These Clever Hacks Will Help You Survive Cold & Flu Season With Your Kids
As a mom, I am always looking for ways to make life easier both for me and for my fellow parents! That is why we post a lot of fun activities for kids and parenting hacks here on the site. Hey, I have even found 30 surprising ways to repurpose empty pill bottles!
But that last one got me wondering … if I could hunt down something as specific as 30 uses for baby wipe containers, what about something more practical—and fitting for the season?
We’re just heading into winter, and while we’re enjoying the holidays in my household right now, I just heard the first sneeze. My youngest is coming down with a cold, and of course rumors are flying that the flu is going around.
So I started hunting down hacks for making life easier during cold & flu season, and I found this video from WhatsUpMoms, one of my favorite YouTubers:
This is exactly what I was looking for! Watching this video you will learn tip after tip for helping your kids get through the flu season—and surviving it yourself. Some of these hacks help you to keep things clean, tidy and sanitary, while others help to soothe your child or keep your kid entertained.
I am so relieved that I found these just in time this year! Hopefully the flu won’t strike your family this year, but if it does, I hope that you find these hacks as helpful as I know I will. Okay, I’m going to run now—I can hear my son coughing in the next room!
Original article and pictures take www.diyncrafts.com site
Strawberry Season is coming! I sooo can’t wait to get a hold of those fresh, delicious, juicy jewels!
The humble strawberry, in season just a short time in our area, boasts an amazing amount of Vitamin C (139% of the RDA) with only 49 calories per cup. It’s low glycemic, making it a perfect food for just about anyone. They can be eaten raw, in smoothies, salads, ice cream or in cakes and pies. They lend themselves equally to be in sweet or savory dishes and are easy to find year round, although the price is generally lower May-July when they are in full season.
You can preserve the juicy jems for later enjoyment by freezing, dehydrating or canning.
They only last fresh a short time, so enjoying them quickly is the best option. To help make them last longer, fill a large bowl with cool water and add 1/4 cup of white vinegar. Swirl the berries in the vinegar water for about 10 minutes to help kill off any mold spores that are on them. This will help extend their “shelf life” by a couple of days. Normally you would want to store them on the counter at room temperature, but I often will store mine in the fridge to help extend their life.
Here are over 45 delicious ways to enjoy these sweet berries in this Ultimate Strawberry Recipe Collection!
Any woman knows how stressful weddings can be! Planning a wedding can be both exhausting and time consuming, and sometimes, it seems nearly impossible to get a good workout in! Many women want to look their best on their wedding day (and it makes total sense, you’ll have these pictures and memories for years to come!) but tend to get a bit overwhelmed when trying to fit a workout in with their hectic wedding planning. Fortunately for all of you busy brides-to-be, I’ve found the best workout that takes virtually no time at all! I’ve planned out this amazing week-long workout for you, and you don’t even have to go to the gym! It couldn’t get any better! Working out in your wedding dress is definitely optional, but also might be extremely motivational!
Monday
1. 20 Squats (if you visit the gym, and you’re pretty experienced, try squatting with a kettle bell or something similar for added weight)
2. 40 High Knees (Seriously. Your knees should be HIGH.)
3. 10 Pushups (You can keep your knees down if needed!)
4. 45 Sit Ups
5. 10 Burpees (I used to DREAD doing these in gym class. They’re an awesome workout though!)
6. Walking Lunges (Same as regular lunges, but move around instead of doing them stationary)
7. 25 Step Ups (Use a stair or a sturdy box to step up on)
8. 40 Jumping Jacks
Tuesday
1. 50 jumping jacks
2. 10 Tricep Dips (Video Here for those who need a visual)
3. 50 Russian Twists (Video Here) (Holding weights makes this a bit more of a challenge)
About this time of year, I find myself becoming a little less enthusiastic about lunch packing. (I think it’s because the excitement of the back-to-school season has slowly been replaced by the tiring pace of a busy fall schedule.)
Of course, I know packing a healthy lunch for my kids is super important, but sometimes I get into the same-old-same-old rut and need a little inspiration!Maybe you do too?
That’s why I’m excited to shareone of my favorite new resources for “lunch-spiration” with you. It’s my dear friend Laura Fuentes’ cookbook “The Best Homemade Kids’ Lunches on the Planet.”
