Oats are proven to lower cholesterol, regulate blood sugar and calm nerves, a very nice benefit for our crazy times.
I am a serious stress-eater; I eat when I'm stressed. Long before I learned oats calm nerves, I must have instinctively known it because I was making a pot of this special oatmeal, my basic, bejeweled oatmeal below, in the morning, and then just leaving it out all day on the counter in a sealed container, taking a spoonful several times throughout the day, as I passed by it, like when I felt "I gotta chew!", like when I'm frustrated.

In a small saucepan, add:

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. raisons

1/2 c. cranberries

1 3/4 c. water

Bring to a rolling boil.

Add 1 cup oatmeal, barely stir, immediately remove from heat.

Let sit uncovered for 2 minutes.

Feel free to add hipping cream, butter, cinnamon, raw or brown sugar, chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, etc.

Rolled oats are the star for this class. They are naturally sweet, crazy-versatile, they are inexpensive, and easy to prepare. They are a great source of B vitamins, and, surprisingly calcium, as well as protein, and of course, fiber. In fact, oats seems to have a special level of fiber---I think it was an Harvard article that likened oats to 'a garbage truck for your body---it hauls out the trash". A very good thing.