Homemade Instant Oatmeal

Did you know that you could make instant oatmeal at home for dirt cheap?? I didn't... we buy the large container of oats from Sams Club and throw in some brown sugar and call it a day. The cute little packets of flavored oatmeal that they sell are just to expensive when you compare them to how cheap regular oatmeal is when feeding a family of 5 every morning. So thanks to Dollar strecher.com I now know that you can make your vary own flavored oatmeal packets for very little dough. Be sure to check out the flavors listed below. I've included the original recipe plus 12 yummy variations :)

• 3 cups Quick-Cooking Oats
• Small sized Zip Baggies

Put 1/2 cup oats in a blender and blend on high until powdery. Set aside in a small bowl, and repeat procedure with an additional 1/2 cup oats. If you're using a food processor, you can do the 1 cup of oats in one batch. Put the following ingredients into each zip baggie: 1/4 cup un-powdered oats, 2 Tbsp. powdered oats. Store in an airtight container.
To serve: Empty packet into a bowl. Add 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir and let stand for 2 minutes. For thicker oatmeal, use less water - for thinner oatmeal, use more water.

Variations:

Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal- To each packet add 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp. chopped dried apples.

Sweetened Oatmeal- To each packet add 1 Tbsp. sugar or 1 packet 'Equal' artificial sweetener.

Brown Sugar/Cinnamon Oatmeal - To each packet add 1 Tbsp. brown sugar & 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Oatmeal w/Raisins & Brown Sugar - To each packet add 1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar and 1 Tbsp.
raisins.

Health Nut Oatmeal - To each packet add 2 Tbsp. any kind of wheat germ

Fruit & Cream Oatmeal - To each packet add 1 Tbsp. non-dairy coffee creamer and 2 Tbsp. dried fruit

Fun Fruit Oatmeal - To each packet, add 6 or 7 pieces of 'fruit snack' type dehydrated fruit.

Confetti Oatmeal - To each packet, add 1 tsp. decorative cake/cookie sprinkles.

Pineapple Oatmeal- 1 TB finely shredded coconut and 2 TB chopped dried pineapple

Blueberry Oatmeal- 2 TB dried blueberries, 1 tsp. sugar, 1/8 tsp. orange zest, and 1/4 tsp. vanilla powder

Apple Oatmeal- 1 TB date sugar, 2 TB freeze dried apples, 1/8 tsp. cinnamon, and 1 TB chopped pecans

Raisin and Nut Oatmeal- 1 TB raisins, 1 TB brown sugar, 1/8 tsp. cinnamon, and 1 TB chopped walnuts

Bon Appétit,

Recipes adapted from vegan lunch box blog, and the dollar stretcher.com Photo by vegan lunch box.