Part of This Nutritious Breakfast

Ah, oatmeal.

One piece of advice stands out as constant in most literature about diet and nutrition: eat breakfast consistently. When I started really focusing on what I eat, I quickly settled on oatmeal as the "anchor" food in my breafasts.

My current choice while at work is Hodgson Mill Hot Cereal with Milled Flaxseed and Soy.

I guess it's not technically even oatmeal; it's "hot cereal."

And kind of sawdusty. There's not much texture aside from the little indigestible fibrous bits of husk or bran or whatever is in there. It doesn't really even have much flavor, and I'm not one to start adding sugar or fruit. (I'd consider adding blueberries or blackberries or strawberries if they weren't so expensive. But I think I prefer eating those fruits by themselves.)

I'm not even sure why I continue to buy it, except I suppose I've gotten used to it. I look forward to its heartiness in the morning.

I'm always still hungry after the oatmeal, apple, and banana that is my standard breakfast (and if someone's put out chocolate or baked goods, watch out), but if I focus and stay vigilant it gets me to lunch.

I eyeball an amount into a bistro mug I formerly used for coffee, add about twice as much water, microwave at 60% power for four minutes and pray it doesn't spill out everywhere.

After this initial cooking, I heat for about 25 more seconds on full, watching carefully for it puffing up and almost spilling over the brim.

If I do it just right it seems to lose a lot of wateriness and almost tastes, like, browned. Even when watery, I think it's still absorbing , so the last half doesn't taste as watery as the first.

There's supposed to be eleven servings in the box—I'm pretty sure one box lasts me just slightly more than eleven days, but I haven't kept careful track. I may be shortchanging myself, in my servings, but I'd far rather overestimate calories than underestimate.

It's a shame the healthier oatmeals and hot cereals with no added sugar don't seem to come in premeasured packets like the junky ones do. But maybe somewhere there's a new type I'll fall in love with.

(I do eat steel-cut oats at home, but I need something more "instant" while at work.)

160 calories per 1/3 cup serving.