If you haven’t tried steel cut oats yet, you are missing out… The main difference between the types of oatmeal out there are how much they are processed. Quick oats are processed the most, followed by regular old fashioned oats. Then there is steel cut oats which are in their natural state but just cut. The least processed are groats, which are the uncut steel cut oats. I believe you should eat everything as unprocessed as possible. The closer it is to it’s natural state the better. I’ve loved old fashioned oatmeal for years and decided recently to experiment with the steel cut oats again.

I’d tried cooking them in the past and always ended up frustrated. I tried them in the crock pot overnight but ended up with a sticky mess in the morning. The pot was hard to clean and they were totally mush. Cooking them in the morning isn’t an option for me because they take about 35 minutes and you really should be stirring that whole time… So I decided to experiment with the quick cook and soaking method. Here is what works perfectly for me!

Overnight Steel Cut Oats
1 cup steel cut oats
4 cups water

Put oats and water into a saucepan. Bring both to a boil, stirring frequently. Once you reach a boil, turn heat down just enough so it doesn’t boil over. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Turn the burner off, remove pan from heat, put on cover and let sit overnight.

In the morning your oats are ready to eat! All you need to do is heat them up and add whatever fixings you like. I like bananas, cinnamon, raisins and a little almond milk at this time of year. I usually make enough for about a week and store the leftovers in the fridge. Quick and easy breakfast for a whole week in just a few minutes!

Enjoy!

I got a Magic Bullet for my birthday not too long ago and I’ve been making smoothies like a mad woman. Mmmm mmmm good! The fruit ones are always delicious but I was hoping for something different and sneaking in some greens! I’ve heard so much about green smoothies lately I decided to try putting some spinach in because I had read in so many places that you couldn’t even taste it. I was skeptical but then I made this and boy is it delicious! Yes, it does look a little weird but you really and truly can’t taste the spinach. Here goes:

1 banana
3/4 cup of vanilla almond milk
1 Tbl of unsweetened cocoa
Big handful of spinach
Ice

Blend for about a minute and enjoy!

While I was drinking my first Chocolate Banana Smoothie my 7 year old daughter came up to me and wanted a sip. I gave her some and she said “YUM! Chocoalate banana shake! Can you make me one?” I said sure and she slurped it right down. She never even knew she just got an awesome serving of spinach! I’m going to get some other greens and keep experimenting! Give this one a try!

Ingredients

2 bananas
1 cup dates
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp Vanilla extract
8 cups of rolled oats (not instant)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).

2. If the dates are hard, soak in hot water to soften.  Puree the bananas and dates in a food processor or blender. Add 1/2 cup of hot water, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon; mix well.

3. Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl, add oatmeal and mix well.

4.Spread onto large baking sheets and bake at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for 1 to 1 1/2 hours stirring frequently. Cook longer for crunchier if desired.