Oatmeal

Breakfast...the most important meal of the day, depending on who you ask.

My husband travels a lot. Now, compared to some men, maybe not a lot. But 6 times in four months seems a lot to me, especially when I become a single parent for a few days (while working full time).

I get by with lunches and dinners by cooking two big meals and eating leftovers. Yeah, I get sick of the leftovers after 4-5 days.

Breakfast, however, I don't mind eating the same thing for a week. When we returned from our vacation at 12:30 am last Saturday, our fridge was bare. Dry cheerios were fine for my spouse (he prefers them that way), but I needed something else. So Sunday morning I cooked up a big pot of steel-cut oats (1 cup oats, 4 cups water, boil, reduce heat, and simmer until water is absorbed. Be careful, they will spill over. Stir frequently.)

And thus, I reheated parts of it every day for breakfast, and topped with yummy things, like:
1. diced dates, raisins, and figs, with cinnamon, honey, and toasted almonds
2. homemade plum jam, and more almonds (shown)

One cup of cooked oatmeal is really filling, and pretty cheap. At $1.99/lb for organic steel-cut oats, that comes out to:

1 cup oats = 5.625 ounces (yah, I weighed it): *1.99 per lb / 16 oz per lb = $0.70, for 5 cups.

1 cup cooked oats = $0.14.

Yum! Half an ounce of almonds is $0.11, and you'll have to add a little for fruit, sugar, honey, syrup, whatever. Still a deal. Breakfast for under 50 cents.