Hearty breakfast

We eat steel cut oats about four or five times a week. It's healthy, tasty, and I feel like it does a body good! I have always enjoyed oatmeal and over the years I've learned and developed new ways to make it.

For regular oats I was given a tip to make it nice and moist, but not gooey: Put your oats and water in a pan, (salt if desired), bring it to a boil, turn off the heat, leave the lid on for 15 to 20 minutes. I tried it and it worked beautifully.

When I switched to steel cut oats I had heard so many horror stories of how long it would take to cook and you had to stir it constantly. It honestly put me off wanting to try it. But I gave in and now I eat it all the time.

For workdays when I don't have a lot of time to monitor the cooking, I use my 8 cup glass measuring cup/bowl. I put in one very generous cup of steel cut oats and about 3 to 4 cups of water. Microwave on high for about 5 minutes. At this point you can keep microwaving, usually in (approximately) 2 minute spurts to avoid overflowing. I usually let it sit for a while as I chop the apples. I keep microwaving for 2 minutes, stir, repeat until done. If I've started with 3 cups of water I usually add more after 2 or 3 rounds in the microwave. It really is simple and you just have to play with it until it is to your taste.

For the apple I do one of two things:

General tips:
Use as much or as little cinnamon as you like.
I like putting the sweetener in the apples or the oats because you get more flavor with less sweetener.Sometimes I will put the oats in the water the night before, and it cuts back on the cooking time in the morning.This feeds two of us. I eat what I consider a normal size bowl, and K eats a huge bowl. You can adjust to any amount you like. I've also made a larger quantity, put the leftovers in the fridge, and add a little water or milk, microwave to heat and you have an instant breakfast.Microwaves vary, so monitor your cooking times. I have found that if I start with a long 5 to 6 minutes, it will just be ready to overflow when the time is up. After I let it sit for a short while I stir, microwave 2 minutes, and repeat.Sometimes I peel the apples, sometimes I don't. It's all personal preference.If I'm feeding the two of us, I use two apples.
We also use frozen blueberries and other fun fruits.What are your oatmeal tips & topping?


Enjoy!