Oatmeal

Why? Explain to me why its good for a person? Better yet, just cut to the chase and explain to me how to eat it - in a bowl, instead of baked in a cookie. Or, can I get the same nutritional value out of a eating a oatmeal cookie versus hot oatmeal for breakfast.

Maybe I need to back up and examine this from the eyes and tastebuds I had as a child. Every day in the fall and winter, momma always made me eat a hot cereal as part of breakfast. Matter of fact, I never ate cold cereal growing up, she called that stuff candy and I snacked on it after school. Back to the hot cereal as part of breakfast. Momma cooked a big breakfast every morning. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, syrup, toast, juice and milk. That was standard fare. In the fall and winter, when the weather broke and cold started creeping in, she added Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat to the menu. Even as a child I couldn't tolerate the Cream of Wheat so that is definitely not a consideration, but I did eat with regularity, Oatmeal. This was a yearly ritual which lasted at least 4 months and looking back maybe it was the lessor of the two evils but I remember eating it and asking for it. As I became a teenager and momma backed slowly out of her kitchen and invited me to have an intrigal role in meal preparation, I made the oatmeal on cold mornings. I can remember going to college and making oatmeal because it was the thing to eat to get me started in the morning on cold mornings. So why... can I not stomach it anymore?

I moved south, married a southern man, and adopted a southern baby. Grits are all the rage here, so I learned to cook creamy butter and cheese filled grits but never liked them for myself. On cold mornings, my family ate Grits, I turned to Coca Cola and left Oatmeal alone. Then along the way Oatmeal became the rage, its lowers cholesterol, is full of fiber, comes in a microwaveable mix and seems to be the cereal to eat. Why can't I get a spoonful down now? My gag reflex can't handle it, not to mention the taste of it is just "off" to me.

If I want to get the benefits of oatmeal: cholesterol lowering, high in fiber, fulfilling breakfast, what would be a more palatable substitute? Oatmeal just doesn't go down well...