Green Daily

I am very interested in reducing the packaging and the weird ingredients that come with the food that I eat. Single serving packages are definitely out at my house. We still like things that are quick and convenient like instant oatmeal though.

How do you take something like instant oatmeal in single serving packages and reduce the packaging? It's actually pretty simple. You start with the basic ingredients like oatmeal, sugar and salt and make your own. You can buy the jumbo container of oats and any flavorings you want - like raisins or cinnamon and have better quality, cheaper oatmeal while keeping the ease of packets.

There are two ways to do this. One involves plastic sandwich baggies. You can reuse them, so it's not so bad, but it's not my favorite idea. I think taking the same recipe idea but making up weekly batches in reusable containers is the way I would go. Of course, if you have a family of four eating oatmeal 4 or 5 days a week, that's a lot of reusable containers to store.

My husband is not an oatmeal guy though, so I only have one person eating oatmeal three or four days per week. I can put ingredients into reusable containers, cover them up and then add hot water directly to the mix without the need for an additional bowl or anything else.

Either way, if you use some type of reusable containers or reuse the plastic baggies, you're going to be using less than if you keep purchasing the oatmeal in those little paper packets. And, you're going to save money too.