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.
