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Monday, February 21, 2011

Oatmeal Copy Cat Recipe

I grew up eating Cheerios - the real Cheerios.  Every morning I would have a big bowlful. If I wanted a snack midday, they would be one of my first choices.

When we got married, or maybe even when I was in college, I realized that there were generic versions of Cheerios.  I also realized that there was a significant price difference.  So I started buying the generic brand.  Let me tell you.  They are NOT like the real Cheerios.  But they were cheaper.  So I kept buying them.

Ethan and I are approaching our 10 year anniversary, and over the years he has teased me about there not being a taste difference in them.  I continued to hold my ground that there was a taste difference, and not only a taste difference, but also a hierarchy within the generic Cheerios world.  Between Walmart, Hy-Vee, and Fareway - Fareway wins by a landslide. (Although they still fall quite a bit behind the real thing!) Like I said, Ethan has teased me over the years about this, but just this year he started to agree with me.  Especially after I got on his case about using the Fareway O's in his chex mix before the Hy-Vee O's that he brought home to make chex mix. (I wasn't really upset, just teasing, but he made sure to leave the Fareway O's alone for his second batch - after he had a bowlful of Hy-vee O's himself.)

As I have been buying Fareway O's over the years, I have watched their price raise from under $1 to over $2.  Somewhere in the middle, I started making oatmeal from a box, not a premix, for the kids instead of giving them O's.  I flavored it and seasoned it as best as I could.  They all enjoy it, but I have never been able to choke it down.  I have even tried multiple times, especially as the price of Tasty O's has continued to go up.  I just figured I didn't care for it because I grew up eating dry cereal.

When Jonathan was born, however, my good friend gave me a bunch of groceries that could make quick meals.  Among these groceries were little packets of pre-seasoned oatmeal. I cooked some up for the kids and decided to taste a bit only to find out that it was good!!

Since buying little packets of oatmeal would probably not save me any money over buying generic O's, I began my quest to find a copy cat recipe for oatmeal.  After a couple attempts and adjustments, I came up with one that I actually enjoy eating.  I ran out of O's a few weeks ago and have been eating this oatmeal.  I surprised myself this week that I was actually disappointed when I ran out of oatmeal!  (Since I'm trying to go the rest of the month with buying as few groceries as possible, I'm on to the next breakfast idea.)

I have 2 different versions of my copy cat recipe.  The first one is for those of you who don't have a fruit sauce.  The second one is for when you do. (I have quite a bit of pear sauce canned up that I am using.)

Since my little ones are about to get up, however, I will have to save my recipes for the next post (hopefully tomorrow!)  Don't forget to check back!

8 comments:

Unknown said...

ahhhhhhhhhh teaser!!! I can't wait to see them!!

Leslie said...

What a tease, I thought I was going to get a new yummy oatmeal recipe today. ;) Guess I'll have to watch for the next post. lol

The Beginning Farmer's Wife said...

I actually had full intentions of posting the recipe . . . just ran out of time! :)

mySavioReigns said...

lol, ah what a tease! Sounds great though, can't wait to see the recipe. I'm a big cheerios fan as well and new to oatmeal, but my wife loves it.

LilRedJo said...

I look forward to your recipe! I eat oatmeal pretty much every day. It is healthy, and right now, relatively cheap compared to 'healthy' cereals.

Two of my children are NOT oatmeal fans. I admit, that I do not take the time to try to make it yummier/child friendly...your recipe might be a great way to start

Yeoman said...

The fellow who has the Yeoman Farmer blog has a post on Oatmeal. Sort of an interesting look at it.

By the way, I'd like to find a mix for Rye Bread that will work in my bread machine. If you happen upon one, I'd dearly love to know how to make it.

Unknown said...

My kids love baked oatmeal!!! It is sooo yummy and even my picky one eats it! I just posted a recipe for it last week. let me know how your crew likes it!

http://www.afarmhousefull.com/apps/blog/show/6187788-baked-oatmeal

You can omit the butter if you want a healthier version and it is still awesome. My kids actually didn't notice the butter missing when i made it without.

Blessings,
Nic
www.AFarmhouseFull.com

The Beginning Farmer's Wife said...

Michael -
Thanks so much for sharing your baked oatmeal recipe! I just had baked oatmeal for the first time at church this month. I really liked it but didn't get the recipe. I'm excited to try yours. :)

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