Meal Planner Monday: Breakfast & Brunch - Hot Oatmeal

I grew up with most mornings having either oatmeal or cream of wheat for breakfast. I've started making oatmeal for myself in the mornings now that I don't have be at work until later in the morning. It is very healthy, inexpensive and simple.

This is how I've been making mine:

Make oatmeal in microwave according to directions on the box (I add a couple tsp of wheat bulgur to vary the whole grains that I'm eating). Add cinnamon (Did you know that cinnamon is considered an antioxidant?) I still have to add some brown sugar or maple syrup although I'm trying to work on eliminating that. The hardest part is watching it in the microwave so it doesn't boil over.

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Variations:

Sliced banana and chopped walnuts

Chopped apple

Raisins

Diced peaches or other fresh fruit

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Nutrition Information:

Oatmeal (without the brown sugar) 150 calories, 3 grams total fat, 4 grams fiber, Fruit Juice (or equivalent serving of fruit added to the oatmeal) 110 calories, 0 grams of fat, + fiber if fresh fruit is added to the oatmeal, Milk 110-130 calories, 0-5 grams of fat depending on skim vs low-fat, Total = just less than 400 calories (which is exactly what is recommended for each of the 3 meals) or 6 Weight Watcher points (2 points each), 1 serving each of whole grains, fruit and dairy. And, it's a minimally processed whole food (which I've talked about before on the Nutrition posts...by the way, I hope to go back to more of those)

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Cost: *I have in the picture Quaker Oats only because I got those for $.50 on sale recently (normally Aldi or a bulk food store would be the best price), the wheat bulgur is something new I've been trying - bought it at the bulk food store for $1.57 for the bag, cinnamon was $.50-$1 at CVS.