I never was crazy about oatmeal because all I'd ever had was the Quaker stuff. It just tasted like nothing and had such a weird gummy texture. And then I tried steel cut oats. YumO! The texture is more chewy (not at all pasty), and it has a great nutty/grainy flavor. I usually stir stuff into it (fruits, nuts, peanut butter, etc.) but it's amazing just plain as well. Silver Palate and McCann's are my fav brands.

Honestly, I'm surprised to hear so many people say they put peanut butter in their oatmeal, I would never ever have thought to do that- it sounds a little....well, odd....yucky, but I'll try anything once- I'll also have to give steel cut oats a whirl. Thanks all for the fab suggestions......it's going to be an interesting few days of breakfasts.

I did it, I ate whole grain oatmeal for breakfast.....what I did was make a pot of oatmeal and instead of water I used vanilla soy milk, I split it in to different bowls and added a teen drop of Splenda in one, sunflower seed spread in the other, vanilla extract in one and cinnamon in the other, all with a piece of banana and tasted them all....I liked the one with Splenda in it best- go figure. :P So I discarded the split portions and made a new portion with 1 packet of Splenda, 2 tblspns of flax seed and a banana and I have to say it was pretty darn good, I would have loved to add another packet of Splenda for a wee bit of extra sweetness, but I resisted.

Ah, go ahead! Add more Splenda! It's not like you eat it by the cupful or anything. When I made my lifestyle changes I knew if I didn't use all avenues to make things taste good, I wouldn't stick to it.

Pssst...try the frozen dark sweet cherries (no sweeteners are added in packaging, just the name of them). Delicious!

Blend 1/2 cup oats, 2 eggs, and ~1/3 cup of cottage cheese. Add a splash of water if need be. Cook like pancakes. You can even add sliced bananas when you're cooking them.

I'm totally going to try this out sometime!

THANKS!

my kids love oatmeal and cream of wheat. lately i make it with vanilla extract and allspice. it seems to need less sweetener with vanilla. i love the smell of them both.
i love,love frozen cherries. we like most any kind of fruit in it. frozen works especially well for kids, when its hot, or they are sick frozen fruit is a little popsicle making their throat feel better.
i've also tried it with chamomile tea that was good. i love oatmeal pb cookies, but hate pb in oatmeal. go figure.

Hmmmm.....some very interesting options I will be trying over time, thanks guys!!!

Midwife, I'll be trying that for sure real soon. I make banana pancakes using oatmeal from time to time, but not like this, this sounds faster and easier. Breakfast is going to get reeeeal interesting. Btw, are you as pumped as me for the new season of Dexter this Sunday?! I have ants in my pants about it, it's my all time favorite show, hands down. I seen the preview for this series, did you get a look?

sometime I eat the instant fruit flavors. I count calories so it works for me they are 140 per packet.

We watch it on Neflix so I am a season behind. So I am pumped to watch the next episode we have, but I've been actively avoiding the preview! It's tough though!

Add little honey or apple juice..It will be much sweeter..

I also add peanut butter to mine but I use the all natural stuff, no hydroginated (sp?) oils. But I think you mentioned you have a nut allergy? To all nuts or just some?

Another one of my favorite ways to make oatmeal if I need a little treat is to make it half way with a bit less water, then I throw in a lot of milk, lots of fresh blueberries and a little splenda brown surgar. I cook it so the milk is warm and the blueberries burst (if they don't I help them). It's warm and comforting, makes me feel good all over and as an added bonus it helps me sleep - LoL.

I love Dexter!!! But I'm behind also... I don't think I've seen all of last season so I'm unsure if I want to start watching this season! I've really got to find somewhere that rents them!

I use single-serving flavored applesauce such as mixed berry or pear on my oatmeal and it's great. I think it alters the texture as well.

Ah - well I don't understand.
I love oatmeal, and don't find it bland at all. I cook a week's worth with Sultanas and a Cinnamon stick, sometimes star anise. I then keep in fridge -so it's a bit like bircher museli. I don't add any sugar or sweetener. Sultanas are little pockets of sweet enough.