Frugal Farm Wife Tip: Oatmeal

I'll be the first to admit that I am cheap.  I hate spending money on pre-made things when I'm positive I can make it myself.  Oatmeal was one of those cheap moments in the grocery store.  Mr. P gets up early to take care of all the animals, even earlier when he's milking goats.  So he needs a quick breakfast.  In the winter, he really likes oatmeal.  He is not incredibly adept in the kitchen, so he prefers the little packets of flavored oatmeal - add milk, heat, and eat.  Except he eats two packets a morning.  Do the math.  Box of 8 packets, 2 packets each morning, $2.50 a box... Yeah, it gets expensive.
So, about a year and a half ago, as I'm standing in the breakfast aisle at walmart lamenting the extraordinary price of flavored oatmeal, I happened to glance down and notice that a huge canister of oats was the same price as those 8 packets.  My frugal brain gears started turning.
I came home and dumped the whole canister out into a bowl.  I took a regular size bowl of oats and sprinkled in what I thought would be an adequate amount of brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon for a serving.  Then I dumped that bowl into a plastic cereal container.  I continued this until I filled the container (by the way, the entire canister won't fit in the cereal container, so I put the extra in the canister until I can refill the cereal container).  I cut the cooking instructions off the canister and taped it to the box (though Mr. P never uses it).  It worked fabulously!  Quick, filling breakfast that wasn't eggs!
The next refill, I did the equivalent of two bowls at a time.  After that I kinda knew what it was supposed to look like once mixed up.  So here is my very un-scientific recipe.  Adjust to what you like in your oatmeal - dried fruit would be fun, or maybe some jam.

1 canister of quick oats
1/2 - 1 cup brown sugar - adjust to your tastes
1-2 Tbsp salt (some salt is necessary, but I'm sure you can substitute "No Salt" or other such salt substitute)
1/4 - 1/2 cup cinnamon - I use a LOT of cinnamon.  Our brains link cinnamon with 'sweet' so I can use less sugar and it still is sweet enough for our tastes.

Mix well.  Follow quick oats cooking instructions.

I have substituted splenda brown sugar to cut down on the calories even more, but since I am, at heart, a Frugal Farm Wife, it's just easier to use a little less brown sugar and a little more cinnamon.