Oatmeal made interesting

By: Pen-Pal Productions on 9:50 AM

Boring is the word that came to mind when I used to think about oatmeal. Spoonfuls of sugar couldn't help the bowls I would make for breakfast in the winter. Until I added cocoa powder.

Yep. Cocoa powder. For baking.

Looking for a few ways to jazz up your breakfast? Grab some cocoa powder, cinnamon/sugar, blueberries, jam, or peanut butter.

I mix one part cocoa powder to two parts cinnamon/sugar mix. (We make our cinnamon/sugar mix and keep it in a shaker). So whether you use a teaspoon or a tablespoon, just make sure you add more sugar than cocoa powder. Otherwise your oatmeal will taste like bitter chocolate. And that's just sad.

With your uncooked oatmeal in a bowl, sprinkle in cocoa powder and cinnamon/sugar. Mix it around to evenly coat your oats. Then add blueberries. Or strawberries/apples/bananas. Whatever you have frozen in your freezer or on hand in your fruit bowl. Add water, mix and microwave. Voila! The best tasting oatmeal you'll have.

When I ran out of frozen blueberries recently, I improvised with a spoonful of raspberry jam. Oh boy. Delicious! And you don't need to add sugar to that since the jam is already sweet.

S uses a spoonful or two of peanut butter when he makes oatmeal. He adds cinnamon but no sugar. When he uses cocoa powder, he won't add fruit because he doesn't like chocolate-y fruit. What??

So really, the customization is up to you. Never again will oatmeal be boring.