If you’ve read any of my lunch packing posts, then you know Laura’s awesome site MOMables is my number one favorite site for healthy and delicious lunch ideas and recipes. So when Laura told me she was writing a cookbook, I knew it would be far more than just a collection of healthy kid-friendly lunch recipes. And oh my, I was right – her new book is the quintessential guidebook to everything lunches.
The Best Homemade Kids’ Lunches on the Planet
From helpful strategies for easy lunch packing and meal planning, to tips for dealing with picky eaters and eating on the go – Laura shares all of her secrets for putting together healthy lunches your kids will love!
And if Laura’s new cookbook isn’t enough to get us all fired-up about healthy lunch packing, then perhaps a little Healthy Lunches Giveaway is just the FUN we need to break free from the lunch-packing doldrums.
Be sure to enter for a chance to win the Ultimate “Lunch-spiration” Package, which includes three of my favorite healthy lunch-packing essentials:
• 1 copy of Laura Fuentes’ new cookbook The Best Homemade Kids’ Lunches on the Planet. With more than 200 kid-approved real food recipes, plus tips and strategies for making lunch packing a snap, this book truly is a must-have for busy families who want to eat healthier.
That’s because these cute bento-style boxes are free of harmful chemicals, are machine washable, and are dishwasher/freezer safe. They’re also stackable for easy storage in the fridge and are much more durable than the typical reusable containers sold in grocery stores. These are just a few reasons why Easy Lunchboxes are one of the most popular lunch containers on the market!
• 2 individual packs of Lunchbox Love Notes for Kids. These little love notes are absolutely precious, and are such a heartfelt way to let your kids know how much you love them.
Whether you have preschoolers, elementary age kids or teens, SayPlease.com has an amazing line of “love notes” for kids of all ages, even adults. The notes include an inspiring message along with cool trivia and funny jokes. I love putting these thoughtful little notes into my boys’ lunchboxes, because I know it makes them feel loved and special.
So please take a minute to enter for your chance to win this helpful and fun Healthy Lunches Giveaway before it ends on Sunday, November 9, 2014. And even though I know you really want to win, may I ask you to share this giveaway with a friend or two? Thanks so much!
Also, be sure to check back on Monday to see who the lucky winner is – maybe it will be YOU?
Until then, happy lunch packing!
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Original article and pictures take thenourishinghome.com site
12/8/15 Update: Weight Watchers introduced it’s new plan Beyond the Scale and SmartPoints yesterday. You’ll want to Read this Post before reading this guide as there are many new changes that supersede what is written here
Assembling this Ultimate Guide to Weight Watchers Recipes Blogs and Resources has been on my to do list for years. Finally, I sat down and tackled it.
I lose way too much time searching out information on the internet. I’m guessing that you do too. I love having collections of resources all in one place. My training as a health information manager taught me that information is useless unless it can be quickly retrieved when you need it. That’s what this handy dandy ultimate Guide to Weight Watchers Recipes Blogs and Other Resources is all about. It’s a one page collection that includes:
Weight Watchers recipe blogs that provide reliable nutritional estimates and points plus information
Sources for weight loss motivation and inspiration
The sites I use for determining nutritional estimates and WWPP
Weight Watchers who are blogging about their weight loss journeys
I hope it helps you achieve your healthy weight loss goals!
First Things First: Weight Watchers Basics – How Does Weight Watchers Work?
The Current Weight Watchers program is called PointsPlus (it’s called ProPoints outside North America). The most basic elements of the program are the following:
Every food is assigned a PointsPlus value that is calculated from the grams of protein, fat carbohydrates, and fiber in a defined portion of food.
Fruits and nonstarchy vegetables are assigned a PointsPlus value of zero, although eating 12 bananas at a time or in a day, for a whole bunch of reasons is never encouraged.
Some foods are called Weight Watchers Power Foods because they are a great PointsPlus bargain, are naturally filling, and have good nutritional characteristics.
You can earn additional PointsPlus values from exercise. The more the exercise makes you work, the more Activity PointsPlus values you can earn and then swap (or not) for food.
Each person is assigned a PointsPlus Target to live within each day. To provide additional flexibility, they also provide something called a Weekly Allowance, which allows you to splurge on occasion. Some, none, or all of the allowance can be used each week.
