We are all struggling these days financially with high interest rates and the cost of living rising every year. Food is more expensive than ever and we can make some positive changes to combat that and save money eating plant based. We are also more busy than ever trying to juggle work, school, significant other, friends, family, personal interests and whatever else we have going on in our lives. Often we let our health deteriorate because we have less time and energy to think about food and that’s why I’m writing this.
We don’t need to let our health suffer just because we are busy living our lives! We also don’t need to spend a ton of money to eat healthier! In this post we are looking at my favorite breakfast in terms of cost, taste and time. Oatmeal!
Oatmeal is such a powerful food. It has a way of warming our soul, keeping us full for longer, being nutrient dense and it’s also super cheap! It might be bland by itself but that allows for it to carry the flavors we know and love.
Upgrading Our Standard Oatmeal
Are you a fan of those small quaker oatmeal packages as a nice warming morning breakfast? The ones that are conveniently in little pouches where one pouch is never enough food? Yeah, those ones. Although they are convenient, that convenience comes at a cost. They are filled with refined sugar, cost quite a bit of money over timeand honestly, we can make it taste even better.
We’ll explore the amazing world of quick oats and how we can prep our breakfast the night before which saves us time. We’ll make it even more delicious than ever and be healthier in the process. First is the base. That will be our constant no matter how we are feeling that day. From there, we go into adding flavor and that will be dictated by how we feel each day. So let’s dive in, starting with storage!
Prepping Our Oatmeal
First things first, we need somewhere to put our oatmeal. I use mason jars or glass containers for the ease of use and the ability to put them in my dishwasher. It also makes prepping this easier because you can put the dry ingredients (the Base) together the night before and add the “trip to flavor” town the next day. I add water at work and microwave for a minute until nice and hot. You can also simply add boiled kettle water. We can save time by preparing the Base of our oatmeal the night before and add the rest of the ingredients the morning of which avoids us running around the kitchen when rushed in the morning, because I know I am rushed, every morning. Every. Single. Morning. Without fail. Anyways, now we have our vessel, time to make the Base of our oatmeal that I mentioned.
The Base of Our Oatmeal
The base is the foundation for this recipe. It gives us flexibility to add different ingredients each day which keeps things fresh and new and avoids us getting bored of the same old breakfast every morning. Let’s not forget, we want to keep our food fun and exciting! Eating plant based frugally doesn’t have to be boring!
The traditional Quaker instant packs of oatmeal essentially contain quick oats which are the same quick oats we can buy off the shelves of our grocery stores. And because we can buy quick oats in bulk, it’ll also be cheaper. So the start of our base will consist of quick oats.
If you love the brand Quaker, continue to use that brand of quick oats. If you love a different brand, go ahead and use those. To be even healthier, we can use Organic Quick Oats! This will add a slight cost, but honestly not too much more depending on where you live. The cost could be very similar to non-organic quick oats. You’ll have to personally weigh the importance of health and cost with this step because it’s different for everyone and either option is great. So ultimately don’t worry too much about this step!
Leveling Up Our Fiber
Next, we are stepping up the fiber levels with some ground flax and or chia! Fiber is so important for our overall health with benefits from keeping our hearts healthy to regular bowel movements. If you want to learn more about fiber, click here to review some information from NutritionFacts.org. You can use either ground flax or chia or both depending on your preference. It’s ideal to use ground flax here as it becomes more absorbable by our bodies once ground up.
Chia is the same in this regard and should be ground up to be most optimal but I personally don’t fuss with ground chia in this step as it can be challenging to find it. We are after all trying to make things balanced between healthy and convenient. To save on costs here, we can buy large bags of them as buying in bulk is usually cheaper for anything in the long run. It is more money upfront so if that sounds displeasing, you can try to buy a smaller bag at first and see if you like this recipe before you begin buying in bulk.
We are now entering “flavor town” as Guy Fieri likes to say. We are in the zone between the base and adding flavor while still allowing us to prep things ahead of time. This involves adding spices which of course can sit in the same container as the previous ingredients. A good place to start that is super versatile is, and in my opinion the Holy Grail of the spice world, cinnamon. It can work with so many different flavors and is absolutely delicious. If you don’t like cinnamon, of course this can be left out and substituted for something you enjoy more. Another spice to consider would be nutmeg or in the fall season, pumpkin spice. It’s also quite versatile but does have a stronger flavor. At the end of the day, experiment and see what you enjoy the most!
And just like that, the “Base” is now complete.
Flavor Town
Now we get into the land of options. We can pick and choose any flavors we enjoy most whether that’s chocolate – peanut butter, berry explosion, banana – chocolate, strawberry – banana, cinnamon – walnut – raisin, the options are endless. It really does depend on what you prefer but we will give you some areas to start exploring!
TIP – look at the back of the box of your favorite premade oatmeal. See what flavors they use and experiment on your own homemade oatmeal!
Berry Explosion
Take our base that we made earlier and add a cup of mixed frozen berries or any specific frozen berries of your choice. You can use fresh berries here if they are in season but i personally find frozen to not only be more cost effective but they do also taste better. It’s super difficult to find fresh berries (that aren’t in season) that taste as good as frozen and frozen is often much cheaper and you can buy in bulk. If you want to add some extra sweetness, you can add a teaspoon (or tablespoon for more sweetness) of sweetener of your choice. Maple syrup is my go to but you can also use agave here or even brown sugar.
Strawberry Banana
Again, take our base and add half a cup of frozen (ideally organic) strawberries and half a fresh or frozen banana. Bananas are easy to keep on hand so fresh makes more sense here but if they start to get too ripe on your counter you can also freeze them. The banana adds a good amount of sweetness here but if you want to add more calories and sweetness, add the whole banana or add a teaspoon of maple syrup (or sweetener of choice).
Cinnamon Walnut Raisin
Take our base that has cinnamon and add a tablespoon or so of crushed walnuts. You can buy these in bulk and keep them on hand when you need them. Walnuts are a great source of healthy fats and are great for oatmeal or even baking banana bread so we’ll have other ways of utilizing them.
We can then add a small handful of raisins, roughly a quarter of a cup. To increase calories we can add more walnuts and raisins. If you don’t like walnuts you can substitute sliced almonds and if you don’t like raisins, you can use dates instead. For added convenience you can swap out the walnuts for a tablespoon of nut butter of your choice. I like almond butter or peanut butter.
My favorite – Banana Caramel (with dates)
My personal favorite is taking the base with cinnamon and adding one whole banana, two medjool dates, and a tablespoon of almond butter. This gives me more calories which I need for my personal goals and gives me a good amount of fats and sweetness from the dates and banana. If I feel like it, I might even add a teaspoon of maple syrup.
Remember to always look at these recipes and apply them to your life with your goals in mind.
Trip To Flavor Town – Complete
There we go! We’ve made healthy, budget friendly homemade oatmeal! Our meal prepping will save us time in the morning while we rush out the door and we’ll have a nice warm hearty breakfast that will keep us going throughout our busy day. Eating frugally on a plant based lifestyle doesn’t have to be hard or time consuming. We can take some steps to save ourselves money, time and stress. Wishing you the best and if you enjoyed this recipe or have thoughts or even flavour combinations to suggest, let us know in the comments!
Much love!
List of Additional Flavor ideas:
Cinnamon / brown sugar – classic
Chocolate banana cinnamon- chunky monkey
Apple / cinnamon – apple pie
Banana cinnamon dates almond butter – my fave
Blueberry banana – light but filling
Nuts / berries – shelf / freezer stable