A Simple Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal Recipe

Days 76 and 77

I actually did decide to have that cinnamon apple oatmeal on Friday morning and it was great! I made it in no time at all and it turned out just fine.

To make it you need:

- 1 apple, cored and cut into 6 equal pieces
- 1 cup of dry oatmeal
- 1 cup of Rice Dream (most oatmeal packages recommend water but I prefer milk or a milk substitute)
- A shaker of cinnamon

1. Mix the dry oatmeal and Rice Dream in a microwaveable serving bowl. (My recipe calls for one cup of each ingredient but you can customize the consistency of your oatmeal by varying the amounts.)

2. Microwave on high about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes.

3. Core and slice your apple. I recommend one of these; it will core your apple and slice it up in just one smooth step.

4. When the oatmeal is done cooking in the microwave, sprinkle some cinnamon on top then place the slices of apple on top as shown in the picture below.

Wait, wasn’t there something that was supposed to be special about this meal? The recipe is a real no-brainer—you can probably figure out how to make it from the title alone! But still, there is something special about this particular dish. Read on.

- The apple cost 49 cents at a Trader Joe’s.

- The drum of oatmeal cost $2.99 and contains about 30 servings. This recipe called for approximately one serving so $2.99/30 = .10 (rounded up from .099) is the cost of one oatmeal serving.

- The Rice Dream I used instead was from a 64 oz. container that cost me about $4.40. I used a cup (8 oz.) in the recipe. $4.40/8 = .55 cents.

So .49 + .10 + .55 = $1.14.

Not bad for a meal that includes three food groups and is made from quality, healthy ingredients. To get more out of this meal I recommend a nice, big cup of coffee (flavored with some unsulphured blackstrap molasses of course) and a veggie patty standing in for a sausage breakfast patty.

Remember that upcoming book I told you about from Supersize Me director Morgan Spurlock, Supersized: Strange Tales from a Fast-Food Culture? You can now pre-order it from Amazon here.

Talk to you soon!
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Three Meals a Day

Days 11 - 13

I was feeling drained Thursday morning but felt better as the day went on. I think this was because I only had two meals the day before. Makes sense when one thinks about it—less fuel, therefore less fire.

Skipping meals can be way too easy to do in our busy adult world. I bet that’s why quick fixes like Pop Tarts, McDonald’s breakfast burritos and other unhealthy options are a frequently favored solution. That’s not as healthy as eating an apple and some cereal with milk.

According to my nutritionist, our metabolisms are like a furnace that always needs fuel to burn. If we skip a meal our systems don’t operate the most efficiently that they could and we suffer for it. This can also lead to being starved and maybe eating too much at our next meal.

To combat this one could prepare their meals beforehand. Have time the night before? Pack away a lunch for the next day or get all the ingredients ready for breakfast the next morning.

Some dieticians even say instead of eating just three meals a day you should include some healthy in between meal snacks. Some almonds or a piece of fruit at 2 in the afternoon can help you pick up your pace and help tide you over until dinnertime.

Talk to you soon.