Homemade Instant Oatmeal - Strawberries and Creme Instant Oatmeal Mix and/or Brown Sugar, Cinnamon & Apples Instant Oatmeal Mix

When our daughter went off to college last month she had a request for me;  "Mom, when you come to visit will you please bring me some of your homemade instant oatmeal!?" 

Yes, they do actually have 'instant oatmeal' packets in the cafeteria on campus but no, she does not want those.  And I'm thrilled! Because the store bought packages have 12 grams of sugar (the apple flavor and the strawberries and creme flavors) and less than 1 gram of soluble fiber per itty bitty tiny little packet.  Since an adult (or even kids) can easily eat 2 packets for a serving that means almost no fiber and 24 grams sugar (which is almost the total amount of sugar an adult should have in a day - https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/).

So quick and easy to make and you can add whatever you want to a basic mix - think; dried or freeze dried fruit, nuts, seeds, a variety of added grains, etc.
 
I started by just grabbing some general ingredients I figured I'd use for this batch - I had decided I would make her two different kinds; an apple cinnamon mixture and a strawberries and creme mix.

INSTANT OATMEAL MIX:

6-7 cups of instant oats left whole
3-4 cups more of instant oats you've ran through the blender
1 1/2 - 2 cups natural sweeteners of choice (if you are using regular white sugar start with just 1 cup and taste test)
1 cup non-dairy dry creamer (for 0 sugar) or non-fat dry milk (which does have sugar grams)
2 t salt

This is your regular mix to put in a large bowl.  Now you can add, change, etc. to make a style you prefer.

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Brown Sugar & Cinnamon -  change the 1 1/2 cups sugar or sweetener (above) to brown sugar or a natural brown sweetener and add 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Apples & Cinnamon - change the sugar to brown sugar and add about 2 cups of dried or freeze dried apples, broken or chopped in pieces.

Strawberries & Creme - add an additional cup of vanilla flavored creamer powder and 2 cups dried or freeze dried strawberries (I also added about 1/2 cup more natural sweetener to make up for the unsweetened berries). Taste test.

Blueberries & Creme - add an additional cup of vanilla flavored creamer powder and 1 - 1 1/2 cups dried or freeze dried blueberries

Peaches & Creme - add an additional cup of vanilla flavored creamer powder and 2 cups dried or freeze dried peach slices, broken or chopped in pieces. (You may or may not want to add a little more or less sweetener - taste test).

The big batch - before I split mine in 2 parts and made one into brown sugar, cinnamon & apple and another into

strawberries & creme flavors

Extra creamer in vanilla or french vanilla flavor

and the addition of some freeze dried strawberry slices

Many people like to scoop about 1/2 cup servings into small Ziploc baggies.

I chose to recycle a plastic container I had on hand and made a cute

label for it, and added a small plastic scoop to the inside with the oatmeal mixture

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I made more of the apple cinnamon mix so I recycled a large #10 can and again,

made a quick label for the outside on my computer. I used clear packing tape to

attach it to the can.  Sealed it with a scoop inside with the oatmeal mixture.