Instant Oatmeal & Dried Fruit Breakfast Recipe

Use this recipe to create delicious instant oatmeal with dried fruit pieces for a quick, easy and healthy breakfast. Make ahead and you can keep it on hand for weeks for those early morning rushing-out-the-door moments.

1. Purchase cans of any fruit variety you enjoy the most; peaches, pears, mandarin oranges.  Even fruit cocktail, which includes pineapple and cherries, works great for this recipe. You may also use dried berries; such as strawberries, raspberries, salmon berries, blackberries, cranberries and blueberries. You may also use bananas, apples and oranges. Anything fruit or berry you can dry, you may use in your instant oatmeal.
2. Open the cans and drain all liquid.
3. Using a dehydrator, place all the fruit on the trays and dehydrate until fruit is dry. You can make these as chewy or crunchy as you like; just adjust your drying time. Also, you will want to keep the size of fruit or berries fairly small, but remember they will shrink a lot during the drying process. Read the recipe book for your dehydrator for proper drying times.
4. In zip lock bags, place about 1-2 cups instant oatmeal (depends on how much you eat at one sitting) with ½ cup of dried fruit pieces. You can mix and match or choose just one type of fruit or berry with your instant oatmeal.
5. Label each bag with the variety you used and then seal bags. Store in a dry, dark area or refrigerate. Can be frozen as well, but it is not necessary to freeze dried fruit and berries. Most will keep for a long time.

To cook your instant oatmeal just follow the directions on the oatmeal package. Sometimes you need to add a little more water and cooking time to completely rehydrate some fruits or berries.

For those on the go in the mornings, it is a wonderfully healthy solution to starting your day off with a tasty, nutritious breakfast. Kids love it too.