I make a breakfast oatmeal that contains more than oats.

My local health food store has bulk rolled-grains.

Rolled-grains look like what we call oatmeal, or rolled-oats.

I buy rolled-barley, rolled-rye, rolled-wheat, rolled-triticale and thick-rolled-oats.

Sold in bags, these travel well in my newspaperboy or messenger bag.

I buy about a pound of each, mix them together in a big tupperware-type container, and it costs me less than $5 for five pounds and lasts me about six weeks.

When I get up in the morning I combine a half cup of hot water, a half cup of skim milk, and a 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a small sauce pan, and put this on high heat on the stove.

When it starts to steam and threatens to boil, I turn the stove to its lowest heat, add a half cup of rolled grains, put the lid on the pan and forget about it while I go about my morning routine.

After a half hour or an hour, or an hour and a half or two hours, the grains have absorbed all of the liquid and have fluffed up and remain individual grains (instead of disintegrating into a gluey mush).

I put the cereal in a bowl, top it with three Splenda packets, add enough skim milk to dissolve the Splenda, and I fold it all together.

Each of the grains cooks a little differently and this give the cereal a nice tender chewy texture that I love.

I follow this up with a banana, maybe a little lowfat cottage cheese, and/or lowfat yogurt.