[1] Instead of sugar, try maple syrup on your oatmeal. Here, there’s also a sprinkling of almonds for more protein—and crunch and flavor (photo © Wesual | Unsplash).

[2] Food fun: oatmeal topped with peanut butter—more protein—and jelly (photo © Simply Quinoa).

[3] Oatmeal can also be a savory dish, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Here it’s fusion food, topped with an egg, scallions, and “leftover” shredded pork, Chinese-style. Here are more savory oatmeal recipes (photo © Omnivore’s Cookbook).

[4] Baked oatmeal casseroles are also delicious. Here’s the recipe (photo © Driscoll’s).

[5] How about an oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich (photo © Dairy Farmers Of Wisconsin).

If you’re not eating enough whole grains, add some oatmeal to your diet. We’ve included some oatmeal recipes for October 29th, National Oatmeal Day.

Oats are whole grains, a good source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. According to the American Cancer Society:

 
> The history of oatmeal.

> The different types of grains: a photo glossary.

> Food 101: the difference between porridge and gruel is below.

> The year’s 14 cereal holidays.

> Plus, there are 8 oatmeal-specific holidays below.
 
 
OATMEAL RECIPES

For Breakfast

 
 
WHAT IS PORRIDGE?

If you grew up reading 19th-century novels, you probably read a lot about porridge and gruel. What’s the difference?

Porridge is a dish made by boiling ground, crushed or chopped cereal grains in water, milk, or a combination of both. It is usually served hot, often sweetened, and sometimes savory (the beloved cheese grits are porridge).

Any cereal grain can be made into porridge. Some of the most common in the U.S.:

 
Other cereals—flax, millet, quinoa, rye, sorghum, and spelt, for example—are also made into porridge; as are non-cereals like legumes and potatoes.

Pease porridge, from the old English nursery rhyme, is made from dried peas.

> Alternative grain porridge options.
 
 
WHAT IS GRUEL?

Gruel is a thinner version of porridge—so thin that it can be drunk, rather than spooned. Historically, gruel has been a staple of the Western peasant diet.

Gruel is often made from barley, hemp and millet. In hard times, chestnuts and even the less tannic acorns of some oaks were ground into flour and made into gruel.

Gruel was a cheap way for officials to feed the poor—most famously described by Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, a ward of the parish, who couldn’t even get a second helping of it at his orphanage.
 
 
THE YEAR’S 8 OATMEAL HOLIDAYS

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This year, for National Chocolate Day, October 28th, we’ve got Part 2 of our exploration of chocolate and cheese pairings.

The chart below joins our other chocolate pairing articles:

 
The best way to appreciate these pairings is to get a group together to taste them.

What if each participant took on a different pairing group—say, one tasting a month?
 
 
CHOCOLATE HISTORY

 
 
THE LANGUAGE OF CHOCOLATE: A GLOSSARY

Here’s the vocabulary of chocolate.

Learn how to talk the talk, as you deepen your knowledge of the many forms of chocolate.
 
 
CABOT CHOCOLATE PAIRING CHART

Cabot Cheese Co-op put together the chart below to showcase how to pair chocolate with some of its cheeses.

The pairings in this chart themselves can create a really terrific cheese and chocolate tasting.

While Cabot has paired particular cheeses with particular chocolates, you can create a tasting with the pairings, rather than the flavors; for example:

[1] Chocolate pairs with many different cheeses, including the blues (photo © Éclat Chocolate).

[2] Red wine, chocolate, and raspberries: a great pairing, missing only the cheese. We vote for a ripe Brie or Camembert (photo © Discover California Wine).

[3] Merge these beer and chocolate pairings with these beer and cheese pairings (photo © Lake Champlain Chocolates).

 
And, you can pair the chocolate with other cheeses beyond Cheddar. Mix, match, and see what works for you!
 

[4] Chart © Cabot Cheese Co-op.

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[1] Turn meatloaf into Feetloaf (all photos © Hannah Kaminsky | Bittersweet Blog).

[2] Perhaps you can borrow a knife from Michael Myers.

[3] Sliced, plated, and ready to eat.

This is one of the best Halloween dinners ever. “Feetloaf,” designed by Hannah Kaminsky, turns meatloaf into food fun.

In fact, her recipe is vegan, and we promise it’s delicious. But you can make Feetloaf with your own meatloaf recipe.

Standard meatloaf recipes will only make enough material for a single foot, so double the quantities if you want two feet!

You’ll want to remove the natural toenails, which are pretty tough and sharp. Sliced cipollini onions make excellent replacements, adding flavor and covering any unsightly toe stumps at once.

Expect any side dish to be largely overlooked when you have such a grand show-stopper on the table.

The Feetloaf recipe is below these Halloween recipes.
 
 
BEYOND FEETLOAF: MORE SPOOKY HALLOWEEN RECIPES

Lunch & Dinner

 
Appetizers & Desserts

 
 
RECIPE: FEETLOAF HALLOWEEN MEATLOAF

What sides are best to serve with Feetloaf? A leafy green salad, steamed broccoli or peas, and meatloaf’s best pal, mashed potatoes.

Prep time is 25 minutes, and cook time is 1 hour.
 
Ingredients For Black Bean Meatloaf

 
For The Garnish

1. PREHEAT the oven to 350°Fand line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil; set aside.

2. ROUGHLY CRUMBLE or chop the tempeh and put it in A food processor along with the nuts. Pulse lightly to begin breaking them down into a coarse meal. Add the black beans and pulse to incorporate, but do not blend them into a paste. The mixture should still have a rough consistency. Transfer to a large bowl.

3. LIGHTLY PULSE the onion, carrot, and garlic before adding them into the bowl as well. Add the ketchup, soy sauce, seasoning, vinegar, paprika, salt, and pepper, stirring vigorously to incorporate. Once well combined, add the oats, flaxseeds, and olive oil. Stir with a wide spatula until everything is thoroughly blended.

4. SHAPE the feet. Divide the mixture in two and place them as separate rectangles on the prepared baking sheet. Use moistened hands to form the toes and to bring up the ankle slightly.

5. PRESS slices of cipollini onion into the toes for the nails, and then push the daikon into the ankles for the bones. Squirt ketchup all around the ankle stump where it meets the bone.

6. CAREFULLY PLACE the baking sheet in the center of the oven and bake for 1 hour. The toes should be a bit crispy around the edges and the daikon will be fork-tender.

7. SLICE and serve with additional ketchup, if desired. Enjoy hot.

8. TO REHEAT LEFTOVERS: Cut the loaf into individual portions and either microwave for 1-2 minutes or bake in a 350°F oven for 8-10 minutes, until it is hot all the way through.
 
 

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*If you can’t get daikon, substitute leeks (white parts only), parsnip, peeled potatoes, white carrots, or whole hearts of palm.

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