Cold, dark, blustery winter mornings call for a hot breakfast to start your day right.
Oatmealis a whole-grain breakfast cereal, packed with fiber, protein, and essential vitamins and minerals.
Oats also contain micronutrients such as thiamin, phosphorus, and magnesium.
Photos: Target, Quaker Oats, & Nature’s Path. Design: Eat This, Not That!
Your body needs all these minerals daily to turn food into energy and keep your metabolism running smoothly.
Of course, the grocery store has dozens of instant oatmeal varieties.
I tried them all fresh out of the microwave while they were hot.
Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
Here’s how each instant oatmeal ranked in descending order.
These oats contain flaxseed and are sweetened with sugar, sucralose, molasses, and maple syrup.
They’re also lightly fortified with vitamins and minerals, including niacin, riboflavin, folate, and iron.
Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
It was just the right amount because the oatmeal came out soft and creamy.
The serving size did seem a bit smaller than other oatmeal packets I made for this test.
The taste:I was put off by the strong faux maple flavoring in this bowl of oatmeal.
Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
When I removed the bowl from the microwave, I noticed it hadn’t cooked evenly.
The center was sunken and dried-out looking, while the edges were puffy and bubbling.
After stirring, it was still rather gluey and needed a splash more water to loosen up.
Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
I can’t say I could pick up on much maple flavor, but it was nicely sweetened.
Kodiak Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal Power Cup
Thiswas one of two portable oatmeal cups I sampled.
The oats sank to the bottom of the cup and didn’t cook together into a cohesive porridge.
Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
The taste:This protein oatmeal was quite sweet.
It contains 12 grams of added sugars from cane sugar, brown sugar, and dried maple syrup.
It cooks in a minute or less and has a uniform, creamy texture.
Lizzy Briskin, Eat This, Not That!
The cereal is pale and has smaller oat flakes than other cereals I tried.
The taste:This oatmeal is perfectly fine.
The oats cook evenly in the microwave for a little over a minute.
The taste:This oatmeal tasted about as simple as you’re able to get.
And you could have the fun of adding your favorite toppings.
The look:This cup has a handy fill line marked on the outside.
It’s microwaved for about a minute, and the texture is uniformly creamy and scoopable.
The chia seeds absorb excess water for a rich, almost decadent texture.
The porridge is not overly sweet and even tastes a bit salty, which I love.
