by Melissa Jaramillo and Julie Snyder

Does your child love the single serving packages of instant oatmeal? He can cook them all by himself -- just measure the water and one package of oatmeal; then microwave. There is only one drawback. The price. Here's the solution! Make your own individual serving packages with your child. Let him choose his favorite varieties.

Ingredients

• 3 cups Quick-Cooking Oats
• Salt
• Small sized zipper bags
• Various flavorings

Preparing the oats

Put 1/2 cup oats in a blender or food processor and blend on high until powdery. Set aside. Repeat procedure with an additional 1/2 cup oats. Leave remaining oatmeal as is.

Filling the bags

Put the following ingredients into each zipper bag:
• ¼ cup oatmeal
• 2 tablespoons powdered oats
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Flavorings to suit

Store in an airtight container.

Make your own variety!

At our house, we use less than the recommended amount of sugar. Experiment to find just the right combination for your family's taste.

Sweetened oatmeal: To each bag, add up to 1 tablespoon sugar or brown sugar

Brown sugar and cinnamon oatmeal: To each bag, add up to 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Apple-cinnamon oatmeal: To each bag, add 1 teaspoon sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons chopped dried apples

"Spicy" oatmeal: To each bag, add 1 teaspoon brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar: To each bag, add up to 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar and 1 tablespoon raisins

Healthly oatmeal: To each bag, add 2 tablespoon of wheat germ

Peaches and cream oatmeal: To each bag, add 1 tablespoon of non-fat dry milk powder and 2 tablespoons dried peaches

Fruit and cream oatmeal: To each bag, add 1 tablespoon of non-fat dry milk powder and 2 tablespoons dried fruit

Mixed fruit oatmeal: To each bag, add 2 tablespoons of various dried fruits

S'More oatmeal: To each bag, add 6 miniature marshmallows and 1 tablespoon chocolate chips

To serve

Empty bag into a bowl. Add 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir and let stand for 2 minutes.

OR

Combine contents of bag and 3/4 cup water or milk. Microwave on oatmeal setting. Enjoy!

A variety of flavors of instant oatmeal in a tin or jar decorated by your child makes a great gift.

Julie Snyder is the mom of six, interested in kids, pregnancy, birth, people. She is Editor-in-Chief at Pregnancy.org and lives in the outlying Seattle area. Melissa Jaramillo is mom to many. She's passionate about building, encouraging, and strengthening families on this adventure known as parenthood! Melissa serves as VP of Marketing and Community Director at Pregnancy.org.

Copyright © Julie Snyder and Melissa Jaramillo. Permission to republish granted to Pregnancy.org, LLC.