Sunday, August 28, 2011

Making morning easier (and a bit cheaper!)

I love oatmeal and always have.  The kids and my better half are a bit more neutral, so when selecting oatmeal packets and flavors at the store I don't really take them into account.  Ya snooze, ya loose.

About a year ago, my mom introduced me to "Better Oats".  Have you tried them??  Holy cow, that blueberry muffin flavor is to die for!  They are pretty reasonably priced at around $1.29 a box (has 5 packets).  Spending $0.25 for breakfast is a pretty good deal!

But when I saw homemade oatmeal packets made on No Big Dill, I had to give it a shot!
Ok, I made a batch pretty close to the original recipe, but 1/2 cup oatmeal is really too much for me in the mornings.  So I altered the plan.

Each of my packets contains:

1/4 cup Old fashion oats (so much heartier than quick oats and it still works great!)
1/4 to 1/8 cup chopped dried apples (or any other dried fruit)
1 tsp. each brown sugar and white sugar
dash of salt
sprinkle of flaxseed (optional)  My original bags do not have any.

To prepare:

Pour contents in bowl.  Add a scant half cup water and microwave for 2 minutes on high.  Voila!

No Big Dill mentions that she did not do any cost analysis on her packets.  Well, I did.  I really couldn't imagine coming out any cheaper that $0.25 a packet.  Drumroll please.....the cost was cut in half!  I took into account the cost of the baggies, oatmeal, and apples.  No bad and they taste pretty good too!

NOTE* If you use 1/2 cup oatmeal you will spend about the same.


3 comments:

cherished bliss said...

Wow, what a great idea. and it just makes you feel even healthier when you go through all that work! : ) Thanks for linking up!

Michelle G said...

Great idea! Anything that makes mornings easier is a plus!!

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for linking up with the Frog last week! It means so much to me! I hope you will join the party tomorrow! Plus, I am giving you the Versitile Blogger Award so stop by and check it out.