It Lowers Your Cholesterol

Oatmeal. To many, this mainstay which can be found on breaksfast menus all over the country might not sound appetizing. A meal of oats.

However, I'm betting these same folks would have had a change of heart (with lowered cholesterol) had they attended the Quaker Oatmeal Festival in Lafayettte, Colorado. The festivities were held throughout the old town area of Lafayette. The city is about 30 minutes from Denver and 15 minutes from Boulder. There was a 5K walk/run,  a health fair,  local vendors, a baking contest (had I known about this sooner, I would have entered my Oatmeal-cranberry dipped in chocolate cookies!), Bongo - the balloon guy (he's flippin amazing!), facepainting, adoptable furries from the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, and loads of oatmeal!

When you entered the building where the food was being sold, you could smell breakfast. There were oatmeal muffins that tasted like they were chock-full of heart-happy goodness, yet they were sweet enough for the kids' picky tastebuds. Pancakes made from Quaker oats had this fantastic rustic texture and appearance. But, the piece de resistance* (I apologize...I don't know how to make the accents grave and  aigu from my keyboard) of the breakfast was the oatmeal. More specifically, the toppings bar for the oatmeal.

Before us, in the cafeteria, were rows of yummies to be combined with our oatmeal. I was thrilled to see fresh fruit - blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Every nut that you can imagine was available for consumption. There were spices, sugars, and extracts ( all from McCormick's. Yeah!). Raisins, dates, dried cranberries & cherries were also present for the party. Who would have thought of putting apple butter, pumpkin butter, or flavored jams into oatmeal? The folks at Quaker, of course!
None of these things appealed to the kids. It wasn't until I saw the offerings of Nutella, peanut butter, M&M's, chocolate chips, and Gummi Bears that I knew they would finish everything in their bowls.

PS...This was a zero landfill waste event, meaning everything that was used for eating and drinking - utensils, bowls, trays, cups, and so on, are biodegradable, able to be composted, or able to be recycled.  Common in Colorado. I wanted you to see the impact this makes on the environment, so I took a picture of the cup I was using. Yes, there was coffee in it. DECAF.

*piece de resistance...The principal dish of a meal: the highlight of a meal