The many oatmeals of Lucy

When we first did solids with Lucy, she refused all pureed and super soft foods, even applesauce. Eventually  she came around to yogurt and slowly some other spoonable foods. Which makes it funny that her big thing lately is oatmeal. But to her, lots of things qualify as oatmeal.

Oatmeal = Oatmeal 

A really cheap breakfast considering I buy oats in 25lb bags but also a bit low on protein and Lucy can eat three bowls and be hungry in 30 minutes if I don't add some extra protein in so I make ours a bit differently.

To start with, I make it with half of the recommended water amount. Then when it is pretty much cooked, I turn off the heat and add in an slightly beaten egg (1 egg for 1-2 servings worth, 2 eggs for 3 servings worth) stiring quickly to prevent the egg from cooking as a lump. At this point it is a nice custardy consistancy but still a little thick. So I dish it out and add milk. The milk cools it down for my impatient little oatmeal lover, adds protein and thins it out just a bit. (This is why I start with half water, if I did the recommended amount of water, it would be too thin for lucy to feed herself without making a mess). And now it is a still cheap but long lasting tasty breakfast. I'm not really a big oatmeal fan myself but I'm often too lazy to make two breakfasts and with the egg and some cinammon on top of mine, this isn't bad at all.

Rice Oatmeal = Brown Rice pudding

I know many people consider rice pudding a dessert but I make it with brown rice and just a bit of unrefined sugar so nutritionally speaking it really isn't that different from oatmeal. It takes a little bit of time in the morning but it's heavenly and I always make extra whenever I make rice for our dinners just so I can be sure to have enough to make this for breakfast the next morning. This makes about 4 servings which could be two breakfasts for us but instead Lucy and I normally eat the leftovers for a snack in the afternoon - it is just as good cold.

4 cups milk
1/2 t salt
2 T maple syrup (honey would work too)
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 -1t cinnamon (depending on how much you love cinnamon. I have to go easy on the cinnamon because if Lucy sees it in her bowl she thinks it is dirt and refuses to eat it but I add more to mine later)

2 T butter
2 cups cooked brown rice (if you are cooking rice specifically for this, start with about 1 cup of dry rice)

Bring to a simmer the first 5 ingredients, stirring to keep the milk from burning. Add the rice and butter and keep stirring, consistently but not necessarily constantly (I normally unload the dishwasher while I stir), until the rice has absorbed most of the milk and the result is a thick creamy pudding, this should take 20-30 minutes but the wait is worth it!

Chocolate Oatmeal = Peanut butter chocolate chia pudding. 

Recipe here (I make ours with honey or maple syrup since I've never used coconut sugar before).  We don't eat this for breakfast but as a snack.