Sunshine Oatmeal

I'm always looking for small ways to improve my diet. "Baby steps" that make me feel like I did something small to improve my life just a little bit. A wonderful food I introduced into my diet a few months ago is oatmeal. Somewhere along the way I realized that there there were too many reasons that I should stop ignoring oatmeal...the high fiber, heart benefits and so on.

That's when I tried some of those flavored oatmeal sachets and nearly gagged on them. The taste was just awful. Mollie Katzen came along to the rescue with her wonderful breakfast book Sunlight Cafe, a great resource for those who want to get off to a better nutritional start ever day.

Katzen has a great recipe for Chai Oatmeal that I modified a little bit. Here are my favorite things about this recipe-
a) It takes 8 minutes to make from start to finish. Morning are a rushed time, but 8 minutes I can spare. Not all of it is hands-on time, so really your breakfast gets made as you make tea/coffee, check mail etc.
b) The recipe contains yummy spices and nuts, so you feel like you are eating dessert...makes for a happy start to the day. Yet it is not cloyingly sweet.
c) The fiber in the oatmeal really fills you up, so you don't get hunger pangs all the way until lunchtime.
d) This recipe can be tweaked to make different variations.

Sunshine Oatmeal

For 2 servings, you need:
2 cups liquid (any combo of milk/soymilk/water works fine)
1 cup Quick-cooking/Instant oats (the 1-minute cooking ones)
1 tbsp sweetener (honey/sugar/Splenda)
1 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp cashewnut pieces
1/4 tsp turmeric (for color and slight flavor)
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
6-7 strands saffron
pinch of salt

Method:

• In a small saucepan, combine 2 cups liquid, and all ingredients except for oatmeal, and bring to a boil. 
• Then add the oatmeal and stir around for a minute. 
• Turn off the heat, cover the saucepan and leave for a minute.

Enjoy the oatmeal. The variations are that you could add different types of nuts and dried fruits like dates, fruits like banana, and other flavorings like vanilla or cinnamon. The possibilites are endless, and you end up eating the breakfast of champions!

Note: Joey over at the lovely blog 80 Breakfasts is sharing a recipe for oatmeal with apple-walnuts, check it out.

PS: Since writing this post, I quickly switched to old-fashioned oats instead of the quick-cooking instant oats and I love them so much more. This recipe can be made with either.