Strawberry Oatmeal

My kids love fruit flavored instant oatmeal packets. And, while traveling over Thanksgiving, we ate the instant oatmeal available at our hotel for breakfast. But, I never buy it. Normally I make the Overnight Oatmeal or Chocolate Oatmeal recipes that I have shared with you in the past. However, about a month ago, my son asked if I could come up with a homemade version of Strawberry Oatmeal. The problem though, was that he wanted the flavor of the instant oatmeal, not the flavor of real strawberries. So, I experimented a bit and came up with the recipe below.

My son is very pleased. However, he prefers that I make it up fresh instead of soaking the oats overnight. My kids have always eaten oatmeal without much of a fuss, but now they are asking me to make this all the time. I’m thinking that it might be a good idea to test out some other flavored extracts!

  

Strawberry Oatmeal

2 cups old fashioned oats

¼ cups sugar (white or raw)

1 tsp. strawberry extract

1 cup milk

1 cup water

Stir together all ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight, if desired. To serve, microwave, uncovered, on high for 4-6 minutes, or until heated through. Yield: 4 servings.

Recipe note: I have found that the strength of the extract can vary according to brand, so you may need to add more or less extract depending on the strength of your brand.