I have always had oatmeal but not always for breakfast. My father liked the long cooked, almost stiff oatmeal and that's what I grew up on.
We'd have it for breakfast, but also when we'd get home from a cold winter's day outing. We never had cocoa so I guess that role of a fast, warming food when you need it, was taken by oatmeal.
Our family learned that it can be a treat food when we were permitted to add something as a topping. We'd add chopped apples and raisins, cinnamon or nuts, (sunflower seeds mostly). My father used to have dried apple pieces with dried prunes and a fig on top of his. It took me years until I understood why he liked that combination. (I eat that now) LOL!
Looking back on my childhood and realizing that we never had cake or cookie in the house -- and that dessert meant fruit -- I finally saw that I learned to eat healthy without being told that it was healthy.
I really always thought that oatmeal with one of our toppings was a treat! Needless to say my family eats that way too today!