People who attend Weight Watchers do it primarily through one of two routes:
Meetings: Where you actually go to a meeting place at a retail location, your office or community locations such as a church or community center. At these meetings, there is a leader who is a successful member and now works for Weight Watchers. This person facilitates a discussion around a selected topic as well as a discussion on how everyone is doing. At these meetings, people are weighed in confidentially by a receptionist, who is also a successful Weight Watchers member.
Weight Watchers Online: Where you use an array of Web-based tools and resources and/or mobile applications to learn the PointsPlus program and track your food consumption and weight loss progress.
Most people who got to meetings these days purchase a Monthly Pass, which gives them unlimited access to meetings, and the online tools, as well as many mobile applications. Other teams you might hear:
Goal weight: Fairly self-explanatory, except that Weight Watchers focuses heavily in the first few months on achieving medically significant weight loss, which occurs when you lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight.
Lifetime Membership: Members who reach a BMI of at least 25 (or higher with a doctor’s note) and maintain in for 6 weeks are eligible for Lifetime Membership. This special status allow them to continue going to meetings for free as long as they stay within 2 pounds of their goal weight and weigh in once a month.
There is much more to the program than this, which you learn best through experiencing it.
You definitely don’t have to be on Weight Watchers to be interested in these blogs. They’re great resources for lighter eating and if you’re interested in knowing the nutritional information on recipes:
1) Simple Nourished Living – I’m a Weight Watchers Lifetime Member who has been sharing Weight Watchers friendly recipes with nutritional estimates and points plus since September 2011. I especially love easy healthy slow cooker recipes.
2) SkinnyTaste – The premier blog for Weight Watchers recipes, I first learned about Gina and SkinnyTaste years ago at a Weight Watchers meeting. She specializes in family friendly recipes that are made lighter and healthier. All recipes include nutritional information as well as the old points and new points plus calculations. Her food photography is stunning too.
3) Slender Kitchen – I’m a big fan of Kristen and her blog, Slender Kitchen, a great resource for realistic WW friendly recipes with nutritional information and points plus, food finds and weight loss success stories. She also offers Weight Watchers friendly healthy meal plans.
4) Emily Bites – Emily and her delightful blog, Emily Bites, specializes in Weight Watchers recipes for lightened up comfort food with nutritional information and points plus details. You’ll find a lot of creative portion controlled dishes made in muffin tins.
5) LaaLoosh – Wendy’s blog, Laaloosh, is another great Weight Watchers recipe blog with easy approachable recipes that include nutritional information, Weight Watchers points, and reviews of food finds.
6) Dashing Dish – Katie is an impressive young woman who combines her deep faith, talent for creating healthy alternatives to the food you crave and stunning food photography on her terrific blog which is another great resource for Weight Watchers.
7) Green Lite Bites – is where Roni, of Roni’s Weigh, shares her adventures in healthier eating with two kids and a picky husband. She strives to limit sugar and avoid processed flours while including as many fruits and veggies as possible. For those who are members of Weight Watchers, you will love the photographs, nutritional information and WW points that she includes with most recipes.
8) Skinny Kitchen – This is another blog bursting with Weight Watchers recipes, from Nancy Fox, a former California based healthy restaurant chef. In addition to nutritional information and WW points plus, each recipe post often includes a food fact, healthy benefit or shopping tip.
9) Organize Yourself Skinny – Tammy, a busy working mom turned full time blogger, lost weight counting calories. She shares weight loss tips, exercise routines and lots of healthy recipes with nutritional information so you can easily calculate WW points plus.
10) Kitchen Parade – Food columnist and blogger, Alanna Kellogg includes nutritional information and both old and new Points values for most of her recipes on her long-running blog, Kitchen Parade. In addition to recipes, the site provides a wealth of cooking tips, information and inspiration guaranteed to help you become a better cook.
Chocolate Covered Katie (Healthy Dessert Blog that includes nutritional information so you can calculate WWPP.
Drizzle Me Skinny – Kate, a Weight Watchers Lifetime member from Canada shares shares easy lightened up recipes featuring lots of fun desserts and creamy pasta bakes.
Best Weight Loss Inspiration, Motivation & Success Tips
I don’t know about you but for me reading inspirational weight loss stories helps keep me motivated. I learn so much and get rejuvenated. Whenever I’m feeling stuck, I hit one of my favorite resources for inspirational weight loss stories.
Half Size Me – Despite numerous false starts, binge eating, and too many obstacles (both physical and mental) to list, Heather lost almost 170 pounds over a five year period. Committed to helping others achieve weight loss success, Half Size Me has lots to offer including Podcasts, a Subscription Based Community and Personal Coaching. She even did a podcast with me last winter where I talked about my weight loss journey.
The Weigh We Were – Kat Carney lost 90 pounds 15 years ago. Since then, she has become very passionate about helping women reach their weight loss goals by sharing successful weight loss stories she gathers from around the web. The before and after pictures and healthy tips help women struggling with weight to connect in more personal and meaningful ways with women just like them who have overcome everyday challenges to become weight loss success stories. Seeing is believing.
Weight Watchers has lots of success stories too, both in their magazine and online.
400 Motivational Weight Loss Quotes (Fitness for Weight Loss) – If you love motivational and inspirational quotes you’ll love this comprehensive list. One of my favorites: “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” ~Robert J Collier
Nutrition and Weight Watchers Points Plus Calculators
Weight Watchers was my starting point with healthy eating and weight loss. And though I don’t actively count points anymore, I still think they can be a great tool for those looking to make changes to their diet and learn how to make better more educated choices.
I provide nutritional estimates for most of my recipes and use this information to calculate Weight Watchers Points Plus. I calculate the nutritional information by using online resources such as CalorieCount.com and NutritionData.com.
It’s not really that hard to do, but as anyone who has done Weight Watchers realizes, it is time consuming. The good news is that you don’t have to do it forever, just long enough to educate yourself in how to feed yourself in a healthy balanced way.
How do I know how many PointsPlus I get each day?
Use this PointsPlus Calculator. Enter your age, weight and height. (Note: There are two different calculators, one for females and one for males. This number will go down as you lose weight, so recalculate often.)
How do I know how many PointsPlus a food is?
Easy. You can calculate your Weight Watchers Points Plus with CalculatorCat.com.
What Should I Eat on the Weight Watchers Points Plus Program?
The nice thing about Weight Watchers is that you get to decide what to eat. It’s basically a food budgeting system and you are in charge of your budget so it’s up to you. Nothing is off limits. If you want a cookie or pizza you can have them, as long as you plan and budget for it.
Obviously, you want to make most of your food healthy so you get the most nutritional bang for your points plus buck as you can. Most days you should strive to meet
~At least 30 minutes of activity a day most days of the week
~Limit sugar and alcohol
What’s a serving size?
1. Fruits, vegetables and leafy greens
Serving sizes are 1 cup for leafy greens and 1/2 cup for all other vegetables and fruits. The lettuce alone in a large salad may well count for 2 or more vegetable servings. The default portion for most fruits and vegetables in the Plan Manager is one cup.
2. Packaged whole grains
Use the nutrition label to determine the serving size of packaged whole grain foods.
3. Milk and dairy
If you are more than 50 years old or are a teenager or a nursing mom, increase milk servings to three each day. Examples of one milk serving include 1 cup of milk or yogurt or 1 1/2 ounces of many cheeses.
4. Healthy oils
Having 2 teaspoons of healthy oil each day ensures that you get the vitamin E and essential fatty acids that your body needs. Use the oil on salads, in cooking or as an ingredient in a mixed dish. Two teaspoons of oil is not even 1 tablespoon, so be careful to measure, since each additional teaspoon counts as another PointsPlus value of 1.
5. Lean meat and fish
A serving of lean meat or fish is generally 3 to 4 ounces, about the size of a deck of cards.
6. Water
Six 8-ounce glasses of water is just 3 standard 16-ounce bottles.
How do I keep track of it all?
Journaling is really key to weight loss success. Write down everything you eat and drink. You can go old school and get a small notebook and use it as a food journal. If you have a phone with a camera you can keep a photo journal. Or you can use a free app like MyFitnessPal.com.
Best Weight Watchers Bloggers
Here’s a list of blogs by Weight Watchers (past or present) who are blogging their way to weight loss success by sharing their stories and experiences on-line. If you are looking for weight loss motivation and inspiration you’ll want to check them out.
Best Weight Watchers Recipe Round-Ups and Collections
There are lots of blogs, while not focused specifically on Weight Watchers Recipes, that have created helpful roundups or collections of Weight Watchers Recipes for their readers. Here are some of my favorites:
If your circumstances allow, the best way to successfully do Weight Watchers®, is by joining their program, either by attending meetings, signing up on-line, or with their new personal coaching. I became a lifetime member by attending meetings. If that’s not possible for you, following the program on your own is possible, but it will take creativity and commitment. Here are links that may help:
Do you have a great WW Reference/Resource to share that’s not listed here? Please let me know by leaving a comment and I’ll add it!
This post contains affiliate links to products I like. When you buy something through one of my Amazon links or Craftsy links, I receive a small commission that helps support this site. Thanks for your purchase!
Original article and pictures take simple-nourished-living.com site
One of the biggest headaches (or joys) for many homeschooling families is coming up with their ideal homeschool schedule – whether that means that it’s a daily homeschool schedule, weekly homeschool schedule, or a schedule for the whole homeschool year.
Sometimes, it’s a blessing to just see what others are doing so you can take some of their ideas, sprinkle in your own ideas, mix it all up, and then come up with a schedule that fits your family perfectly. We’re excited to try to help you with that venture by offering you The Ultimate Guide to Homeschool Scheduling.
It can be easy to get busy while homeschooling and forget to really educate your whole child (not just the parts we think need to be worked on). Michelle talked about using Head, Heart, and Hands: Daily Rhythms and Educating the Whole Childin her often Waldorf-inspired approach.
Other Homeschool Scheduling and Planning Tips: Various Topics and Logistics
Monday mornings can be tough. After a weekend of rest (or even worse – a weekend full of plans), it can be hard to ease back into a week of school. Julianna shared tips with us to make Monday mornings more successful for your homeschool.
The Ultimate Guide to Homeschool Scheduling is part of iHomeschool Network’s Ultimate Guide list.
This post was originally published on The Homeschool Classroom, which is now part of Real Life at Home, on August 9, 2012. It was updated in July 2016.
The Ultimate Guide to Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets This ultimate guide to homemade instant oatmeal packets is so awesome! There's different flavor combinations, packing ideas, tips for including the kids (both in preparing and actually making the oatmeal in the morning) and homemade instant oatmeal packets are much healthier and frugal than store-bought. PLUS, you can make six weeks' worth of packets in less than an hour! :: DontWastetheCrumbs.com
I remember eating instant oatmeal almost every morning growing up. My favorite flavor was maple brown sugar. If the dark brown packages were gone, I’d choose cinnamon and spice next. It was a special occasion if we had any of the fruit and cream ones (I’d choose blueberry).
I’d gently rip open a package (after learning the hard way what happens if you tear too fast), pour it into my favorite bowl and cook it myself in the microwave. I’d sit on one side of a massive, round, farmhouse-style table in the kitchen and watch “The Bozo Show” on a small, black and white TV sitting on a bench on the other side of the table.
I felt like such a big kid being awake before everyone else, making my breakfast all by myself. Like my mom trusted me (and my cooking skills) enough not to set the house on fire.
My heart certainly isn’t ready for my kids to grow up (will it ever?), but I know it’s in their best interest to teach them how to be a more independent. The first day of school is next week, and I figure there’s no better time nor no better starting place than homemade instant oatmeal for breakfast.
Of course they’ll learn a bit of independence from packing their own school lunches, but that’s different. I’ll still be there, preparing some of the options, helping them make right choices and showing them how to make everything fit in their lunchbox.
But opening a packet of oatmeal, pouring it into a bowl, adding water and cooking it all by themselves… well, that’s different. I know what that feels like, and I’m ready for them to experience this like I did each morning before getting ready for school.
Nostalgia aside, I think this might help our mornings go a bit smoother too.
I didn’t know it at the time, but store-bought instant oatmeal contained quite a bit of sugar… at least much more than what was needed in each 3 tablespoon serving. It’s no wonder that maple and BROWN SUGAR was my favorite flavor and that the plain packets would sit untouched in the boxes for weeks.
Now, I’m not condoning sweetener in oatmeal. Oh no no no… in fact, adding a teaspoon (or two) of brown sugar was the ONLY way I could get the kids to eat oatmeal for breakfast for a REALLY long time. It was a small concession I had to make when we first started transitioning to real food.
Gradually though, the amount of brown sugar in each bowl became less and less. Now (3+ years later) the kids don’t add any sweetener at all (I still add maple syrup to mine though – old habits die hard).
My point though is that I like to be able to control the type of sweetener in the oatmeal and how much we add. This is MUCH easier to do when we make homemade instant oatmeal ourselves rather than trying to do some crazy math conversion of grams per serving into teaspoons so we can tangibly understand how much sugar is in each little packet… all before we’ve had a full cup of coffee, no less.
By the way, ever notice that there isn’t a percentage daily value for sugar on nutrition labels? Food for thought…
Plus making our own homemade instant oatmeal packets means making whatever flavors we want, never running out of our favorite flavor, avoiding unnecessary additives and saving money. Truly a win all around!
The Ultimate Guide to Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets
The Basic Recipe
Oats
I like to use rolled oats because they’re less processed than instant oats and more affordable than steel cut. I did a write up on the difference between the types of oatmeal here, if you want to read more.
The amount of oats you use will depend on the age of your kids, but I’ve found these measurements worked for our family:
1-3 years old: 1/4 cup
3-5 years old: 1/3 cup
5-7 years old: 1/2 cup
Tip: Want your oatmeal to taste more like the commercial kind? Add 1 tablespoon oat flour per 1/2 cup of oats!
Dried Fruit (vs. Freeze Dried vs. Fresh)
A good rule of thumb is to use a ratio of 1:2 for dried fruit to oats. For example, my kids are eating 1/4 dried fruit with 1/2 cup of oats for breakfast. The dried fruit measurement should be total, so reduce as necessary (or not!) if you’re mixing/matching flavor combinations.
I use dehydrated fruit in this recipe because the point is to make several bags ahead of time. If your kids don’t mind adding fresh fruit to oats (and you’re comfortable with them potentially needing a knife without you supervising), feel free to use whatever fresh fruit you have on hand. For weekdays and fostering independence at my kids’ young age, I personally prefer the dried fruit route.
You can also use freeze dried fruit, although it’s pricier. Homemade dehydrated fruit is by far the most frugal option.
“And Cream”
You have two options to turn any recipe into an “and cream” version:
Add 1 Tbsp powdered milk to the dry components, OR
Substitute 1/4 cup milk for water in cooking
Adding powdered milk to the individual packets is easier for the kids. They continue to choose a packet and make it the same, every time.
Using milk in cooking is the healthier option, since you eliminate the slightly processed powdered milk, but is likely more difficult for smaller kids with both measuring and pouring from a potentially heavy and full container of milk. (Tip for pouring liquids at the bottom of the post!)
Simply choose whichever is best for you in this season. Either option is better than store-bought!
Nuts
If you add nuts, add them after cooking otherwise they loose their crunch and don’t taste nearly as good. We only add nuts on purpose when making the Amish flavor (my favorite right now, recipe below), otherwise we wait until there’s only crumbs left in the packages of nuts and then add those to the packages.
Seeds
You can increase the nutritional value of oatmeal by adding 1 tablespoon of chia seed, flax seed, oat bran, hemp hearts, sunflower seeds or any other seed you have.
Chia seeds will absorb quite a bit of moisture as they cook and sit, so you might need to add more liquid up front. Flax seed and oat bran will absorb a little, hemp hearts and sunflower seeds won’t absorb any at all.
Sweeteners
I mentioned earlier that you should not feel guilty for adding sweetener if it means oatmeal for breakfast. I’ve found that one teaspoon of brown sugar OR 1 tablespoon of maple syrup tends to be sufficient when you’re combining it with the naturally sweet dried fruit.
Although healthier, I purposely don’t use coconut sugar, palm sugar or any other less processed granulated sugar in oatmeal. I’ve found that these sweeteners aren’t as sweet, which means having to use more to please the taste buds.
Personally, I’d rather use less sugar than more, even if it means using a less healthier option during the transition. Plus the “healthy” sugars cost twice as much, a fact you can’t overlook when you’re trying making one of the most frugal breakfasts known to man.
Whichever you decide, add dry sugar to the dry packets or maple syrup (or honey, if you prefer) just after cooking. Like adding cream, choose whichever fits the cooking capabilities of your kids right now.
Spices
A little bit of spice goes a long way in a small package of oatmeal, so start with 1/4 teaspoon and add more from there. Cinnamon is the most popular spice, but you can add pumpkin, apple pie spice or mix/match cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and all-spice from the cabinet.
Salt is also an option, although personally we don’t add any. A pinch per packet will enhance the flavor, but anymore will simply make it salty. Use cautiously and remember that you can always add more if you want.
Healthy Fat
This is totally optional, but one tablespoon of butter or coconut oil is a tasty option. My daughter likes butter in her oatmeal, but my son doesn’t. Obviously this is something you can’t add to dry packets, so your kids should be old enough to be able to measure butter or coconut oil on their own if you want this in their oatmeal (as well as get it down from the pantry or find it in the fridge).
With the basics out of the way, here comes the fun part! Homemade instant oatmeal comes with UNLIMITED flavor combinations. My kids helped me choose the flavors for these photos, and it was so neat watch their little wheels turn as they paired fruits and spices, each to suit their own unique personality.
The most frugal option is to make your oatmeal based on what you already have in the house, but I’ve also together a few combinations for those parents who struggle with creativity in the kitchen.
Basic Homemade Instant Oatmeal Flavors
Strawberries / Blueberries / Peaches & Cream: 1/4 cup dehydrated fruit + cream option
If you’re looking for fancier flavors, search the web. From cherry almond to caramel cashew, there are some seriously awesome ideas out there.
In the end, add whatever you want – that’s the beauty of doing it yourself! Besides, we’re not that fancy. Sticking to basic dried fruit + spice and/or cream makes it easier to make a big batch of these up front (meaning less work for breakfast with each subsequent week!).
Assembling the Packets
The easiest way is to mix it all up in a big huge bowl and portion out a heaping scoop into a plastic baggie (which you can re-use for future batches of instant oatmeal, by the way). But if you’re looking for a more hands-on activity, or are type-A when it comes to the ratio of fruit to oats (like me), here’s the method I use:
Pull out all of your coffee mugs from cabinet and set them on the floor.
Either you or a bigger kid, measure oats into each mug. (I don’t recommend letting the little ones do this part. Tiny flecks of rolled oats on the floor is a HUGE pain to clean up.)
Let the smaller kids measure the dried fruit and/or nuts into each mug. Tip: Give them the appropriate measuring tool and tell them how many scoops per mug.
Finish off with the sweetener and/or powdered milk (if using either).
Have a child hold open a baggie while you empty each mug into it. Using a funnel makes this easier.
Seal the bags and store in a basket, on a shelf in the pantry that the kids can see and reach.
I once timed this process to see how long it took to make homemade instant oatmeal packets. In one hour, we made enough for six weeks worth of breakfast. How’s that for time well spent!
Tip: Reader Cheri shared this awesome tip – instead of measuring into the mug and then pouring into the baggie, place the baggie INTO the mug – essentially lining the mug with the baggies – and then measuring the ingredients directly into the bag. When you’re done, pull it out, zip it up and your mugs are still clean. Pure genius if you ask me – thank you Cheri!
Making the Oatmeal
You can always boil water on the stove and add it to the dry oatmeal, but I don’t let my kids cook on the stove without me so that won’t work for us.
Instead, I showed them how to:
Empty a oatmeal packet into a bowl
Add 3/4 cup water and stir
Place bowl in the microwave and cook for 1 minute
Open microwave and stir
Cooking again for 30 seconds, if needed
Removing hot bowl from microwave, stirring and letting it cool
Moving the oatmeal from the counter to the table
We’ve walked through this process – step by step – a few times this past week so that next week they’ll know how to do it on their own.
More Tips to Make it Easier in the Morning
Set out everything the kids will need for breakfast the night before: bowls, spoons, measuring cups and basket of oatmeal.
Plug in the microwave if you know the kids will be awake before you.
If your keep your water in a large jug or something that isn’t very kid-friendly, consider pouring some into a glass for them to measure from.
Even better, measure the water for them into glass the night before. Then in the morning they simply empty the glass into the bowl and they’re done!
If you’re not sure if your kids are ready to handle breakfast on their own, another awesome option is to make these packets but cook them individually in the slow cooker. You empty the packet and add water. They take the jar out in the morning. Shoot, we might do this option anyway since it’s so easy!
Homemade instant oatmeal packets are an easy way to fuel the kids before their day starts, and with the prep work done ahead of time, it makes mornings a bit smoother too!
Get more frugal, affordable and awesome back to school ideas or check out “The Healthy Lunchbox” – it’s one of the best eBooks I’ve read on healthy lunches, including back to school!
What was (or is!) your favorite flavor of oatmeal?
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