breakfast

A friend started a diet recently, and as part of her diet planned to eat two packets of flavored instant oatmeal for breakfast every morning. Of course, as soon as I heard that my processed-foods-are-bad bell went off and I said, "No! Eat real whole grain oats! Protein! Fiber! No added sugar! Processed foods are bad!"

But once the fanatical frenzy had worn off, I felt a tinge of guilt -- I don't eat processed foods for breakfast, but I also don't necessarily eat breakfast every day. And that's a great big nutritional no-no. So last night I cooked up a batch of rolled oats (one of my pantry make-over purchases) and stuck it in the fridge with plans to reheat and eat the next few mornings.

That's one of the cool things about oats: they microwave like a champ. Just add a little water, pop them in for a minute, top with something fun, and you're good. This morning I added sliced banana and a drizzle of agave. Tomorrow I'm thinking of experimenting with a dash of ground ginger and some chopped apple, or maybe a little leftover canned pumpkin.