Crafty Distractions: Instant Oatmeal you make yourself

This isn't exactly a craft, but it is something that we have a lot here. I thought that you might like oatmeal too so I decided to share our method.

Oatmeal is a favourite with my youngest daughter and me. Those little packets that you can buy are expensive, tiny and quite honestly, not worth it, in my opinion. For years I have been making my own instant oatmeal.

All you need is
Oats - quick oats and minute oats both work well. Regular and steelcut oats don't work well.
Salt
Sugar - I suppose you could leave this out, but why would you want to!
Dried fruit.

First you need to grind up some oats. I have a container that I keep in my freezer of 'powdered' oats. I grind up a lot at once. They are in the green container in my photo..

Here is the base, plain oatmeal.

Now flavoured up with craisins and apple.

All you need to do to get your base (like the plain oatmeal packet) is place 2 tablespoons of ground up oats, a quarter cup of un-ground oats, a sprinkle of salt, and sugar to taste (I like a tablespoon of brown sugar plus a packet of sweetener. My daughter likes a tablespoon of brown sugar.)
That's it!
Then you add fruit of your choice. I like dried cranberries (about 2 tablespoons) and a slice of dried apple, cut really small, the best.
Other fruits that we think are good include dried apple and cinnamon or raisins with a little cinnamon and nutmeg or dried peaches (again cut really small) or apricots, cut small. My kids also liked candy sprinkles in it too. The possibilities are pretty much endless.
You can make this as you need it or you can make several in advance and save them in small containers or zip top bags. That is what I do.

When you are ready to eat your delicious, nutritious breakfast, it is just like the name-brand packets. Pour it into a bowl, then add boiling water.