My Fixation with Oatmeal

I've always loved oatmeal.  I can't remember a time when I didn't have it for breakfast at least once a week.  I go through phases where I'll eat steel cut oats or old fashioned oats for weeks. But for the past several months, I have the same breakfast nearly every morning:  instant oats with a a spoon of jam and chopped walnuts served with a glass of milk.  I'm sure some would find it incredibly boring, but there is something about the taste and gluey texture that I can't get enough of.  I purposely make it on the gummy side because it's what I like.  Oatmeal is personal.  Some like it thick, some without toppings, and some pour milk on top.  Typically it is served with milk, brown sugar, and raisins. It's good this way, but I've long moved on to other flavor combinations.  They say that instant oats are not as healthy as the old fashioned kind, but oh well.  And one more thing.  I imagine that other people have weird food rituals, and here is one of mine:  after I cook the oatmeal on the stove, I put 3/4 of it in a serving bowl and leave the rest in the pan.  When I finish what's in the bowl, I use a spatula to eat the coldish, sticky leftovers in the pan.  I do it every time.  

I thought I'd also comment on the milk in Denmark.  Well, it's really more of a rant.  Milk is sold in quarts and half quarts.  I'm sorry, but do you know how fast you go through a quart of milk when you have kids?  And never mind the kid issue, I drink enough myself to warrant buying a larger container.  But no, not an option.  The other issue is that refrigerators are smaller here.  I'm not an advocate for huge fridges, but if they were bigger I could buy more quarts of milk!  I personally think it's a ploy to get people into the stores more frequently to spend money, but who knows.  I'm not saying that I would necessarily buy a gallon of milk, but I would definitely choose a half gallon.  The only advantage that I see is that I buy varying levels of milk fat to suit each family member's taste.  I go for the 0.5% "minimilk" which contains just a tad more fat than skim milk.  My husband and son like the 3.5% whole milk. And then I usually buy a quart of 1.5 % "light milk" to add to my black tea. You can also buy 0.1% and 0.9%.   And almost every dairy product is available organic, or okologisk in Danish.  

Finally, here is a photo of a blackcurrant drink that I brought home from an expat event I attended this week.  I mixed it with sparking water - blackcurrant is not something I've ever had in the U.S., but it's a common fruit flavor here.  It tastes like a cross between a raspberry and blueberry...the juice, that is.  I haven't tried the actual berry.