The versatility of oatmeal
Sharing all the clever ways I cook with oatmeal—and how oatmeal seriously benefits your health.
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Yesterday I delightfully shared some of my favorite oatmeal combinations to throw together for work. These five “bowls” are my go-to for busy mornings, and I never seem to ever get sick of them. However, through my research of finding all of the oatmeal recipes I like to make, I realized that I actually have a lot of recipes that use rolled-cut oats in them. Like…a lot.
Redemption for oatmeal
I feel like oatmeal tends to get a bad rep in dieting programs—likely because of the flavored instant oatmeal packets that have those extra added sugars. Because of that, I feel like people tend to avoid plain oatmeal as the alternative because it’s tasteless and boring—but that’s far from the truth. It’s all about how you prepare it and the type of toppings you add to your bowl.
Now to be clear, if you like those instant oatmeal packets, you should absolutely still have them. They make throwing breakfast together incredibly easy, and they obviously taste good. Plus, you’re still getting all of those health benefits from the oatmeal—packed with soluble fiber which helps with decreasing inflammation, lowering cholesterol and blood sugar numbers, reducing your risk of heart disease, and keeping you satiated throughout the day. Plus, you can always top your instant oats with berries, peanut butter, nuts, and seeds to give it some extra nutrients and plant-based protein.
It’s just a matter of watching your added sugar intake, right? The American Heart Association recommends keeping your consumption of added sugars (the type of sugar added to a product to make it taste good, not natural sugars) to six teaspoons a day for women (25 grams), and nine teaspoons a day for men (36 grams). Keeping your added sugar count below this range is good for decreasing your risk of developing cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney and liver disease, and certain types of cancer. It has even been linked to cognitive decline.
So if your packet of instant oatmeal brings you joy and it’s a worth it added sugar product for you, then why the heck not? Go for it. Some of my favorites include RX Oats Maple, Purely Elizabeth Classic Cinnamon, and ONO Overnight Oats Vegan Blueberry Muffin.
But, a majority of the time I tend to make some kind of oatmeal creation from scratch. In my essay, I featured five recipes including:
Classic Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bowl
Chocolate Covered Berry Oatmeal
And addition to the five bowls I shared in my essay (linked below), here are some of the other oatmeal creations I love to make.