Oatmeal has so many known benefits, from heart health to weight management. Doctors everywhere recommend oatmeal as a hearty and healthy breakfast choice. Most people make a good effort to try to eat healthier, but sometimes foods like oatmeal can be a bit boring. Oatmeal, however, is an extremely versatile food that is so very easily dressed up, spiced up, and made a lot more interesting.
Here are ten super simple ways to make oatmeal more interesting, so you can start enjoying your heart healthy diet and lifestyle.
Spice It Up
Cinnamon isn’t the only spice you can add to your breakfast foods; many other spices, including cardamom, nutmeg, or even pumpkin pie spice. There are very few limitations to what you can spice up your oatmeal with, so add whatever you like.
Make It Fruity
Fruit is not only a healthy addition to your oatmeal, but it is a fresh and delicious way to add the perfect touch of sweetness to your meal. There are quite a few ways to incorporate almost any fruit you can imagine into your oatmeal. You can chop up some fresh fruit and stir it in or heat up some fresh or frozen fruit for a colorful and flavorful topping.
Go Nuts
To add some extra protein and crunch to your oatmeal, you can also add your favorite nuts. Simply stir in some chopped, unsalted nuts into your bowl. Some favorites are pecans, walnuts, and almonds.
Get Cheesy
While it might seem like a strange addition, you can also add cheese to your oatmeal. Some cheeses, especially cream cheese, goat cheese, and cottage cheese, make excellent additions to oatmeal. These additions are especially delicious when combined with fruit like peaches or sweet berries.
Sweet Substitutions
There’s a lot more you can sweeten your oatmeal with other than sugar. In fact, you might notice a significant increase in the overall depth of flavor when you use other sweeteners. Try delicious additions like honey, agave nectar, and maple syrup for delicious, natural sweetness.
Mix In Magic
So many of your favorite snacks actually make great additions to truly impressive oatmeal; granola, trail mix, and seeds of all types make really great stir-ins.
All about the Base
To change the overall flavor and texture of your oatmeal, you can also experiment with using different liquids other than water. Flavored nut milks, such as vanilla almond milk, is a great alternative that adds a touch of nutty sweetness.
Added Flavors
A really great way to add a ton of extra flavor is to add in natural flavorings during the cooking process. A very small amount of pure vanilla extract, vanilla bean, or other natural flavors can make a huge impact on your oatmeal.
Cool It Down
Hot isn’t the only way to eat oatmeal, believe it or not. Eating your oatmeal cold is delicious, and also super convenient if you want to make it overnight oatmeal. Overnight oatmeal in a jar is very popular these days. Have you tried them? You don’t even have to cook it!!
Shake It Up
Oatmeal is such a versatile food that you can eat it any way you choose. You can eat it as a traditional porridge type, or you could eat it baked into bars, cookies, or even dried into granola or ground into flour.
There are literally no limits to what you can do to make your oatmeal more interesting. All of these additions and more can make it possible to eat healthy and enjoy every bite. So now keeping your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and more under control can be that much easier and more possible. For other breakfast ideas on a special diet, click here.
You’re right– oatmeal can get old if you eat it the same way ALL OF THE TIME! I’ve been toying with the idea of adding savory spices with a touch of cheese. Such a good change from my traditional cinnamon and stevia. 🙂 My health coaching clients love new ways to change up their oatmeal, too. Thank you for sharing your insights and ideas!!