How do you cook your oatmeal?
Posted 03-06-2012 at 02:32 PM by CSD610
Seems a simple enough question with a simple enough answer but I am sure if that question were put on a thread there would be 1000 responses with 1000 different ways to cook oatmeal and I am talking about cooking only, preparation of the oatmeal, not the final serving result.
I cook my oatmeal very simply and it takes less than 5 minutes. I take 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of water and bring that to a boil, then I take 1 cup of quick cooking Quaker Oats and put it in the liquid mixture on the stove, leave it on the heat and stir for exactly 1 minute (yes I watch the second hand on the clock). Then I take it from the stove, turn off the burner and put the cooked oatmeal in my bowl. That is how I cook (prepare) oatmeal. The serving of said oatmeal is a completely different story.
After I have put water in the pan I cooked the oatmeal in I take a pat of butter and put it right in the center of the oatmeal and smush it down so it can be surrounded by the hot oatmeal and melt, then I take real cane sugar and put over the top of that. By that time my bread is toasted so I put butter on that (I use only real butter). Then I pour cold milk over the oatmeal, just enough to come close to covering it but not quite, then I mix well and enjoy.
Oatmeal is a comfort food to me, it has been a staple in my pantry since I have had my own pantry and as a child we always had oatmeal. Oatmeal is the perfect cold winter morning breakfast or a filling lunch or a warming, soothing supper after a long, tough, cold day. Oatmeal is a simple food that provides lots of nutrition with a small amount and you can dress it up any way you choose. I like mine simple and to the point. The point to me is to taste the oats overall, to feel the comfort of the warmth, to feel the fullness in one's tummy, to be wrapped in the familiar, calming embrace of comfort food without all the junk and chemical additives.
Cream of Wheat and Cream of Rice can have the same physical affect however, they are just not oatmeal. Oatmeal is a class of it's own comfort level. The comfort of home, of being a child, of having simple needs, of having only the stress of being warmed enough to go back outside and play in the snow, to have the embrace of oatmeal. We as children did not know or care that oatmeal was good for us. All we knew is that we liked it and it liked us, it was warm, it was comforting, it made us know that we were home and safe. A wee bit cold but home and safe non the less.
What other food can do that for you? Chips cannot provide that level of warming comfort, salsa can provide the warmth but it is short lived warmth and more like just plain hot than warm, chicken and noodles or beef and noodles comes really close as does a cheese toastie (grilled cheese) and tomato soup or vegetable soup; but there is in my mind nothing that comes close to oatmeal.
Sneakers and I have oatmeal often but it takes him much longer to get his oatmeal ready for serving than it does me. He likes cinnamon and sugar and milk and sometimes apples or brown sugar or raisins or honey. Things like that just don't excite me when it comes to oatmeal, I don't need all the jazzed up fru - fru when it comes to oatmeal. Actually I don't need all the jazzed up fru - fru when it comes to much of anything in life. I like nice clean lines, no clutter, no green, flowering, growing crap that I have to mow around in the yard, no knick knacks sitting on the shelf gathering dust, well very few choice ones if I have any. Just enough dishes, glassware, silverware, placemats and napkins to present a proper table for 10. Enough kitchen gadget helpers to do what I want to do preparing supper to move things along a wee bit quicker than a simple knife, just enough cookware to cook what I want in the pan I want to make it all turn out delicious. You get the idea of the amount of simplicity I like in my life, my home and my kitchen.
I am not unfamiliar with in depth preparation when it comes to food, snacks and having guests. I go all out when it comes to that situation. I have a good variety of food choices that meet most of if not all of the different dietary needs of my guests. I have a choice of several desserts and appetizers, a couple main dishes and several choices of side items to go along with the main dish and the salads I make can go from tossing a piece of lettuce on your plate to a dozen different items mixed together.
My meal preparations are as varied as my moods and who we are having as guests. There are some friends we have who will pretty much be happy with whatever I fix for supper, then there are those who are very set in what they prefer. Those are the meat and potatoes folks who generally do not walk outside of their food comfort zone often. Either way I don't mind hence the reason I have several choices of main dish and side dishes. That way you can pick and choose what you want to eat and if you don't like something please don't feel obligted to eat it. I wouldn't and I personally won't be offended at all.
