Frozen oatmeal, part 2

Friday, 18 July

Several weeks? months? ago I noted here that Trader Joe's is now selling frozen Irish oatmeal so you don't have to be bothered with actually cooking something on your own stove for 30-40 minutes. I finally had a chance to try this at home; I made a big batch the week before I left for central Oregon. Most of it I portioned out among jars that I stored in the refrigerator and ate each morning during the week, but one portion went into the freezer. I had it for breakfast on Tuesday. Not a stunning success. The big round bits of the grains were fine and still had lots of good texture and toothiness, but the stuff in between was mush, sort of what you think gruel might be like. Absolutely none of that nice body that oatmeal has. It seemed to lose its glutinous qualities (no, I didn't mean gluttonous!). (Aren't you glad there're no pictures with this post?)

The good news is that the stuff out of the fridge was great--as good as straight off the stovetop. I had to add a little water and mush it up (that's fancy culinary language, eh?!) with a spoon before reheating, but it was quick and delicious. So when (if?) my weekend schedule allows me time to cook up the real thing, I'll make a big batch and have it as my mid-morning snack at work. No salt, sugar, dairy. I can even add flax seeds for a nice dose of omega 3. Or raisins. Or fresh strawberries. Or nuts. I think I'm getting hungry....