Monday Message - Cooked Cereal

Oatmeal for breakfast....again?!  Yum!  In my opinion, Oatmeal is like a breakfast treat.....almost as good as a fresh baked fruit cobbler with an oatmeal crumb topping!  Of course if you load on the butter and sugar you might get the "dessert" satisfaction, but by keeping it simple you can still enjoy a warm sweet treat for breakfast on a regular basis.

Oatmeal, Grits, Quinoa, Steel Cut Oats, Cream of Wheat and Brown Rice are all favorites of mine and I had most of them quite regularly for breakfast while growing up.  See below for my favorite ways to get in a hot cereal breakfast and check out this link from Kids Eat Right for even more ideas on jazzing up your cooked cereal.

Can you guess what type of Grain this is?



• Instant Oatmeal: Cook an Apple and Cinnamon flavored packet (lowest in sugar!) with one small apple, diced into tiny pieces in milk or water according to oatmeal directions.
• Old Fashioned Oats: Cook on the stove with 1% milk plus a couple of drops of vanilla extract and then topped with blueberries....fresh or frozen.
• Steel Cut Oats:  Cook them for a while......add a little sweetened soy milk and fresh fruit on top.
• Cream of Wheat:  Made with milk and served with a honey swirl on top.
• Quinoa:  Cook in hot water or milk with dried cranberries and cinnamon.
• Brown Rice:  Mix with hot milk and a little brown sugar.