Cocoa Oatmeal

This morning, while preparing breakfast, I couldn't help but compare the ingredients I was using to those of a similar ready-made product available in the grocery store.

The dish I was making was quite simple – it was rolled oats with a bit of sugar, some cocoa powder, and a bit of milk. That's four ingredients and every single one of them makes sense.

In contrast, the store-bought variety contained about 15 ingredients. It also costs a whole lot more, too.

I had learned to make this simple yet filling breakfast while in kindergarten and it has always stuck with me. So simple, so perfect for a child's palate (and even to my adult palate, this is quite acceptable and I find myself craving it fairly often), and of course, it's mostly beige and thus perfect for a site dedicated to mostly beige recipes that cater to difficult and finicky eaters.

I must admit that I have eaten this dish for breakfast essentially for the past three months straight. I have no yet grown tired of it and I like that I can make it exactly to my taste – a little sweeter when I want to, and a little less so when I don't.

I am also happy to move away from those crazy sugar and sodium-laden cereals. Admittedly, I have never been a big fan and have always preferred muesli. However, while there are quite a few mueslis I like when I travel through certain parts of Europe, I find mueslis in the U.S. to be lame, bland, and unloved concoctions that utterly lack in creativity and flavor. For the most part, muesli in the U.S. means a bunch of rolled oats with some raisins and the occasional nut thrown in. All of that seems to warrant a price of about $5 for a small package. That seems silly and pointless to me. Thus, I went back to my childhood breakfast of choice and have never looked back.

Here, then, it is – as simple and quick as it gets:

Ingredients:

1-2 Tbs. sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)

1 Tbs. Cocoa powder (not for chocolate milk but for baking)

½ cup rolled oats

¾ cup milk

Let's get started:

Mix the sugar and the cocoa powder and ensure that the cocoa powder doesn't have any clumps.

Add the oats and mix again.

Add the milk, stir, and serve!

That's it!