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Thursday, November 3, 2011

Steel-cut Crockpot Oats: Waking up to steel-cut oatmeal in the morning!


Now that the weather is chilly, well cold would be a better word, I love to enjoy a hot comforing breakfast in the morning.  Oatmeal is that morning comfort food for me and I used to frequently cook regular oats on a cold morning.  That is, until I tried steel-cut oats. 

A couple of winters ago, my friends Steve and Shari came for a visit and offered to cook breakfast.  The night before, we had gone to Huckleberries Natural Market, which is always a fun place to browse and shop.  They carefully selected the ingredients, which included steel-cut oats and organic raisins.  Watching Shari in the morning, I was a bit skeptical, but when I tasted the oats and felt the gooey yet crunchy texture, I was forever hooked. 

Since that day, I have cooked these oats only on occasion.  They take so long that usually my husband and I are not patient enough to wait for our breakfast.  So, after some digging, I stumbled upon a few different ideas to make breakfast a breeze in the morning.  My favorite was the thought of putting the steel-cut oats in the crock pot.  I have tweaked the recipe and created a yummy reason to hop out of bed on a cold morning.  Of course I have added some anti-inflammatory touches :)

Steel-cut Crock Pot Oats

1 cup steel-cut oats
4 cups water
1/2 cup non-fat milk
Flax meal
Pure Maple Syrup
Cran raisins or raisins

Mix the oats, water and milk in a slow cooker.  Set on low heat for 8 hours.  Start this before you go to bed and you will wake up to a healthy, warm, and comforting breakfast.  Add 1 teaspoon of flax meal and 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup plus some raisins to complete the perfect bowl of oatmeal.  By the way, plain ole raisins are extremely high in anti-inflammatory properties and can help calm morning inflammation. 

*Many people love to add brown sugar and butter, but remember those both cause inflammation in the body.