Blueberry-Brown Sugar Scottish Oatmeal

So about two weeks ago, I was perusing Eating for IBS: 175 Delicious, Nutritious, Low-Fat, Low-Residue Recipes to Stabilize the Touchiest Tummy by Heather Van Vorous when I came across a breakfast recipe that I absolutely had to try. I am a person that is constantly hungry. I will eat a meal and about 30 to 45 minutes later I will start to feel a little bit of hunger again. This is particularly true of breakfast foods for me. If I eat cereal, I'm a goner in an hour. I can feel my sugar spike and my energy plummets quickly. And believe me when I say I've tried tons of different cereals. They don't work for me. Eggs are great but who has time in the morning? So I am always on the quest for the breakfast that will hold me over until lunch but that's also quick and easy.

You must be thinking, "Oatmeal? Ugh!" Oatmeal, if not prepared correctly, can be mushy and just plain gross. Who in there childhood has not had a bad experience with oatmeal? Growing up, the only way I liked it was the Mom way. She had the magic touch that made oatmeal darn good. She cooked it until just tender but not mushy and it was great! The Dad way was so totally unappealing we couldn't even sneak bits to Pepper, our dog, who turned his nose away. Even dogs have discriminating tastes.

When I first read this recipe I laughed out loud because it only calls for one teaspoon brown sugar yet it's called Blueberry-Brown Sugar Scottish Oatmeal. I was attracted to this because I love oatmeal, blueberries, and brown sugar. It has the added bonus of being so ridiculously easy you could make it in your sleep and it's ready in 5 quick minutes or less. Because of the minimal ingredients, it's also a breakfast that could be made at work if you have a microwave and refrigerator!

Anyway, I gave this recipe a whirl around noon today.

Makes 1 serving
Cooking time: 3-5 minutes max.

Ingredients
-1/2 cup rolled oatmeal (not instant)
-1 cup of vanilla soy or rice milk
-1 tsp brown sugar
-1/4 cup fresh or unthawed frozen whole blueberries

My modifications
-3/4 to 1 cup 1% milk
-Brown sugar to taste
-FYI, I used frozen blueberries.

Combine ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl big enough to prevent boil-over, and stir well. Microwave on high for 2 minutes and stir. Microwave another 1-2 minutes until berries burst and oatmeal is thickened.

I used more than 1 tsp brown sugar because I like my oatmeal to be a bit sweeter and since I'm not a fan of soy milk, I used milk. Because microwaves vary in their heating capability you should watch. When you see the milk starting to rise and boil, take it out and give it a little taste to see if the oatmeal is tender so that you avoid the dreaded mushy stage. In my case, that's about 1.5 minutes (that's after the initial nuking of 2 minutes).

So I have to say that when I took the oatmeal out of the microwave (after the 2nd nuke), I was horrified, which is why I have not included a picture of this dish. It looked horrendous and gross. A picture would have turned repulsed you in such a huge way and taken away from what is an otherwise tasty, nutritious, and quick breakfast. The blueberries burst releasing its purple color making the oatmeal -- think Grimace of McDonald's. Don't be frightened -- it's really great and when one of those burst blueberries reaches your mouth, it's a little piece of fruity heaven.

Few, if any, breakfast foods hold me over. But this one did for about 3.5 hours when I started to get the nibbles. It's a keeper.

Eat and enjoy!