Nature’s Path Organic Oatmeal
(In the next two weeks we’ll be joined some new regular columnists. Here Margaret Tung ’10 debuts “Natural Nibbles,” a biweekly column about the best of the natural, local, and organic food worlds. Note: the views expressed here are those of the student only and not of YSFP.)
I’m obsessed with oatmeal. I love it to death; its warm, gooey consistency is comforting and soothing–perfect for chilly days or on tough days when all I need is a break. I happened upon my favorite brand of oatmeal, Nature’s Path, this summer when I was at my friend’s lake house in Connecticut. After half a day’s worth of work, I met up with my friend and we got on the train to our break from NYC. I’d been exhausted from hanging out the night before and having to get up early for work, but decided to stay up and watch Twilight. If Robert Pattinson weren’t so sexy I totally would have fallen asleep within the first five seconds. Not because I wasn’t secretly entertained by the movie, but because I was just so tired.
I woke up for an early start, since we were going to go kayaking on Lake Waramaug (whose name I could never remember. I constantly called it Whatchamacalla); it was the first time I’d ever kayaked and I was totally excited. When I woke up in the morning, I went downstairs to get breakfast and found that my friend’s mom had bought us a variety box of Nature’s Path Oatmeal for my breakfast pleasure. There’s something totally different about this oatmeal, even though it’s instant. Some flavors have toasted oats in them, and all of the ingredients are natural and organic. It tastes wholesome, but it also feels good to eat it–the oatmeal is heartier than that flaky Quaker Oats stuff, and the flavoring of it is just right. I absolutely love it. I might obsessively love it. I may or may not have also bought a bulk order of variety boxes of Nature’s Path oatmeal from Amazon.com.
Buy it, eat it, love it. And if you don’t (though not likely), at least give it to me!
davidthier
Nozlee Samadzadeh
margaret
yalesustainablefoodproject
Yale Sustainable Food Project Blog 
Enjoyed reading about oatmeal and got a couple questions…
How is Nature Path’s oatmeal different in taste than other brand?
Also, how do you cook your oatmeal?
I love mine very creamy… 6 cups of milk to 1 cup of oatmeal and cook it until it’s goey creamy…it’s yummy goodness!!!
If you’re looking for really hearty, I would recommend steel cut oats sold cheaply and in bulk at Edge of the Woods. It does take about 45 minutes to cook, but you can do a large batch on a lazy weekend and then microwave small batches in the morning. It is less processed and more filling than most rolled oats.
Hi Jane!
In my experience, Nature’s Path is heartier and thicker. They’re milled and cut like many instant oats are, but taste like rolled oats. They also have excellent, healthy flavors: apple cinnamon, multi-grain raisin, maple-nut, flax-seed, and blueberry flax, amongst others. Those happen to be my favorite flavors. I find that their brand is great for people who are both health conscious and food conscious; they use only real, organic ingredients. No high fructose corn syrup here. I also love their cold cereals.
As for oatmeal prep…creamy is totally the way to go, though I have to say I typically mix in 1/2 a cup of organic soy milk and 1/2 cup of hot water into one packet of oats. It’s what’s easiest for a someone like me, who is dependent on the hot water dispenser and the microwave in the dining hall.
Always glad to read about another person’s oatmeal obsession. (Mine is in the website link. :-))