Homemade Instant Trail Mix Oatmeal {Not your granny's recipe!}

I think I've been pretty open about my dislike of oatmeal. Sure, it lowers cholesterol... Sure, it is whole grain and is a "real food." Sure, it's high in fiber and low in calories... Sure it boosts your immune system... Sure, it's gluten-free... {someone stop me...}

But, it's OATMEAL. Blech. Just not my cup 'o tea...

However, Little Bear is (for whatever reason) a huge fan.

Since we got rid of our microwave, it's pretty time-consuming to make a bowl of traditional oatmeal. It has to be simmered and whatnot, and I'm just not a morning person. Seriously. At all. Plus, the instant oatmeal packets have tons of refined sugar and artificial flavors, and the 100% oatmeal instant oatmeal is just gross. (read: no oatmeal for LB in the mornings)

Cue the homemade instant oatmeal!

This was a weekend project for Mommy and LB (along with frozen bean burritos and breakfast burritos), and was actually really easy to throw together:

Ingredients

• 6 cups rolled oats
• 3 cups dried fruit
• 1 1/2 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
• 1 cup nuts
• 1 cup chia seeds
• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar

Directions

Toast the oats in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Lightly pulse 2 cups of the oats in a food processor (just enough to roughly chop the oats.) Pulse 2 cups of the oats slightly longer, and pulse the remaining two cups into a coarse flour.

Chop the dried fruit, either by hand or in a food processor. You can use anything, but I usually use figs, dates, and apricots. If you use a food processor, throw a handful of the oats in with the fruit to keep it from sticking together in an icky mess.

Toast the nuts until they are fragrant, but be sure not to burn them - maybe 5 minutes (the oils in nuts will make them burn pretty quickly if left unattended). I use pecans, but any nut will work.

If you want, toast the coconut, too. I love the warm toasty flavors in the morning!

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. If you didn't add oats to the food processor with the fruit, you may have to break the fruit bits apart by hand, but the oats should help keep them from sticking once they're mixed together.

Unsweetned, Shredded Coconut

Store in an airtight container.

To serve, mix approximately equal parts oatmeal mix with equal parts hot water (I use my tea kettle to heat it up). Stir and let stand until thickened. Add more water, if needed. I think about 1/3 cup of the oatmeal makes a decent breakfast serving. It's much hardier and filling than the stuff sold in packets!

I have to admit that I actually really like this oatmeal! It's not gooey and is anything but bland. Plus, it's super versatile. Literally every ingredient except the oats can be subbed or eliminated without hurting the recipe!


My best estimate is that it's about $.50 per serving if you go all organic and buy from the bulk section. I wish I had a better price estimate for you, but it's harder to estimate bulk pricing when I buy ingredients for more than one purpose (ex, LB takes dried figs/dates/apricots for snack to school and I use chia in just about everything around here..)

**UPDATE:  I carefully measured out my ingredients from the organic bulk bins and and did the math. Each 1/3 cup serving came out to $.45! The price is just about the same as the Quaker junk, but this is real, wholesome food that will really give you a smart start to your day!**


What flavor combinations will you be trying??