Oatmeal.  At our house we love a good bowl of oatmeal.  I shall emphasize the “good” in that sentence, as it is crucial to the positive  oatmeal experience.

I like pretty much all foods that enter my mouth to varied in texture, a bit complex and bursting with flavor.  The lovely portrait of oats you see pictured above is “Coaches Oats” with brown sugar, raisins, walnuts and pecans.  Splash some milk on top and gimme-some’a-that!

I have some old-fashioned Quaker oats in my pantry (it’s on the bottom shelf so you couldn’t see it on the “heart” photo post the other day) but these  are reserved for baking.  Sorry Mr. Quaker guy, but your oats just don’t cut it in a bowl ’round here.

I discovered steel-cut oats (small can) several years ago and I must say, they changed my oatmeal outlook big time.  Steel cut oats have a nutty, textured taste.  They can take up to 45 minutes to cook though, so, you know, ya gotta have a good plan in place.  Whenever I make them, I make up a pretty big pot so we can have them for a few days.  Sometimes, when I’m feeling really crazy, I even freeze them for a future defrost.

I know.  Now that’s crazy.

More recently I stumbled upon “Coaches Oats” which is a whole grain oatmeal I’m able to pick up at Costco.  These little honeys cook up right-quick and have almost the same nutty-ish taste and fuller texture that my peeps know and love in their morning bowl.

I’m not trying to plug any brands here, but I do recommend a whole grain oat if you’re going to make anything at all.  “Whole grain” means that the hull–which contains all the fiber and most of the nutrients–has not been removed from the grain.

My husband likes his oatmeal with raisins, brown sugar and a spoonful of natural peanut butter mixed in.  I don’t know if feeding this concoction to your husband will make him as dashingly good-looking as mine is, but you could try and let me know.