Smoothies are for summer. Oatmeal is for winter! I recently "discovered" Quick 1-minute oatmeal. I was amazed that I actually liked it and really couldn't tell the difference from the long cooking original variety I had always used. It was a pain too. Always running over on the stove and the pan was hard to wash. Cooking the Quick variety in the microwave in a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup solved all of my problems.
The first few times I "cooked" it in the microwave for 4 minutes using box instructions it did not run over and I was thrilled. Then, for some reason, it started running over. I decided to experiment and ended up with the perfect recipe for me. I started out with 1/2 cup apple cider and 1/2 cup of tap water. Then I added a generous 1/3 cup oats and a HEAPING tablespoon of ground flaxseed meal. I grind my own seeds in my coffee and spice grinder. You can buy the flax meal already ground if you wish. I cook this mixture in the microwave for 4 minutes and it doesn't run over. I was able to omit the salt too. It is delicious and the measuring cup is so much easier to wash than the pan on the stovetop was. I am thrilled.
This photo shows my entire kitchen wall. I was leaning on my refrigerator to snap the picture. I have always had "old men" friends and we often discussed the woes of the oatmeal pan running over. My mother wanted oatmeal every morning no matter the season or weather. We had elderly next door neighbors when I was young and the man ate a vegetable bowl of oatmeal every morning. All of these old men in my life lived to be 100 or nearly that ripe old age and I think the oatmeal helped. I think its gooey consistency must remove some of the plaque from your arteries as it passes thru your body. What do you think? I have never read this, it's just something I suppose must be going on.
Anyway, I wanted to share my new way of cooking quick and easy oatmeal in the winter. Let me know if you try it. Stay safe and warm since it seems to be cold or very cold almost everywhere. xo