Things That Are Awesome: Bob's Red Mill 8-Grain Hot Cereal

I'm one of those few people who doesn't like oatmeal. I know, I know. It's supposed to be so good for you and all that. I've just never been able to stomach it. I've tried and tried over the years and I still just don't care for it. And yes, I've tried just about every different brand and type of oatmeal you can imagine with all different toppings. Still not a fan. I've finally stopped trying to convince myself that I might one day wake up and have a hankering for oatmeal. Not gonna happen.

I do, however, love me some grits. I am a Southern gal, after all. Grits, however awesome, aren't always as filling as I'd like in the morning, especially when we don't generally take our lunch breaks at work until 1pm. I was buying flour at the market one day when some of the Bob's Red Mill hot cereals caught my eye. They have so many different kinds, all named things like 10-Grain Hot Cereal and 8-Grain Hot Cereal. I think there are two different kinds of the 10-Grain one, even. How many grains are the right amount? Who knows. I decided to try the 8-Grain Hot Cereal. That one's wheat free, but not totally gluten-free. Though they do have a couple of gluten-free hot cereals.

Now I've been eating this hot cereal for breakfast for a few years now. It's pretty awesome. I like to add some dried fruits and nuts and a little bit of agave nectar or maple syrup. I've been doing a bit of experimenting with Traditional Chinese Medicine here and there lately. One of the things I was doing had me eating or avoiding certain foods to help balance my qi. I was off sugars so I didn't want to add my usual sweetener. Molasses was on my list of recommended foods so I decided to try a spoonful of that on top of my cereal instead. Cherries and coconut were also supposed to be beneficial and I just happened to have some of each in the cabinet. (The dried cherries were from the Cherry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies which I heartily recommend you try if you haven't already.)

I was a bit suspicious about how this weird looking concoction would taste, but to my surprise it was kind of great. I've started using molasses on my cereal sometimes now just to shake things up a bit. Even better blackstrap molasses is a great source of calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron. The nutrients are basically packed in there; you get a pretty good amount of each of those minerals from just a tablespoonful. Awesome! Also, dried cherries are crazy amazing in hot cereal. I dare you to try it, but maybe do it on this kind of hot cereal not that icky oatmeal.