Make-Your-Own Instant Oatmeal Mix

September 2035. The baby came on September 12th. Kai called me at five in the morning and I was at the house within the hour. The birth was at the house itself—Sarah had wanted that, had planned for it with a midwife who knew the land and had delivered babies in home settings for twenty years. Patricia was there. Hannah was there. I was in the kitchen making coffee and something for everyone to eat when it was done.

At six-forty-seven in the morning I heard the sound that meant it had happened. That specific sound you recognize the second time the way you recognize it the first time, even from another room. New life. Everything that comes with it.

Kai came to the kitchen doorway at seven and said: it's a boy. He said: we're naming him Thomas River. We're calling him River—he stopped. He said: we're calling him Tommy. I said: after Thomas? He said: Thomas River, after both of them. He looked like a man who has just arrived somewhere he was always going. I handed him a cup of coffee and he held it with both hands and we stood in the kitchen in the September morning while his son made his first sounds from the other room.

Tommy. Born September 12, 2035, on his great-great-uncle's land, with the persimmons just turning outside the window. I wrote it in the food journal. Tommy arrives. The table gets room for one more.

Standing in that kitchen at five-thirty in the morning, waiting for coffee to finish and listening for sounds from the other room, I needed something I could make with my hands that would be ready whenever people were ready to eat. Oatmeal was what I reached for — warm, simple, the kind of thing you can set out on the counter and let people come to on their own time. This is the mix I keep in the pantry now, the one I made that morning for Kai and Sarah and Patricia and Hannah, spooned into bowls while Tommy made his first sounds down the hall.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 2 minutes | Total Time: 12 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

3 cups quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed (optional)

Instructions

Blend the oats. Place the quick-cooking oats in a food processor or blender and pulse 5–6 times until roughly half the oats are powdery and the rest are still in small pieces. This gives the mix its instant texture.
Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together the pulsed oats, dry milk powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt until evenly distributed.
Add mix-ins. Fold in raisins or dried cranberries and ground flaxseed, if using.
Store the mix. Transfer to an airtight container or jar. The mix keeps at room temperature for up to 2 months.
Prepare a serving. To make one bowl, scoop about 1/2 cup of the mix into a bowl. Pour 3/4 cup boiling water over the mix, stir, and let stand for 2 minutes. Stir again and serve with a splash of milk, fresh fruit, or a drizzle of honey.

Nutrition (per serving)

Make-Your-Own Instant Oatmeal Mix — Something Warm for a September Morning