Oatmeal in a Jar........

Feeding your kids a healthy breakfast is hard when you have a busy family.  I am always looking for ways NOT to grab the cereal box. When I go to bed at night....I am thinking I will get up early, make pancakes and have a Brady Bunch morning. But instead it's more like, I get up late because someone shut down the alarm, then run through the house screaming..... WE ARE GOING TO BE LATE!!! GET UP!!!! And our day begins. Hectic and cold... with bowl of cereal :( 
When the kiddos were little the loved instant oatmeal packets. Now that they are all pretty darn grown up. That lil' packet doesn't do the trick. Plus, those little packets are kind of expensive. 

My solution....... Oatmeal in a jar. 
I love oatmeal....and I love jars!!!
This works out really well. Very filling, pretty healthy and when it is a cold morning they warm up the hands pretty nice too. Perfect for those cool fall mornings that are around the corner.

When I am running really late. I can let them eat in the car on the way. They arrive with full tummies, warm hands and big smiles.


Here is how I do it.

I gathered up some jars, 8 ounce works well for this.  I dug around until I found my jar filling funnel. 

What do you put inside the jars you ask???

I am using Quaker Oats the quick stuff. 
Nuts, raisins, cinnamon, coconut, brown sugar and salt.
If you want the fruit and cream kind....Dried fruit, powdered milk and white sugar. Should do the trick.

Put 1/2 cup oatmeal in a jar (1/3 for littles)
2 T. Coconut
A healthy sprinkling of cinnamon.......

Add few raisins, and a few chopped walnuts
Then a couple teaspoons of Brown sugar depending on how sweet you want it.
And a pinch of sea salt.( Don't skip the salt... It makes all the difference between a great oatmeal or flavorless mush)

 Look at the pretty layers in the jar :)

Screw on some lids and your done. 
Put them away on a shelf for a quick breakfast.
At home or on the go.

When you are ready to eat........

Poor in a 1/2 cup boiling water , give it a good stir. Then screw the lids on tight.
Wait for 5 minutes. 

Then open, stir, eat, be warm and smile.

 I hope you enjoy some oatmeal in a jar.
 Happy Eating!!!

Some quick notes...........

When you use walnuts. 

Try to always give them a quick toast in a frypan. Just put them in a med. hot pan and stir, or toss if your talented like that, until the start to glisten and you can smell them....
This releases the oils and you get such a better flavor.

Vanilla bean brown sugar.......oh yay!!!
Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean in a container of brown sugar stir then throw the pod in too.. you will be amazed at the flavor. It is sooooooooo good in coffee. And in anything else you can think of putting it. The brown sugar sucks every bit of oil out of the pod. So in a couple days you will want to discard it.

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