatmeal mix. Yes, I know that now in the 21st century they make wonderful little packets of pre-measured oatmeal mix you can purchase in the store. These packets are great, except they are pricey and have much more sugar than R and G need to get them going in the AM. Instead, I’ve come up with a system to have all the convenience of the pre-measured oatmeal mix, without the added expense and sweetness: we make our own mix. I have a big bin of oatmeal labeled “oatmeal mix” that we continuing restock. It is a basic mix, so that we can alter it and add whatever extras the boys request. But the basic mix is a ratio of: ½ cup quick oats 1 tablespoon ground flax seed meal ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg 2 teaspoons brown sugar I usually mix this up in 12 cup portions, meaning that I then alter it to: 12 cups quick oats 1 ½ cups ground flax seed meal ¼ cup ground cinnamon 2 tablespoons ground nutmeg 1 cup brown sugar This mix makes 30 large ½ cup servings of oatmeal mix, enough to feed the boys for a good long big. Then in the morning, I simply scoop out a ½ cup of the mix and heat up some water, let them add in some fruit and/or nuts if they wish and voila, breakfast is served! A sweet way to keep things simple… SPC