Most store bought maple syrup isn't real...so a sugar free version is just made with artificial sweetener

I usually have plain oatmeal, water---no milk, salted with a little butter. Sometimes I add a sweetener, instead, but mostly I prefer it plain and salted.

Man, some of you guys like to make life complicated. I throw Quaker Old-Fashioned oatmeal or the generic equivalent in a bowl with some raisins, pour on cold water, serve. That's been my mainstay for at least 20 years, ever since I figured out that Swiss muesli is just uncooked quick oatmeal with a little dried fruit and dried milk and a lot of sugar. Which reminds me: shortly after I came up with this recipe sometime in the mid-'80s, some friends and I were taking a break during an off-road ride with a guy who was in the middle of his second circuit around the world on his bike. While we were standing around, he pulled a can of oatmeal out of one pannier and a bowl out of the other and proceeded to mix himself up a cold water and oatmeal snack. So there's at least one other bike guy out there who likes to go hardcore.

I guess I'm the only guy that likes dates in his hot cereal?? I alternate between the thick cut rolled oats, Hodgson Mills Multi Grain & Oat brand hot cereals. Bannanas, dates & brown sugar or Maple Syrup work for me. That would be real Vermont grade A amber maple syrup, accept no substitutes!