6 Ways to Eat Oats

Of all  the super foods and whole grains, my favorite is the Oats.

• And they are naturally Gluten-Free. (While everyone in our immediate household can tolerate Gluten, I am always mindful of many of our friends you have Gluten sensitivity).
• They offer a variety of health benefits
• They are very nutritious
• They are rich in soluble fiber
• And most importantly, with just a little bit of sweetness, even my picky eaters will gobble it up.

So, today, I am going to share how I try to get my kids to eat as much of this wholesome food as possible.

Before I get into my list, I must mention that I buy the Quaker Old Fashioned Oats in bulk at my local Costco store. I then almost immediately food process about half of it so the oats are a finer texture and store them in a big tall container. I also food process about another half of what is left (so a quarter of the total) to a much finer texture to create Oat Flour.  I the store the rest of it as is in the whole form.

So, let’s dive into my list:

Option #1: Treat it like Instant Oatmeal

This is the quickest, easiest option to feed my kids oatmeal. I put about 2/3 cup of the medium grain processed oats in a bowl, add just enough milk to submerge the oats and microwave on high for about 1-2 minutes until the oats are cooked well. Then I add some brown sugar and maple syrup to sweeten the deal. Voila.

This means that there no need to ever buy those instant oatmeal packets. In fact my kids did not even know instant oatmeal packets existed until they were older and discovered them in a hotel breakfast self-serve area during one of our vacations. They tried to convince me to buy those at home as well but I think I won when I convinced them that what we make at home was essentially the same thing and that they could experiment with flavors other that brown sugar and maple syrup 😉

Of course, you can also cook oatmeal in a pot on stovetop if you’d rather avoid the microwave.

For more information, check out my Making Your Own Instant Oats post.

Option #2: Make Granola

Granola is another family favorite at our home. If I ever buy it from the store, no matter how big a size I buy, they would disappear within 24 hours. Folks eat it with milk, it gets eaten with yogurt, or just as a dry sweet snack. So I figured I had to make our own granola rather than buying it from the store and paying a ridiculous amount of money for it.

So, I usually make a big batch of granola once a week using 8 whole cups of whole oats and it lasts for at least half a week. It is nothing fancy. It’s a very basic recipe for simple granola adapted from few recipes I referenced online. By “adapted” read “make it with much less sugar” 😉 And the best part is that I have figured out how to cook it in less than 15 minutes in my Multi-purpose Cooker.

Option #3: Make Baked Oats

The credit for my love for baked oats goes to one of my aunts. I was introduced to her recipe during my college years at one of our family gatherings. It was soft and sweet. And tasted absolutely delicious with milk.

So naturally, many years later, as a parent, I had to hunt down that recipe from my aunt so I can introduce the joys of baked oatmeal to my kids. But I cheated a little. The original recipe called for a lot of oil and sugar and I wasn’t quite prepared to introduce that much sugar in my kids’ diet yet and so I ended up adapted that recipe but adding in bananas and apple sauce to help keep it sweet.

There are so many recipes out there for making baked oats including some with strawberries (which my kids love as well). So don’t hold back on experimenting with new recipes. To help you get started, you can use my version of the recipe (link coming soon)

Bottom line is that my kids love the baked oats and it is one of their favorite foods. Another win for the mighty Oat.

Option #4: Make Oat Muffins

While the baked oats are usually made in a 13×9 or a 8×8 pan and eaten with milk, the Oat muffins are perfect for a quick grab-and-go breakfast or a snack. The recipe I use for making the muffins varies.

Sometimes I use the same recipe as the baked oats but just bake them in muffin cups rather than the pan. Other times, I take another muffin recipe and substitute my oat flour for most of the All Purpose Flour so the kiddos can get some of the oats in their growing bodies.

Just like the baked oats, there are so many recipes out there for making muffins and oat muffins. So, get creative and try out this fun and healthy breakfast /snack.

Option #5: Make Oatmeal Pancakes

At our home, nothing screams special breakfast like a plate of pancakes on a Saturday morning. If there can be one food that can bring squeals of delight and utter satisfaction that comes from a sugar high, I think they are Pancakes. So much so that we allow pancakes even at dinner time a places like IHOP. But I digress.

So why not incorporate the power of oats into  this most beloved of all breakfasts?

Again, there is no one hard and fast rule on how you do this. Some days, I just substitute out some of the regular flour in the pancake recipe with my pre-made oat flour . Other times I use a pancake recipe that calls for instant oats with yogurt. Again  the internet is filled with endless options and Google is your friend 🙂

Option #6: Make Oat Based Snacks

Oats are so versatile that its uses are not limited to just breakfast. It can be the star ingredient in any number of home-made snacks.

One favorite snack is what we call “sticky balls” in our home. Basically, you process together some Oats with whatever nuts (Almonds and Walnuts are great) and dried fruit along with anything else that suits your fancy (like nut butter, protein powder, coconut flakes) at a given time. The natural oils in the nuts and the moisture in the dried fruits (like raisins, dates etc) will soon cause your mixture to get sticky and can be molded to form balls.

Another good snack would be to make granola bars or other bars. You can even incorporate chocolate chips in them.

And let’s not forget another childhood favorite snack: the Oatmeal Raisin cookie!!! Or just plain oatmeal cookies because not everyone likes raisins (yep, I have one picky eater who will not eat them raisins).

There you have it! These are the 6 ways that I try to regularly incorporate Oats into my family diet. But the options are limitless and I am sure there are many more ways to use Oats.

So, go ahead and comment below on how you like to eat your Oats 🙂