Oatmeal is Delicious; You Can’t Change my Mind
In high school, I had a large aversion to oatmeal. My dad ate it every morning when I was growing up, but I despised the texture of it more than most things in this world. But, to my surprise, last year as a sophomore in college, I quickly fell in love with the breakfast staple. I believe the secret to growing fond of this hot cereal is putting in delicious ingredients and awesome seasonings to help bolster the odd texture of the oats.
The Basics
My go-to oatmeal combination is pretty simple since I’m living on a college student’s budget, but it is absolutely delicious. I purchase a big tin of instant oats from Quaker Oats and cook them on the stove. Then, while the oats are cooking, I take half a banana, slice it up, and add a large dollop of peanut butter (creamy Skippy is the only kind I use) and a nice helping of chia seeds. Once I dump in the cooked oats, I add a nice sprinkle of cinnamon to top it off. You can’t go wrong with this classic combo.
What are Other People Saying?
To make this blog post more interesting, I decided to reach out to my friends to see what they put in their oatmeal to make it taste amazing.
Here’s what a few of them suggest adding:
Jaclyn, my best friend since second grade and a UW-Madison junior (ew, Badgers): oats, peanut butter, banana, cinnamon, and honey (basically the same as me, except she fancies it up with honey).
Maggie, lover of books and UMN junior: oats, berries, brown sugar, and maple syrup.
Jemma, an absolute fashion icon and UMN sophomore: Jemma doesn’t usually like oatmeal, but she fell in love with two baked oatmeal recipes she found on TikTok. The first is banana bread baked oatmeal, and the second is cinnamon roll baked oatmeal. Both sound positively delicious!
Mackenzie, owner of the cutest dogs and coolest Jeep, and UW-River Falls alum: oats, coconut milk, cranberries, and honey.
Kalista, used to live down the street from me in elementary school and UW-Eau Claire junior: oats, cinnamon, egg whites, berries, organic peanut butter, and local honey.
Madisyn, an old friend who I used to attend a lot of concerts with (COVID stinks) and UMN sophomore: oats, almond milk, peanut butter, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg, with peanut butter and bananas on top.
Some extra ingredients that were mentioned multiple times: frozen berries, honey, maple syrup, and strawberries.
Okay, now I’m Interested…
The main takeaway I gathered from asking lots of different people about their oatmeal preferences is that basically anything goes well with oatmeal. Whether it be berries or maple syrup or lots and lots of cinnamon, oatmeal is a practical breakfast option that can be very filling and very tasty.
So, why not give oatmeal another try?