Oatmeal is pretty much one of those frugal foods that everyone who wants to save money should have in their cupboard. There are ways to use oats that go beyond your basic morning oatmeal though.
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When it comes to breakfast time, I love making my kids oatmeal. Okay, that’s not entirely true. I don’t enjoy making breakfast before I’ve had my morning coffee. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’m not one of those people that wakes up talking in a sing-songy voice and just loves to get up in the morning.
But, I do love making my kids oatmeal because for one, it’s super insanely cheap, and secondly, whenever I make them oatmeal I don’t have them asking for more food in ten minutes because their hungry. Like they are after they had that expensive cereal from a box in the morning.
I gotta be honest. I have this deep desire to give up the expensive, no-good-for-you-at-all cereal boxes for my kids. Unfortunately, given my groggy (some would say irritable but I just don’t think that’s accurate) state in the morning, I love being able to grab them a quick bowl of cereal. Or better yet, have them grab the bowl themselves.
I know – Mom of the year right here.
Look, I’ll make a big dinner, complete with slow roasted chicken, rice, salad, and homemade garlic rosemary rolls for my children. I’ll bake them things. I’ll make them milkshakes and smoothies. I’ll make kefir, and sourdough, and hamburgers and buns from scratch. But at breakfast time, I’m just not that great, I admit it.
Okay, now that I’ve confessed my failures, let’s move on. 🙂
So…oats. They are a nutrition powerhouse. They have iron and fiber and vitamins. They have antioxidants. They can lower cholesterol and improve blood sugar.
And it’s one of those foods we can really afford! It’s right up there with pasta and potatoes in the cheap category (though, probably healthier.)
Often the consensus is that eating healthy is too expensive. We think we can’t eat healthy unless we’re buying goji berries and chia seeds.
But that simply isn’t true. There are many healthy foods that are cheap. Like oatmeal. and apples. and brown rice. (another confession – I eat white rice, not brown. I tried to like brown, I really did. but it’s just so….chewy.)
I like to buy my oatmeal in bulk. It’s cheaper that way. I keep it in one of these food-safe buckets I bought from a local wine store for a dollar a pail! The lids I’ve raved about before and I will rave about them again. You know how you hurt your fingers trying to peel off the lid? These Gamma Seal Lids avoid this issue. You hammer the one side onto your bucket, and then you just unscrew the lid to open it! It’s also airtight and critter proof!
Now, these lids are not the cheapest, but in my opinion they are worth it because they’ll last ages and help you store all your things like flour, oatmeal, and rice in bulk.
Oats have a reputation for being bland and boring but I think that is because when many of us think of oats, we think of a morning bowl of hot oatmeal with some brown sugar and milk.
While that morning bowl can be delicious, it is one of those foods that we probably had over and over again and thus, we grew tired of it.
But we don’t need to be tired of oatmeal. We just need some fresh new ideas of how to eat them. There are so many ways to eat or add oatmeal to your foods. It can be used as a food stretcher, or a way to add nutrition to a dish. it can be used to bake goodies for the ever-hungry kids.
There are just so many good things about oatmeal and it definitely should have a place in your frugal, healthy kitchen.
21 WAYS TO USE OATS
Try this Amish baked oatmeal for breakfast, or even a snack. I make it the night before and then we warm it up for breakfast or eat it cold.
Overnight oats are a huge hit and you can customize them to your liking.
Use them in meatballs to help bind the meat together.
Add them to hamburgers to help bind them together.
Bake oatmeal cookies. Who doesn’t love a classic? (But, just so we’re clear, I’m firmly in the “please don’t add raisins to my cookies” camp)
Add them to smoothies for extra nutrition.
Make granola (a favorite around here!)
Apple oatmeal muffins are amazing and a great way to use apples that are starting to go bad.
Make instant oatmeal packs (and avoid paying for the overpriced storebought ones)
Add them to yogurt
Make granola bars
Make apple crumble
Bake breakfast cookies. Cookies for breakfast? Yes, please!
Whip up some oatmeal pancakes for breakfast
Make oat flour to use in gluten-free baking (make sure the oats say gluten-free on the package.)
Bake oat bars
Try some of these oatmeal bowls. This isn’t your boring old morning oatmeal. Spice up your morning oats with these ideas.
Make these to-go baked oatmeal cups
Make some muesli.
Make some oatmeal energy balls.
OATMEAL IS A PERFECT CHOICE FOR THE FRUGAL, HEALTHY BUDGET
Oatmeal is such a healthy staple to have in your cupboard and so affordable. Try some of these ways to use oats to enjoy oatmeal in a whole new way! I know I’m going to be using some of these ideas this week myself.
I personally buy quick oats because I love the convenience of the oatmeal not taking very long to cook and I find a lot of recipes call for quick oats rather than the oats that take longer to cook but it really doesn’t matter what kind you buy. Buy the ones that your family likes the most.
Do you have a favorite way to eat oatmeal? I’d love to hear it in the comments below.
