Cold Oatmeal (Muesli)

My name is Lisa and I am addicted to oatmeal. I eat it every day, sometimes twice a day. I used to buy the flavored packets of instant oatmeal, but then I moved onto canisters of quick oats, then old-fashioned, then the really hard stuff - steel cut oats. It was bad.

  The funny thing is, no matter what type I bought, I always cooked it to death then covered it in so much milk it was cold again.

At the height of my oatmeal obsession, I was always perusing the grocery store looking for new ways to eat it. I saw muesli a few times, but it was super expensive, and I wasn't about to fork over 8 bucks for 2 cups of what looked like broken up granola.

So I finally looked it up. According to Wikipedia, muesli is "a popular breakfast meal based on uncooked rolled oats, fruit and nuts." Wow, so basically it's the same exact thing I make for breakfast every day, just raw?? Color me silly, and super intrigued.

So I gave it a go. I prepped my morning oatmeal and then did... nothing. I didn't put it in the microwave. I didn't watch it for 2 minutes to make sure it didn't boil over and trash my turntable. I didn't pour milk over it to cool it off so it didn't burn my tongue. I just ate it. And it was so, so good! Try it today - if you don't like it, you can always throw it in the microwave...

Cold Oatmeal
Makes 1 serving

What I use:

• 1/2 c. quick oats
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. sliced almonds, broken or whole
• 1/4 c. raisins
• 2 dashes cinnamon, optional
• Milk

How I do it:

1. Pour the oatmeal into a bowl.

2. Add the brown sugar, almonds, raisins, and cinnamon.

3. Add milk to cover, and stir it all up.

4. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how soft you want the oatmeal to get.

Enjoy!

The coolest thing is you can change it up any way you want. Use quick oats or old-fashioned, depending on how much texture and bite you want it to have. Use brown sugar or white sugar or maple syrup or honey or agave or splenda or whatever you want. Pick your favorite nuts, or even seeds, or use a combination. Skip raisins and go for dried cherries or cranberries or use fresh fruit like bananas or apples. Use regular milk or vanilla almond milk or even chocolate soy milk. There must be at least 3,267 different ways to make this. Which one is your favorite?