So how do you cook your oatmeal?
I cook my oatmeal very simply and it takes less than 5 minutes. I take 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of water and bring that to a boil, then I take 1 cup of quick cooking Quaker Oats and put it in the liquid mixture on the stove, leave it on the heat and stir for exactly 1 minute (yes I watch the second hand on the clock). Then I take it from the stove, turn off the burner and put the cooked oatmeal in my bowl. That is how I cook (prepare) oatmeal. The serving of said oatmeal is a completely different story.
After I have put water in the pan I cooked the oatmeal in I take a pat of butter and put it right in the center of the oatmeal and smush it down so it can be surrounded by the hot oatmeal and melt, then I take real cane sugar and put over the top of that. By that time my bread is toasted so I put butter on that (I use only real butter). Then I pour cold milk over the oatmeal, just enough to come close to covering it but not quite, then I mix well and enjoy.
Oatmeal is a comfort food to me, it has been a staple in my pantry since I have had my own pantry and as a child we always had oatmeal. Oatmeal is the perfect cold winter morning breakfast or a filling lunch or a warming, soothing supper after a long, tough, cold day. Oatmeal is a simple food that provides lots of nutrition with a small amount and you can dress it up any way you choose. I like mine simple and to the point. The point to me is to taste the oats overall, to feel the comfort of the warmth, to feel the fullness in one's tummy, to be wrapped in the familiar, calming embrace of comfort food without all the junk and chemical additives.
Cream of Wheat and Cream of Rice can have the same physical affect however, they are just not oatmeal. Oatmeal is a class of it's own comfort level. The comfort of home, of being a child, of having simple needs, of having only the stress of being warmed enough to go back outside and play in the snow, to have the embrace of oatmeal. We as children did not know or care that oatmeal was good for us. All we knew is that we liked it and it liked us, it was warm, it was comforting, it made us know that we were home and safe. A wee bit cold but home and safe non the less.
What other food can do that for you? Chips cannot provide that level of warming comfort, salsa can provide the warmth but it is short lived warmth and more like just plain hot than warm, chicken and noodles or beef and noodles comes really close as does a cheese toastie (grilled cheese) and tomato soup or vegetable soup; but there is in my mind nothing that comes close to oatmeal.
Sneakers and I have oatmeal often but it takes him much longer to get his oatmeal ready for serving than it does me. He likes cinnamon and sugar and milk and sometimes apples or brown sugar or raisins or honey. Things like that just don't excite me when it comes to oatmeal, I don't need all the jazzed up fru - fru when it comes to oatmeal. Actually I don't need all the jazzed up fru - fru when it comes to much of anything in life. I like nice clean lines, no clutter, no green, flowering, growing crap that I have to mow around in the yard, no knick knacks sitting on the shelf gathering dust, well very few choice ones if I have any. Just enough dishes, glassware, silverware, placemats and napkins to present a proper table for 10. Enough kitchen gadget helpers to do what I want to do preparing supper to move things along a wee bit quicker than a simple knife, just enough cookware to cook what I want in the pan I want to make it all turn out delicious. You get the idea of the amount of simplicity I like in my life, my home and my kitchen.
I am not unfamiliar with in depth preparation when it comes to food, snacks and having guests. I go all out when it comes to that situation. I have a good variety of food choices that meet most of if not all of the different dietary needs of my guests. I have a choice of several desserts and appetizers, a couple main dishes and several choices of side items to go along with the main dish and the salads I make can go from tossing a piece of lettuce on your plate to a dozen different items mixed together.
My meal preparations are as varied as my moods and who we are having as guests. There are some friends we have who will pretty much be happy with whatever I fix for supper, then there are those who are very set in what they prefer. Those are the meat and potatoes folks who generally do not walk outside of their food comfort zone often. Either way I don't mind hence the reason I have several choices of main dish and side dishes. That way you can pick and choose what you want to eat and if you don't like something please don't feel obligted to eat it. I wouldn't and I personally won't be offended at all.
So how do you cook your oatmeal?
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