Tuesday's Tip

I am launching a new idea on to my blog and I am hoping to stick with it. Every Tuesday I am going to try and post a short meal or snack tip. I found that my main topic of conversation with anyone with kids is, A) How to feed everyone on a tighter budget, B) How to do it quickly and C) Make it easy. So for all my friends who are short on time, money or just have a kitchen phobia and you know who you are........ Here is my first Tuesday Tip.

Oatmeal: Yes, yes, I know, this is from the person who would not go near the stuff with a 10ft. pole growing up. Fortunately my kids are not like me.......... :) Actually what I have discovered is that oatmeal is high in protein and high in fiber and is one of the most versatile foods out there. It is also easier to take backpacking than cold cereal and milk.....

We use about 2.2lbs or a kilo of oatmeal a week depending on my mood. I like it better than cold cereal as it fills my kids up and is about $2.50 for a week of breakfast as opposed to nearly $7.00 for a box of Cheerios that might last me a 1/2 a week and will have my kids saying I am hungry 15 minutes later. Here is what I get for $2.50 a week:

Note*: We use whole oats not ground, so some of these recipes are going to come out different.

Breakfast: Cooked oatmeal: 1/3 cup oats to 1 cup water. Cook to desired consistency and serve. I have added: honey, sugar, cinnamon, raisins, chocolate chips( about 4 on top only), apples......You can add any or all of these to taste. I know my family always put milk in theirs too. I still have not acquired that taste. (I know someone who puts hers in a crock pot the night before so it is done in the morning. As soon as we replace ours I want to try this.)

Breakfast 2: Serve it raw with milk. This has been our favorite this winter. We seem to be running late these days and it is faster to serve it raw with milk and sugar/honey raisins and so on then to cook it. It really is good and I got this from my father-in-law who also ate it this way growing up.

Snack: This is my favorite way to eat oatmeal these days. I take raw oatmeal and mix it with peanut butter, honey, flax seed, sunflower seeds, raisins and occasionally chocolate chips. It is high in protein and omega 3 fats (flax seed) and really tasty, takes 2 minutes to make and if you throw it in some sort of bowl and lid it can be taken anywhere. One of these days I want to cook it and make it in to bars too. And of course you can add or subtract any of these things and add new ones with this.

Cookies: I have found that on the days everyone is craving a treat but we are out of chocolate chips I can throw in oatmeal and cinnamon and jazz up a very plain cookie.

Oatmeal can also be ground into flour. I have bought oat flour before, it is a great way to add protein to a plain white flour recipe. I can't always get it where we are now so I got out of the habit, but we are switching to organic whole wheat soon, so I won't need to worry about adding extra protein then. If you buy oat flour just swap out a cup of your regular recipe for the oat flour, it is a white flour and should not change the flavor of things too much if at all.

Not bad for $2.50! I will also keep you posted on how the bars work out, if we get that far........