Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Maybe it is said from the perspective of a horse, who knows that oatmeal helps humans go to the bathroom, thus making them lighter to carry. I'm sure the creepy guy rode a horse at some point in his life and he looks pretty darned heavy.

@redfish: Hilarious!

I saw a bus with one of the Quaker ads on it the other day when I was running. It didn't make me improve my time. I eat the Irish stuff anyway.

It might sound strange, but in my country, everyone drinks oatmeal cold, with milk (or water, but I can't stomach it like that). It's definitely cheap and filling, and comes in regular, chocolate and vanilla flavors. I like to throw mine into a banana & pb smoothie -- really fills me up!

I don't get the whole uproar about "savory oatmeal". Who on earth decreed that oats have to be eaten sweet with lashings of sugar or fruit? And why is the idea of something savory for breakfast getting everyone's panties knotted? No one bats an eye at the idea of omelets, eggs and bacon, biscuits and gravy, grits, migas, ... the list is a mile long. But talk about adding cheese or eggs or bacon or salt and pepper to your *gasp* oats and suddenly you're a weirdo. :) Seriously. Lots of people don't like sweet stuff in the mornings. Those of us who love savory foods have been eating oats w/out sweet additions for years. A sprinkle of salt and pepper and maybe some shredded cheese is so much better (and better for you) than a heap of brown sugar or syrup.

@karacooks:
I totally agree, i'm not sure who wrote it in stone that oatmeal had to be sweet instead of savory. We eat plenty of other grains in savory dishes, why not oats? Personally, I'm kind of excited about giving "savory oatmeal" a shot.

We had an oatmeal fad back in the 80s when they found that oat bran lowered serum cholesterol levels.

Savory oatmeal isn't much of a stretch (especially since we've been adding it to ground meats as an extender for a hundred years). Just think of grits.

Oops, it's a cutesy family of SIX...GACK (okay, so I'm not good with numbers...)

@karacooks and toad3000:
I'm with you guys on the savory thing but also who said it has to be eaten in the morning? Oatmeal was a staple at my house as a kid (still is actually) but we often ate it for dinner with all kinds of stuff (my dad was especially fond of salsa, frozen peas, and an egg) mostly because it was one thing my dad (post divorce) knew how to make well. Also on that list was ramen but... I never thought it was weird until the reactions I got first year of college when I asked for plain (because it always already had sugar!) to be served in the dorm cafe during dinner. People thought I was nuts!

@oregonpinot - I agree. In fact I had oatmeal with my dinner on Tuesday. A little feta cheese, and some sliced grilled chicken breast to round it out. Good stuff. It's really no different from serving mashed potatoes or polenta or anything like that.

I just had an epiphany! I put a spoonful of peanut butter in my oatmeal and it melted in and is delish! Go try it!

It is so surprising that folks find the idea of savory oatmeal odd - I love it with cheese, onions, and worcestershire sauce - someone mentioned feta, that sounds great (my mom is Canadian, and they put Worcetershire sauce on their mac and cheese - it wasn't such a far leap from there to oatmeal for me, especially after hearing about savory asian rice porridges), but it is also good with tvp cooked in to raise the protein. I nearly never use sugar, and the only way I like it sweet is with homemade blackberry jam - the little berry segments break up and blend with the oatmeal in such a delightful way! I'm on a quest this year to lower my cholesterol using oatmeal and bean dishes (not together, of course!)