It was 59 degrees in Brooklyn this morning. The sun is setting earlier and earlier, and soon it will be dark before we finish work each day. When I start to despair about the end of summer and what comes next, I think: at least it’s oatmeal season now.
Yes, the good news is that starting today, you can have oatmeal for breakfast. You can do it every day, if you want. Technically, oatmeal season started for me last week: I made it every morning except Friday, when I had a protein shake, which I regret. Back to oatmeal!
My favorite oatmeal is the classic Quaker Instant Maple & Brown Sugar. I heat it up in the microwave and add a little 2 percent milk. It’s so good. I know other people like steel-cut oats, which seem like a lot of work, but if that’s what you like, now’s the perfect time to get going on them. I’ve also heard of “overnight oats,” but I wouldn’t include them in oatmeal season because I’m pretty sure you eat them cold. You could have those whenever. Also, my lovely colleague Darcie Wilder informed me that actress and former New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon eats raw oats for breakfast every day. That’s not right. Can you imagine? Darcie said she tried it and it made her choke. No. Oatmeal season is about looking forward to a hot, sugary treat in the morning, which incidentally is easy to prepare and eat.
Now you might be thinking, Is it bad to eat oatmeal every day? I know because that’s what Google says people are asking.
Guess what: it’s actually good. "By eating oatmeal every day, you can lower your total cholesterol level, reduce the 'bad' LDL cholesterol, and increase your 'good' HDL cholesterol levels," says Megan Byrd, RD, in an article on eatthis.com that Google surfaced to answer this particular query. Good enough for me.
Oatmeal goes great with a cup of coffee — that’s a complete breakfast right there. I won’t say something rude like, “It will keep you full until lunch,” because what does? But it’s more satisfying than just about anything else you could have in the morning.
When you go to sleep tonight, and you remember it’s not actually Friday yet and you have a whole other weekday to do tomorrow, just think: oatmeal. It’s waiting for you.
