I love oatmeal

I love oatmeal. I know people, and you know who you are mom, who think oatmeal is boring, but I disagree. It's versatile and versatility sometimes masquerades as blandness. I like to think of oatmeal as a blank canvass, full of possibility rather than lacking in flavour.

Around here we refer to oatmeal as "porridge" because we like to pretend we are bears when we eat it and the variations are limitless. I have a strong preference for fruit and nut combinations, like the cranberry toasted almond oatmeal pictured above, but Zach is less fond of variety and will take peanut butter and chocolate chips every time. See, that's another great thing about oatmeal. I can cook up a batch and everyone in the family can have a different breakfast without any fuss or hassle.

Here are some of my favourite oatmeal toppings:

Cranberry and toasted almond
Cranberry and pecan
Cherry and toasted almond
Cherry and hazelnut
Cherry and vanilla
Mango chai
Good old cinnamon and raisin
Peanut butter and chocolate chips
Peach and pecan
Chocolate chips and walnuts
Chocolate chips and hazelnuts
Apple and walnut
Maple and walnut
Strawberry and almond
Strawberry and chocolate chips
Blueberry and almond