Oatmeal for Toddlers
I posted years ago on my first experience with serving oatmeal to my toddler. Since then I’ve switched things up a bit and have settled into a normal “oats” routine.
Oatmeal comes in several varieties and can be confusing to the newbie! I remember being confused… sometimes I still am, to tell you the truth. You’ve got old fashioned oats, quick oats, oat groats, and steal cut oats. Can you use them interchangeably in recipes? I still don’t know.
Here’s a quick rundown as far as I understand it (please correct me if you know better):
- Old Fashioned Oats: Also called “rolled” oats, the actual oat grain (or groat) is fed through rollers and pressed flat. This opens the outer “shell” around them. They are cooked in a pot of water.
- Quick Oats: These look much like the old fashioned variety, but have been processed further and are therefore “quick” to prepare, often simply requiring boiling water to be poured over them.
- Oat Groats: This is the original grain “seed” pod. Organic, not processed, oats in this form could be planted in your yard and would produce more oats. You can cook and eat these as is if you want. You can also put them through your grain grinder to get oat flour. I run oat groats through my roller and roll my own old fashioned oats for recipes.
- Steel Cut Oats: These are said to be the healthiest option (though I don’t know how they compare to the original “oat groat”, sorry.) They are run through a cutter to chop the groat into smaller pieces, leaving the inside exposed, yet not changed too much.
(Again, if any of you can get more “sciency” on that, please share in the comments!)
Our family uses both oat groats and steel cut oats. The oat groats I turn into old fashioned oats for granola and adding to baked goods (using my roller attachment on my grain grinder.) The steel cut oats are the ones I used for “oatmeal”. Because they are less processed/mashed, they take longer to cook. Many recommend soaking them overnight (8-12 hours) with an acidic medium (much like soaking other grains). This is supposed to make them more nutritious and reduce cooking time. Sorry to say, though I do soak them overnight, I do not usually add anything to them. Perhaps I will someday, perhaps I need to read the reasons for it again so I care again (just being real here!), but I don’t do it now.
Oats (or oatmeal… I use the terms interchangeably) are a wonderful food to feed even the youngest toddlers. I even start this food with babies (once I’m doing solids). It truly is versatile. It can be plain or dressed up, thick or thin. When feeding babies, it can be thinned down with water, breast milk or other milk to whatever consistency your baby needs. When toddlers are ready to feed themselves, it can be left thicker so it stays on the spoon better. (Too thick can cause choking though, so be careful!)
When I serve my littles, I almost always add applesauce. Not only does this act as a sweetener, but it cools it down and adds moisture (something that my oats usually need). I also get another food group in there! Yey! I have also been known to add mashed bananas if applesauce is running short. This doesn’t cool it, but the kids think it’s extra sweet. When I have them, I add raisins to the older kids oats, but not the young toddlers. I wait until my toddlers can handle a little extra something in their food and won’t choke. You can also add other extras. It’s all up to you and your preferences! My recommendation is to experiment and see just how many nutritious extras you can add in! The next on my list to try (because I keep forgetting) is wheat germ. I have tons left over when I sift my home ground flour and it’s just sitting around. I need to start adding it to stuff! 
What do you do with your oatmeal?
