SOS Mom Saver: Homemade Oatmeal Packets

My family LOVES oatmeal.  This is great as it's incredibly healthy.  Unfortunately, they also like the convenience of oatmeal packets.

But..have you looked at the ingredients for those packets lately?  Yeah.  Um.  Not exactly healthy...or even pronounceable in some cases.  Even those that are organic or healthier are full of refined sugar.

Even if you did find a healthy packet of oatmeal with only good ingredients, I challenge you to find one that's reasonably affordable.

So...I set out to make the bulk oatmeal also convenient.  I have promised a couple of friends who have asked that I will detail out the process with cost and pictures the next time we make packets.  In the meantime, here's a basic ingredient list for each of our 3 favorite oatmeal packet "flavors" (which are pictured above):

Oatmeal Raisin:

• 1/2 cup oats (I put these in the food processor and pulse them a couple times to break them up some.  That's not necessary if you're using quick oats.)
• 1 TB ground oats (see note below)
• 1 TB ground flax seed
• 1 TB cinnamon (You can use 1 tsp to 1 TB; depending on your taste preference.)
• 1/4 tsp ginger 
• 1/4 cup raisins

Strawberries & Cream:

• 1/2 cup oats (I put these in the food processor and pulse them a couple times to break them up some.  That's not necessary if you're using quick oats.)
• 1 TB ground oats (see note below)
• 1 TB ground flax seed
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried or dehydrated strawberries processed in the food processor to your desired consistency (We've also used blueberries in this recipe instead of strawberries.  YUM!)
• 1/4 cup powdered milk

Apple Cinnamon:

• 1/2 cup oats (I put these in the food processor and pulse them a couple times to break them up some.  That's not necessary if you're using quick oats.)
• 1 TB ground oats (see note below)
• 1 TB ground flax seed
• 1 TB cinnamon (You can use 1 tsp to 1 TB; depending on your taste preference.)
• 1/4 tsp ginger 
  
• 1/4 cup freeze-dried or dehydrated apples processed in the food processor to your desired consistency

Put all ingredients into a sandwich-size baggie.  Close the baggie, shake to mix the ingredients, & you're ready to go.  I do re-open the baggie after mixing the ingredients so I can get the air out before storage to save space.   I'll typically do a couple hundred packets at once.  No.  Really.  That means I don't have to do them again for awhile.  We keep them in a food-grade storage bucket that we got from a local donut shop for $2.

To cook, you simply dump the oatmeal packet into a bowl and add 1 cup of hot water. (We use the hot water from our water cooler right now, but have used water from our stove-top kettle in the past.)  Stir and enjoy!  Yes, you MUST enjoy.  We also add honey to ours when serving.  We don't typically use much.  A 2 lb container that we use only for oatmeal lasts us a couple months.

A note on the Ground Oats:  You know that powder that you see in store oatmeal packets?  That's what this is.  It's a combination of the sugar...and some ground oats which helps your oatmeal be more "mushy".  If you like mushier oatmeal, then you'll want to add some of this to each packet.  (It doesn't take much.)

The thing to remember here is that these recipes are VERY forgiving.  You can add healthy things (like the flax seed) that your family likes and take away what you don't want or like.  You can add different fruits to suit your liking. Experiment and find what your family likes best.

Exactly HOW healthy is our oatmeal?  The oats, flax seed, and raisins that we use are organic.  The powdered milk isn't organic, but is rbgh-free. 

Like I said, I will detail out the exact cost in a later blog when I do our next batch.  The estimated cost here, though, is about 36¢/packet.  If you include the cost of the honey, it makes it a little over 38¢/packet.  Note that this is for largely-organic oatmeal that contains only ingredients you can pronounce.

SOS Mom Saver: Make BPA-Containing Plastics Safer For Your Family

Are BPA-containing plastics as bad as they've made out to be?  In short, yes.  They are really bad for you.  Ideally, you should change out all of the BPA-containing plastics in your house over to BPA-free varieties or glass.

