Healthy Eating Blues - The Oatmeal Edition, Part 2

Week Two of the oatmeal extravaganza has commenced. I actually had oatmeal for breakfast for four days last week.

I added more honey to my too-bland oatmeal and it improved, but not by much. Perhaps I did not buy a good quality of honey, which is why it is so ineffective. I got it on sale. Oh well.

This week I am trying something new. It has promise. It has not been perfected yet, but if I stick to this “healthier eating” thing (no pun intended), maybe I will get much closer to having yummy oatmeal without it being an oxymoron.

This time when I made my pot of oatmeal, I added two heaping tablespoons of brown sugar, a huge dollop of creamy peanut butter, a generous amount of ground cinnamon, a splash of vanilla extract and an overly enthusiastic amount (i.e., think the tincture of tenderness Professor Weirdo added to the making of Milton the Monster) of unsweetened ground cocoa. When I reheat it to eat, I add some chocolate soy milk to loosen it up.

Okay, definitely too much cocoa powder. Now, I do not ascribe to the belief that there is such a thing as too much chocolate. I mean seriously, what is that about? That is just an anathema to me. But in this case, I spilled so much cocoa powder in there that the oatmeal has a grainy texture that is not pleasing. Also, because of my previous lack-of-sweetness experience with honey, I added extra brown sugar and then some honey on top of it. Surprise! My oatmeal is much too sweet.

Next time (yes, there will be a next time…hello, Week Three!), I will skip the honey, lessen the brown sugar a tad, not spill the cocoa powder and I hope to have something much yummier and palate pleasing.

I think the peanut butter is a nice addition. Oatmeal is already filling, but the added fillip of fat (not to mention the great taste) of peanut butter really makes it a hearty and satisfying breakfast.

I think those Hot Pockets may last a little longer in my freezer.

Healthy Eating Blues - The Oatmeal Edition

I like food. A lot. Therefore, it follows that taste is an important factor. I like food to be delicious. Scrumptious. Scrumpdeliumptious, in fact.

Unfortunately, scrumpdeliumptious food is not always good for you. And, as my age increases and my already lethargic metabolism decreases, I am trying to eat healthier. I believe the two key elements in that sentence are the word “trying” and the suffix “-ier” at the end of “healthy.” I am trying . . . as in making an attempt. I do not yet know if I will have any measure of success (unless one attempt is considered successful, which I am not ruling out). I hope I will continue on this unknown path, but only time will tell. Also, I’m not exactly eating healthy, but trying to insert dollops of healthy in my current diet, which perhaps, if one was generous, can be described as health-as-a-well-meaning-afterthought. If one was very generous.

So, today I have begun my foray into healthier eating by having oatmeal for breakfast. Not the flavored instant oats with its high fructose corn syrup, sodium and random dehydrated fruits, but steel-cut oatmeal. Yup, I’m going hardcore.

I tried to jazz it up with some lovely, plump blueberries and fresh, sweet diced mango. By the way, “jazz it up” is a euphemism for “make it palatable.”

Now, I am not saying that healthy eating and deliciousness are mutually exclusive. I know they are not. However, I know they don’t always necessarily trip hand-in-hand down Culinary Lane. As in my current situation.

Anyway, my breakfast looked really pretty . . . purple-blue orbs and soft but firm bright orange cubes nestled in my almost fluffy looking grains. And it looked creamy, thanks to the natural starches in the oatmeal, enhanced by my addition of vanilla-flavored soymilk. And although the mango was sweet, I added a little swirl of honey from the tummy of my plastic bear.

It helped . . . a little. Not much, though. Not enough.

Apparently, steel-cut oats suck up any sugary goodness and whisk it away to someplace where my taste buds cannot journey. It was so bland and unappealing. So much so that I opened a few Hershey kisses to eat with the bland gloppiness. I figured eating some chocolate with my oatmeal is better than eating chocolate without oatmeal. It makes perfect sense to me.

Next time I’ll add more honey and see how it goes. If not, I have a bunch of pepperoni pizza Hot Pockets in my freezer.