Oatmeal to go...

Starbucks has been offering a few new breakfast options recently, including oatmeal.  Now, I am a chronic breakfast skipper but I love a bowl of oatmeal so I was curious to find out what "perfect" oatmeal tastes like.   

Tempted as I was, however, I just couldn't bring myself to spend $3.45 on oatmeal so when a coupon for a free bowl arrived in the mail I jumped at the opportunity to try it.  

When the barista asked me if I wanted it with "everything" of course I said yes even though I had no idea what that meant.  Turns out it means dried fruit, nuts and brown sugar over instant (yep, instant) oatmeal.

Instant oatmeal for $3.45????? I was dumbfounded when I saw her pour hot water from the spigot into the bowl and hand it to me - she didn't even try to hide the fact that it was instant.  I think my mouth may have been hanging open at the brazen audacity of it all.

Anyway, the oatmeal was fine even though it was a bit too sweet for my taste, but it got me thinking about how I could make my own oatmeal to go at work.   

I tossed some dried blueberries and cherries into a mason jar with some brown sugar and walnuts and took it to work with me with a box of instant oatmeal (I am partial to President's Choice Blue Menu Multi-Grain Instant Oatmeal).  

While I still prefer large flake or steel-cut stove-top oatmeal on the weekend, now I can enjoy a warm bowl of oatmeal (with "everything") at work and it is never more than a teakettle away.