And now, I introduce you to...reality.

Unfortunately, most of us don't have the money to change over all of the plastics in our home at once.  It's...um...kinda costly.  Trust me, I know.  I've tried to switch over literally every piece of plastic in my home that contained BPA.  It's not nearly as easy as you'd think.  I'd venture to say that most of society has no idea how many of the plastics we encounter on a daily basis contain BPA. 

If you can only afford to change a little at a time, I always recommend starting in your kitchen.  Specifically, with dishes that you eat on daily or  storage containers that you use on a daily basis.  (Rubbermaid now makes a fairly affordable BPA-free line.)  The starter set is only $10 at Walmart.  However, our favorite storage containers are glass.  We have a ton of canning jars, but will also re-use old pickle & applesauce jars.

In the meantime, what do you do?  Just keep exposing your family to the BPA and pray for the best?  Well yes, but there's also more you can do to ensure that you are lessening the exposure they may have to the BPA in the plastics.

The number one thing to remember is that heat is what causes the BPA to leach into your foods.  In order to minimize the likelihood of that happening, you can do one of two things.

1. Hand wash your BPA-containing plastics.  We all put our plastics on the top rack of the dishwasher, but if that plastic has BPA...you don't want it exposed to the heat of the dishwasher at all!
2. Don't put hot foods in any plastics that contain BPA.  Save those bowls for cereal, ice cream, or other room temp or cold foods. 

That's it.  Those are the two main rules to remember when using BPA-containing plastics if you hope to minimize your family's exposure to the BPA in those plastics.

I do recommend that you change over the BPA in your kitchen as soon as possible.  In the meantime, do what you can to help your family be safer and healthier.

Open Christmas Packaging With Ease

I have to admit I'm a little jealous that they didn't have this when my kids were little.  I cannot tell you the number of packages with hard plastic that I have suffered through opening with scissors and/or knives.

Well suffer no more!  (Geez...I sound like an infomercial, don't I?)  They have a nifty new product out called the ZipIt Opener. 

 Photo courtesy of Amazon.

This product is designed specifically to open those hard-to-open plastic packages.  It's kind of a can-opener for plastic.

I want one.


(Disclaimer:  The link above is a referral link.  If you click on that link and buy one of these nifty devices through that link then I will get a percentage of the sale (2%-4%) back as a referral credit.  You are not required to buy the item or to buy it through the link should you buy it.  The link is only there for your convenience.)

Dangerous Pizza (i.e.-Where Has Common Sense Gone?)

Want to know one HUGE reason I have chosen to homeschool?  Common Sense.  Or the SERIOUS lack thereof.

The point at which you are suspending a child for bringing a Lego gun to school is the point at which you should stop and re-evaluate what you are doing.

But no.  That's not enough. 

Neither was suspending a child for having bloodshot eyes from crying because his father had been murdered over the weekend.  (Which they knew...because the child's mother had called them that morning to inform them of the situation.)

Perhaps they'll re-evaluate their policies when they suspend a child for touching a pill after someone else placed it in her hand.  (Especially when they suspended her despite the fact that she immediately gave the pill BACK to the ACTUAL drug dealer...a fact which the school doesn't deny.)

Nope.  They're not done yet.  They'll keep going and give a child detention for having a piece of candy.  No.  Really.  A young girl was given detention for having a Jolly Rancher.  Unfortunately, you read that right.

Should I keep going because the stories just keep rolling in.  There are too many to count or possibly list here.  Children suspended for doing drugs because they took 2 Advil for cramps or a Tylenol for a headache.  Kids kicked out of school because they took Sudafed for a cold or Benadryl to help with allergies.  Heaven forbid a child get caught with a Claritin!  These kids should be ashamed of themselves!

