Oatmeal is an easy go-to breakfast, and not to mention comforting on these winter days. I’d like to show you how you can amp up any ‘ol bowl of oatmeal (or hot cereal) with this one easy tip. But first, let’s talk about the different options for oatmeal or hot cereal because a healthy bowl of oatmeal usually does not start in a packet. Those instant flavored varieties tend to be laden with sugar and/or artificial flavors. I would recommend starting from scratch with some of these options:

Steel-cut oats – they take a little longer to cook but are higher in fiber
Organic rolled oats and/or oat bran – also high in fiber
Gluten free options include gluten-free rolled or steel-cut oats, quinoa flakes or organic yellow corn grits

Once you have a bowl of plain hot cereal of your choosing, it’s time for exciting part – livening it up a bit! This is my one tip that is a total time saver and ensures you are getting loads of nutrients at the start of your day:

Prepare a large bowl of add-ins (like the one below) to have on hand that you can add to your hot cereal any time you make it.

Here are many ideas of things to add to the mix:

Nuts and Seeds

Walnuts
Pecans
Almonds
Cashews
Hazelnuts
Brazil nuts
Hemp seeds
Chia seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Sesame seeds (black too, which is in the one I did!)
Ground flax seeds (show some love to those omega-3’s!)

Dried or Freeze-Dried Fruits

Currants
Blueberries
Apricots
Pineapple
Dates
Figs
Cherries
Cranberries
Raisins
Mango
Apple
Papaya
Goji berries

Other

Shredded coconut
Raw cacao powder or nibs
Cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, sea salt
Mesquite powder
Lucuma powder
Maca powder
Ashwagandha powder (more info on this here)
Dash of spirulina or chlorella powder

Making the Mix

My best advice is to make a mix of what you have on hand or what you have access to and add things in pretty equal proportions. If you absolutely love cranberries, by all means add more cranberries. Or walnuts. Or shredded coconut.

Make a mix depending on your liking, but don’t forget to add in all those little additional components that help supercharge the hot cereal – foods high in protein, fiber, healthy fats, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

Add as much of the mix to your oatmeal as you desire. Also, if the dried fruit isn’t enough and you want to add a bit of sweetness, add some coconut palm sugar, rapadura, sucanat or raw honey (like below) at the end.