Martha Makes: DIY Instant Oatmeal

 

Today is the very first Martha Makes post.  Each month when I get my Martha Stewart Living magazine I eagerly read it and mark all the crafts and recipes I want to try.

And then I never do them. 

So, the purpose of the Martha Makes posts is to get me to finally start making some of these great crafts and trying some of those crazy recipes that are in Martha’s magazine.

 For my first stab at it I thought I’d go the simple route and try out her recipe for a simple DIY homemade instant oatmeal.  You can check out the recipe on Martha’s website. 

I followed her steps for toasting:

 Pulsing:

 

 

And finally adding brown sugar and salt.  She has some suggestions for add-ins, but I came up with some of my own that turned out super yummy.

 

First up, a yummy pumpkin spice combo perfect for chilly fall mornings.  I added roasted pepitas, pumpkin pie spices (1/8 tsp each of nutmeg, cloves, & allspice, but you can adjust this to taste), some cinnamon sugar, and dried cranberries.  Yum, I think this one is my favorite.

 

 

Next, a Hawaiian inspired mixture.  This one has toasted coconut (which I ate most of and had to toast more), chopped macadamia nuts, and dried blueberries.  I made this one with the husband in mind, as he loves those macadamia nuts.  You don’t have to toast the coconut, but it sure is good toasted!

 

 

And lastly, a mix inspired by Christmas morning.  This one has chopped walnuts, a mix of both dried cranberries and dried blueberries, and a dose of cinnamon sugar.  Mmm, I can see those Christmas lights already!

To serve all you do is dish out a half cup and add hot water until you get the consistency you like.  I also added a bit of milk for a little extra creaminess. 

 

 

So, how does this compare to store bought instant oatmeal?  To compare we cooked up a random packet that had been hanging out in our cupboards for months.  The texture wasn’t too different.  The homemade oatmeal was a bit chewier, which I liked.  It was also much heartier with all the extra add-ins we had.  Overall, I think the homemade oatmeal was a much better.

 

Some things to consider if you try this yourself:

I think I pulsed the oats one too many times.  I don’t have a food processer, so I used my powerful blender and I think it made some of the oats borderline flour consistency.  This is probably what made the final result seem thicker and chewier than the store bought stuff.  Next time I'll pulse it a bit less and see how that texture is.

I also put in less salt and more brown sugar than the recipe called for.  But this is to taste, I don’t like a lot of salt in my food, because then that’s all I taste, but oh how I love lots of sugar in my oatmeal!

 

Preparing this really took no time at all, and it is super-fast to whip up on an oops-I-slept-in kindof morning.  There is a lot of room for variety and experimentation with this recipe too, so I will definitely be making it again with some new combinations!

I hope you try it too!