Old fashioned oatmeal tastes much better than instant varieties, is cheaper, and better for you. The downside is that it takes a while to cook, usually 10-20 minutes or a little longer if you use steel-cut oats. Why not make a large batch when you have the time and then freeze individual portions in silicone muffin tins and/or baking cups?
Crafting weblog Make Something... recommends preparing a batch of oatmeal for freezing using just rolled or steel-cut oats, water and salt. 3 cups of oats, 5.5 cups of water, and 1 tsp of salt will make enough for twelve small servings. When the oatmeal has finished cooking you can transfer it to the silicone cups or muffin tin and place in the freezer for a few hours until thoroughly frozen. Pop the frozen oatmeal "pucks" into a plastic freezer bag and they'll be ready to go for a month or longer.
You can also add in most oatmeal toppings before freezing such as brown sugar, raisins, nuts, other dried fruits and spices, but save fresh fruit and milk until you've reheated the oatmeal. To do so, place the frozen oatmeal puck in a microwave safe bowl and nuke for 2 minutes on high. Stir it, and then microwave for another 30 seconds, and add any last minute toppings such as banana slices or milk.
Last year we covered a similar idea, making an oatmeal breakfast for the week in 5 minutes but if you're like me you don't want the same thing for breakfast every day. By freezing the oatmeal it's available whenever you have a craving and it's also great if your kitchen area at work has a a freezer. Also you can buy frozen oatmeal at the grocery store but our DIY version comes out to around twelve cents a serving before additional toppings.
How to make frozen oatmeal at home for .12 a serving | Cathie Filian's Make Something