But hey...at least THOSE kids aren't farting on a bus.  Or in a classroom.  That one got a kid arrested.  No.  Really.  I can't make this stuff up.  Wouldn't think to.  Because it's so far-fetched it would never have occurred to me in my wildest dreams that things like this would happen.  For the record, I believe every guy in my senior class and at least 1/2 the girls belong in jail for this same offense.  Add burping & good-heavens...I think we'd ALL have been in lock up!

One thing we should really all remember, though, is that religion doesn't belong in the schools.  An 8yr old boy learned that the hard way.  He was sent home from school and forced to undergo a psychological evaluation because he drew a picture of a stick-figure Jesus on the cross.  Based on what this boy had to go through, I can only imagine their punishment for Mel Gibson for The Passion.  They'd have probably hung him on a cross.  Wait.

But let's not forget what really started this all.  Guns.  They're all so dangerous that no one should ever own a gun.  Guns are bad.  Guns kill people.  If no one ever owned guns, there would never be any violence because no other weapon is ever used for violence. 

I'll give you a minute to stop laughing.

You might think that as long as children didn't bring the actual weapons themselves to school then they'd be okay.  I mean, the kids who got in trouble DID have actual guns even if they were tiny guns attached to plastic green army men or a Lego gun.  If a kid were to use the imagination God gave them and pretend and make a gun with their finger, that wouldn't be bad.  You know, like when playing cops and robbers or cowboys and Indians?   I mean, it's JUST a finger, right? 

Ha. Ha. Ha.  That would imply sense that is not quite so common any more. A host of 6 and 7 yr old kindergarten and first grade students have gotten suspended or kicked out of school for making a weapon with their fingers.  There was the kid in Michigan, the one in Texas, and the one in Oklahoma.  I can only imagine being one of these parents and being told that my child was being suspended for this "offense".  I would probably laugh at the administrators right then and there, sure that they were joking.

Never would I imagine, though, that a slice of pizza would get a kid suspended.  That'll show HIM for getting the pepperoni!  I sincerely hope he learns his lesson as he sits there in silence learning how to socialize with other children.

Wait.

I feel certain after reading this that my children wouldn't survive even one day in public school. 

My son would make a finger gun while farting and eating a jolly rancher.  And drinking a cup of coffee.  Which alone would probably get him life in prison at 9.  Based on what I find regularly when doing laundry, he'd end up at school with rocks, Legos, dog food, and a fork in his pocket.  And possibly a half-eaten pb&j that may or may not be in the shape of a gun.  During math, he'd draw a picture of monsters, dragons, or aliens (or some combination of the 3) battling.  With guns.

And that's just my son.

Which is why we homeschool.

Gas Station Gift Ideas for Husbands

You realize it's Christmas Eve and not only do you not yet have a gift for your wife, but all of the stores are closed.  For the record, we wives know what you're doing when you suddenly need to fill the tank up at 11pm at night to ready us for the 15 minute drive to Grandma's the next day. 

Regardless, I like to think myself a helpful person.  In that vain, I'd like to offer a few tips to men who might be doing a bit of last-minute gas station shopping.

These are things you shouldn't (that means should NOT) get your wife from the gas station:

• A can of SlimFast because she's always talking about how fat she feels.
• An energy drink with a note that you noticed she didn't have the energy to do the dishes last night after dinner.
• A container of Clorox wipes since it's obvious from the house that she must be out of cleaning supplies.
• Breath mints to help with that "morning breath" problem she has.

 On the other hand, here are some things you might consider getting her:

• A package of Hostess cupcakes with a note, "Sweets for my sweet."  That looks like you put thought into her gift and didn't actually go out to the gas station at the last minute to get her something.
• A gift card to her favorite restaurant (many gas stations sell these) for a night out with you or her friends.  Bonus points:  Arrange for a babysitter too!
• The makings for breakfast which you then cook yourself the next morning...and serve to her in bed.

You get the idea.  Think..."Will she want to make me sleep with the dog if I get her this gift."  If the answer is anything other than an unequivocal "no", then you should probably keep searching.