Thumb Your Nose at the Economic Meltdown

At least at breakfast time - with a cheap, simple, nutritious and delicious fruit/oatmeal/flaxmeal breakfast!

Here's how easy it is:

Bring a cup of water to boil (throwing in a handful of whatever fruit you have):



Once boiling, add 1.5 cups of regular rolled oats:


Bring that to boil and then turn the heat down and simmer:


While you wait for the oatmeal to cook, toast some flax seeds. We use a little toaster oven and it takes about 5 minutes when set at 450 degrees F (you could actually start this toasting when you start the water to boil too):



Grind the toasted seeds. We used a coffee grinder:

Here's what the ground meal looks like (you can also buy pre-ground flax seeds but we've heard that you get more of the good stuff if you buy and grind the seeds):


Once your oats are the desired consistency, turn off the heat...

...and transfer to a bowl. Add a couple teaspoons of sugar or honey if you like, stir and sprinkle the flax meal on top.


As with all recipes, there are countless variations and substitutions. We've used milk instead of water - which gives a very creamy and delicious result. We've used fresh or frozen fruit. We've used peaches, cherries and apples. Just experiment and have fun. Once you do it a couple of times it becomes a very quick matter to put a great breakfast on the table.

Bulk oats are dirt-cheap and we've estimated that we spend less than a dollar per day for breakfast (for two people). Even if you have to buy frozen fruit during the winter, its an exceptional value. Grains are a big part of our stimulus plan!!!