When winter rolls around, many (like me) get excited about pulling out delicious recipes for soups and, of course, the cold weather staple: hot cocoa. There’s just something comforting about these warm treats that seems to make the comfort and coziness of nature’s snuggle season complete. But, there’s another lonely, hearty, steamy winter belly soother that’s often forgotten: oatmeal. I know what you’re thinking…selling oatmeal to the kids isn’t the same as offering up a marshmallow-topped mug of hot chocolate, right? Okay, I get you, my kids weren’t exactly shouting from the rooftops either, until I put a mommy spin on the fabulous, heart-healthy whole grain.
I’d tried giving my kids the flavored quickie oat packets before, which they ate, but without sparing me a few side eyes here and there. But, I know that oatmeal is a really great way for them to start the day, because it’s rich in nutrition and gives them a lot of fuel, so I had to look at it from another angle. My younger boys don’t care so much about the health benefits of oatmeal yet, because they just don’t understand, so I needed to give it a new, fabulous and awesomely appealing reputation booster. And that’s when it hit me. A bowl of oatmeal is just like a mushy, soupy bowl of oatmeal cookie in the making. At least, it could be if it dressed for the occasion.
On Sundays the hubz and I usually cook a big, hearty country breakfast for our kids, but I decided to try out my bowl o’ cookie theory to see if I could make it work. Since January is Oatmeal Month, I thought it was worth a shot. I could play up the theme and make it seem more special — to them anyway. And the concept of oatmeal cookie oatmeal was born.
First, I cooked up a huge batch of steel-cut oats. The little packets of microwaveable oatmeal aren’t as healthy and wouldn’t lend themselves to my little scheme anyway. To make the oatmeal creamier and more luxurious, I cooked them with milk instead of water. Then I added in simple flavor enhancers to make my oatmeal cookie oatmeal base sweet and tasty — cinnamon and Splenda.
Once I had the oatmeal ready to serve, I prepped some bowls with different fixings that you could add to oatmeal cookies (with a little embellishing, because I’m the mom and can do what I want):
- Raisins
- Chopped bananas
- Finely chopped walnuts
- Dried cherries
- Mini chocolate chips
- Apples (steamed in the microwave until soft)
- Blueberries
- Raspberries (thawed from frozen)
- Strawberries
- Pumpkin spice (make sure to help so there’s not too much)
After all my little bowls of oatmeal cookie oatmeal options were bowled up and ready to party, I invited the kids to the table to build their own whole grain breakfast cookie bowl. The only person that hesitated was the hubz, because he’s not the world’s biggest fan of oatmeal or oatmeal cookies, but the kids went nuts! They loved celebrating Oatmeal Month with their dessert breakfast, and I didn’t feel guilty about what they chose, because it wasn’t bad for them.
The boys asked if we could have oatmeal cookie oatmeal again. Score one for mom. I’m probably not going to go as crazy with their fixin’ options next time, but somehow I think they’ll manage.
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