Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I want to start eating more oatmeal because it's great for you and it's economical. Sometimes I find oatmeal to be very plain though or I get stuck making the same type of oatmeal and it gets boring. Sooooo, I was wondering what everyone likes to put in their oatmeal? It can be simple to unique to weird.

Sometimes I like to make it with half water, half juice. Then add dried fruit and nuts.
Other than that my staples are flax seed and blackstrap molasses, or raisins with brown sugar and soy milk.

Fennel.

Oatmeal is something I've really come to look forward to in the morning because I've been mixing in all kinds of random things. I usually chop up a banana and cook it in with the oats because I like the consistency and sweetness. I usually top with a mix of granola, pepitas, chia seeds, almonds, cashews, and occasionally either choco chips or dried cranberries. Then I'll add another fruit (like blueberries when available) a nut butter, or some coconut milk yogurt. Every once in a while I'll make "pumpkin pie" oats, which means I mix 1/4-1/2 a cup pumpkin with a tablespoon Earth Balance, a tablespoon of brown sugar, and a teaspoon or so of pumpkin pie spice and microwave for about 30 seconds. If I do that, I cook the oats with the banana as usual, but I stir in the pumpkin toward the end.

Oh! And I do similar things with quinoa flakes! Or I'll use half oats, half quinoa flakes!

Man, I'm a nerd. One who eats a lot of oatmeal.

OH! How could I forget?! One day I crumbled up a quarter of a Liz Lovely German Chocolate Cake cookie and used that to top my oats (and the usual nuts/seeds/granola mix). MAN, that was a special treat. I try to keep the really sugary things out though because the banana has a good amount of sugar in it (albeit natural).

I always put brown sugar and nondairy milk on my oatmeal. Then I add a couple yummy things:

Sliced banana and walnuts
Peaches and Cinnamon
Blueberry, margarine and vanilla extract
Dried cherries and thinly sliced almonds
Cranberries,walnut and orange zest/juice/extract
Cranberries, chocolate chips and coconut flakes
Tiny amount of applesauce and cinnamon
Ginger and pumpkin puree
Salted almonds and dark chocolate chips
Dates and raisins
Diced pears, cinnamon and cardamom

I also really like adding granola to oatmeal, it gives it a little crunch to go with the creamy yumminess.
MMM....oatmeal!

Are you looking for sweet or savory varieties or doesn't it matter?

Doesn't matter.

I'm getting so excited reading this thread so far!

I usually put cinnamon, brown sugar, and flax seed meal in my oatmeal. Sometimes I cook it with water or sometimes with almond milk to make it a bit more creamy. I stir in a tablespoon or so of nut butter sometimes, which is really yummy. Raisins or chocolate chips are also great. I kind of like the plainness of oatmeal so I don't really spice it up all that much.

I don't like it very sweet so I usually just cook up enough plain steel cut oatmeal for two days, then add frozen berries to each portion and microwave it at work.

I like anything that tastes like dessert but it still acceptable as breakfast.....heh heh heh

Oo also a bit of carob or cocoa powder is pretty yummy.

I only like using rolled oats. I find them less mushy than instant oatmeal. My two favorite ways to have oatmeal are:
- dried apricots added to the boiling water to reconstitute them and almond extract.
- saute apples with cinnamon and nutmeg then add water to cook oatmeal.

Either way, I add a dab of vegan margerine, brown sugar, and soy or almond milk.

Also, I used to eat instant oatmeal then I moved to quick oats. I recently discovered rolled oats and steel cut oats and I much prefer their texture to that of quick oats.

ETA: Has anyone mentioned overnight oats? This is a good basic recipe: http://ohsheglows.com/2010/04/08/easy-v ... ight-oats/, there's lots of variations on that website too.

-peanut butter
-peanut butter and cocoa powder
-peanut butter and jam
(all those would also work with whatever nut butter you like best!)
-dried fruit
-maple syrup
-bananas with cinnamon

i used to eat oatmeal for breakfast all the time and when i discovered that peanut butter thing, it really changed things for me. mmm. i don't even like peanut butter, usually, but in warm oatmeal...so good.

My favorite is just almond milk, raisins, and flax seed. Simple and delicious.

MAPLE SYRUP!!!!! mmmmmmmmmmmmmm......

I sooooo want to try chia seeds!

Soy sauce, chili oil, and green onions!

Also, a vegan all-oatmeal blog: http://omoftheday.com/

I like to puree (or just sufficiently mash) a banana and then add it before cooking the oatmeal, then cinnamon and sugar.

A tablespoon or so of jam to it can make it all nice and strawberry-y or whatever your flavor of choice is.

Maple syrup or agave and cinnamon.

Fruit.

But usually I just do almond milk and a little sweetener (whatever I have on hand).

I love peanut butter and chopped banana.

This week I've been doing almond butter, which I like because it doesn't taste as sweet as peanut butter.

I'd never put anything other than raisins/sultanas in porridge till about a month ago.
Now I often put in a bit of cinnamon, carob powder and peanut butter when we have it as post-workout food on a Saturday morning.

Ooo, that sounds interesting!

Oh thank you, thank you, thank you for the link! It's instantly been added to my Google Reader.

Great link, definitely going to be checking that out.

I cook raisins with the oatmeal and then add peanut butter and banana! It's really the only way I like my oatmeal. Craisins are an acceptable raisin substitute. If I can't do pb, then I eat it plain or with a tiny smidgen of brown sugar.

I should start eating oatmeal again, the economical aspect of it is appealing to me.