Beyond oatmeal

I am a fan of healthy eating, and one person whose opinion about this I respect is Bob Harper, the veteran fitness coach on the NBC television show "The Biggest Loser." Bob also gives tips for those of us who don't need to lose 50, 100 or more pounds but still could benefit from more exercise and healthier eating. On the side of healthier eating, one thing he recommends is starting your morning out with oatmeal. I don't know if he's gone Paleo, but this is an especially good tip if you are Paleo, because most breakfast cereals are not part of a Paleo diet.

But oatmeal doesn't have to be eaten by itself. You can top off your oatmeal with fruit, brown sugar or maple syrup. Buy a box of the variety instant oatmeal, and you have that already. I prefer the Quaker oatmeal in the round box. The quick-cooking variety takes no longer than instant oatmeal to cook. You can add fresh fruit and the other toppings.

I recently came upon a collection of recipes in one of my cookbooks that had a lot more than these toppings. Nuts. Chocolate chips. Coconut. I did something like this. I added pecans, chocolate covered raisins and coconut that was past its prime (tastes very good soaked in oatmeal and milk.). This was one of the tastiest bowls of oatmeal ever, and definitely the crunchiest.  I don't know if Bob Harper would approve, but i don't think there is anything bad in my toppings, especially since that chocolate on the raisins was dark chocolate. Yum.