Instant oatmeal is easy enough to make, but doesn’t keep me fueled for very long, so I add almonds, chia seeds and milk powder for protein. For flavor, I add freeze-dried blueberries and raspberries and ground ginger or vanilla bean powder.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup instant or quick oatmeal
• 1 tablespoon whole milk powder
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons chia seeds
• 2 teaspoons organic cane sugar (vary the amount based on your preference)
• 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
• 1 tablespoon freeze-dried blueberries
• 1 tablespoon freeze-dried raspberries

Variations

For vanilla almond berry oatmeal, use 1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder instead of ground ginger. For a multigrain option, use multigrain oats with rye, barley, oats and wheat instead of oats.

At Home

Combine all ingredients in a plastic bag. I use a Food Saver vacuum sealer to remove all air from the plastic bag and provide longer storage capability.

At Camp

• add 1/2 cup of water to a backpacking stove
• add all ingredients to the pan
• bring to a boil
• simmer for 2 minutes, stirring often
• turn off fuel
• cover and let sit for 5 minutes

Cook in the bag method

• make sure to use a BPA-free freezer bag, not a regular plastic bag so it won’t melt
• add 1/2 cup hot water to the bag
• mix well with a spoon
• seal and let sit for 5-10 minutes