G's Nutty Oatmeal

Okay, I've had a love/hate relationship with oatmeal my whole life. When I was a child, I viewed it as horrible dry mush that made me wonder why anyone would voluntarily eat it. I topped it with brown sugar and milk to cool it off, and I was made to eat it about once a month or so. As an adult I never voluntarily ate the stuff. Until I met my husband, G. We were both vegetarians when we met, and he had been subsisting on peanut butter sandwiches and oatmeal up until that time. Slowly, I started seeing more and more oatmeal showing up on my stove-top, much to my bewilderment. I begrudgingly went back to my monthly intake of it, knowing it was doing something good to my body. Along came the brown sugar and cold milk. A few years ago, G introduced peanut butter into the mix. I stirred it in, and with my brown sugar and milk, I convinced myself I was eating a peanut butter oatmeal cookie for breakfast! Now, I began to eat oatmeal about three times a week. Who wouldn't want a cookie for breakfast, right? So, then we both got the bright idea to actually start eating healthier a while back - longevity, kids, you know all the justifications, and then he began to make, gasp, oatmeal a little healthier! At first it began with a few sprinkles of flax seeds, then about two months ago, he actually created a healthy mix! And he keeps it in a huge container in the freezer! Aaahhh! Now, oatmeal's gotten even healthier! He'll tell you that all the seeds and nuts add tryptophan, Omega 3, protein, monounsaturated fat, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, iron, vitamin K, phytosterols, and zinc. He actually made this list for me! Okay, so I tried it, tentatively, and you know what? It's pretty darn good. The kids don't like it; they still eat theirs without all the goodies, but that will come in time. I have to confess, I'm pretty much a convert now, and I voluntarily eat oatmeal several times a week. Okay, I have to confess some more, I still add the brown sugar, cold milk and peanut butter, but don't you think my cookie's gotten healthier and much better for me over the years? But, now, eep, he's recently come home with a new mix of grains that he wants me to try next. Gulp.

G's Nutty Oatmeal, unadulterated by all my "cookie" toppings.

G's Nutty Oatmeal

Ingredients:

3 cups of water
1/2 cup of mix: equal parts of whole flax seeds, shelled raw pumpkin seeds, raw cashew pieces, raw walnut pieces
2 cups of original oatmeal (not quick cooking)

Directions:

Bring water to a full boil in a medium pot. Remove from heat and add the oatmeal and the mixture. Let steep for five minutes. Stir and finish preparing any way you like. Feeds five hungry vegans, if they would all eat it!