Dan's Outside

Quick-Cooking Oatmeal

Recently my breakfast mainstay has become oatmeal. This comes as something of a surprise to me since I long ago learned to dispise those little packets of instant oatmeal, and because I had adopted a no-cook breakfast routine built around granola and a bit of dried milk.

However, while getting ready for a long trip in 2004 I was concerned about getting all of my food into my Garcia bear canister. I realized that oatmeal packs smaller than granola. In addition it can be lighter, though extra fuel is required to cook it. However, when the main focus is how much food you can cram into a bear canister, fuel weight may be better than food weight since fuel does not need to be protected from bears.

***The basic recipe
is very simple. For me, a basic, minimal one-serving breakfast is:

• 1/2 cup of quick cooking (not instant!) oatmeal. (Available at health food stores. I get mine from the bulk bin at Whole Foods.)
• A pinch of salt.
• Some sugar – to taste. (But extra calories are probaby a good thing in the backcountry.

Mix it up at home in small individual servings in ziploc bags. On the trail, combine the mix with about one cup of water and bring to a boil, then cook on very low heat for about 2 minutes. Oatmeal afficionados probably prefer to bring the water to a boil first and then add the oatmeal, but seems to me to be a less efficient use of fuel.

***Variations on the recipe
are possible and desirable – both to add calories and nutrition, and to add some variety to the menu on longer trips. Here are some of my variations:

• Add a tablespoon or so of powdered milk for extra nutrition.
• Add some chopped nuts. I like sliced almonds or chopped walnuts.
• Add cinnamon.
• Add some dry fruit. I like raisins or date pieces. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m sure that dried apple would be good, too.
• The best thing is to camp where you can crawl out of your tent and pick a cup of wild blueberries… :-)

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July 26, 2005 - Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary