Oatmeal... FAIL?

Hope everyone had a great holiday!  I am back to the grind, so here we go...

As a kid I hated oatmeal.  It was just so mushy and icky.  I'm an adult now (sorta), so naturally, I've learned to like it and this cold weather has me itching for a hot breakfast.  We have about 100 inherited packets of instant oatmeal in our cupboard, so I figured I would do a Bake or Buy on making my own oatmeal.  So good straight from the stove top.

Store Brand: Instant Maple and Brown Sugar

My Recipe (this is just how I make it - use whatever toppings you like):
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup skim milk
Spoonful of dried cranberries
Spoonful of chopped walnuts
1 tsp brown sugar
pinch of cinnamon

- I start by putting the milk on the stove with the cranberries and heat it to a low simmer.
- Add the oats and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes.

- Put it in a bowl and let it sit a few more minutes to thicken.

- Add sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts.

- Stir and enjoy!

So my homemade oatmeal turned out great.  Surprisingly enough, the issue came in when I made the instant!  I know, crazy.  Since I am not a big fan of instant oatmeal, I just read the bag which had two options - add boiling water to the packet, or add milk or water and cook in the microwave.  I added milk and put it in the microwave for 2 minutes (packet read 2 - 3 mins).  I was busy with the stovetop oatmeal and when I went to grab the instant - AHHHHH!

Hmm, not such a great way to start my morning after all!  Anyways, I will compare them for the sake of competition.

The instant oatmeal was very thick and almost like paste.  The flavored packet (brown sugar and maple) was far too sweet for my tastes as well.  Obviously, the instant oatmeal here isn't winning any awards.

I was fairly surprised by the cost.  With all my gourmet toppings, I assumed it would cost more, but if you make the instant with milk it's just about the same cost (the instant makes a little less than my recipe).

	Amount	Cost	Cost/cup
Quaker Instant Oatmeal	2/3 cup	$      0.42	$           0.63
Homemade	1 cup	$      0.66	$           0.66

Bake or Buy?  BAKE!