Homemade Instant Oatmeal Mix

My go-to homemade instant oatmeal mix. Make it in a few minutes on Sunday night and have easy weekday mornings.

My love for hot breakfast items began young. One story my mom loves to tell involves my mispronunciation of “cream of wheat” as a toddler. She finds it cute and endearing. I find it…a little mortifying, in part because I don’t like cream of wheat anymore. Don’t tell her I said that. Back to hot breakfast foods: this post is about oatmeal. I’ve previously shared my apple cinnamon baked oatmeal that I often meal-prep with in order to get that filling, hearty, warmth I crave on weekday mornings. This is a fantastic way to get my hot breakfast fix but, as the late, great Marvin Gaye said, ain’t nothing like the real thing. Sometimes, I just want a steaming bowl of oatmeal that I can stir up and add a splash of milk to, ya know? I eat breakfast at my desk during the work week and share an office fridge with about twenty other people so I had to think strategically about how best to achieve this. Yes, there are instant oatmeal bowls available at the grocery store and I tried them out but was not impressed. I mean, they were OK but there wasn’t one labeled “Jazz’s Mix” 🙂 Also…artificial ingredients. So about a week ago I threw a week’s worth of oats and my favorite dry mix-ins into a gallon-sized zipper bag, shook it up, and ate like a queen each morning. It was truly glorious.

The prep process takes about five minutes upfront then less than two minutes each morning! You have two minutes. You do. Speaking of time, a blogger I follow named Katey McFarlan often talks about that feeling of time-compression being a thief of joy. I agree. Through Dash of Jazz I try to share ways to make time for something very important to me: quality, delicious, nurturing food. Just as I find it important to make time for our physical nourishment, I believe incorporating time for spiritual nourishment and growth in Christ is paramount. I encourage everyone to find the time to feed your bodies and spirits well. Everything else will fall into place.

This recipe is my standard but feel free to add and/or omit whatever. To get your creative juices flowing, I’ve listed some other items in my mix-in rotation below. Thanks for reading!