Fruit Basket oatmeal - and more

• Dried fruits, including raisins, dried cherries, cranberries, chopped prunes, and more. These are best added in before cooking. Try adding 2 Tablespoons of dried fruit per serving.

• Fresh sliced or chopped fruit such as bananas, strawberries, apples, peaches. Cook this for a softer texture, or place on top of the finished oatmeal for a juicy addition. Small fruits such as berries can be left whole.

• Toasted, coarsely chopped nuts add crunch and nutrition. Walnuts or almonds are good on top.

• Power oatmeal! Make a power mix of wheat germ, protein shake mix to one, nutritional yeast, ground flax seed, bee pollen, spirulina or your own favorite power foods, in the amount recommended. Not sure how much you should use? Follow the list below for a few suggestions.
Sprinkle the power mix on your bowl of oatmeal or müesli for staying power and added value during your day.

 • Rule of thumb - when making oatmeal, use dairy, soy or nut milk, even fruit juice for the cooking liquid, instead of water. You will add flavor as well as nutrition!

The nutrition facts for a bowl of oatmeal, made with water is shown on the left side, below, and a bowl of oatmeal made with skim milk, two tablespoons of raisins, topped with 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries and about seven toasted walnut halves is shown on the right. Initially, the higher fat content jumps out. These are fats from the walnuts, loaded with omega 3 and more. The protein has gone from zero grams to 17 grams! Fiber, vitamins and minerals have all jumped as well.

Left: plain oatmealRight: Fruit Basket Oatmeal