Oatmeal The Hard Way

Ok, so anyone that actually knows me in RL knows that I'm pretty lazy... so lazy, in fact, that I will spend an hour to save myself 5 minutes! So When I say, "Oatmeal the hard way," I really mean, "I like eating tasty and healthy oatmeal, but I'm lazy and don't want to take literally an hour making oatmeal everyday." Here's my method:  First, do yourself a favor and find the steel cut oatmeal. This tastes way better than the mushy instant crap, it has a crunchy-chewy texture, and it's healthier than the instant because it's not processed to the point where you can add water, nuke it for a minute, and it's done.

Steel Cut Oats

This is what you want, steel cut oats, or "Irish style." I found these at my local Trader Joe's, and sometimes at grocery stores, but I have yet to find them at Walmart :( Anyway, start cooking the oats to the directions, in this case, each serving => 1 cup water per 1/4 cup oats. I'm making enough for the work week, so 5 cups of water and 1.25 cups of oatmeal.

I like to substitute apple juice for water, which makes the oatmeal taste like apple pie filling. I either go all apple juice, or mostly juice and some water.  When the apple juice starts to boil off, the sugar gets concentrated, so I never add any sugar.

Boil the liquid (juice, water, or combination of the two), then add the oats and stir for about 5 minutes until it starts to thicken. Simmer for about 30 minutes, depending on how cooked you like your oats. In the mean time, take out the 2 cup mason jars and fill ~1/4 full with all the goodies...

Two Cup Mason Jars Filled With Goodies

I REALLY like walnuts, but I also add raisins, cranberries (dried), blueberries (frozen or dried), 1t cinnamon, or whatever else goes good in oatmeal. Some day I'm going to try apple chunks, bananas (mashed or chunks), prunes (maybe need to cut up first?), etc.

I use the mason jars, because I like how they seal when I pour in the hot oatmeal which cools and sucks down the lid**. Plus, they end up being just the right size for breakfast. Once you pour the hot oatmeal in the jars with all the goodies (or you can add the goodies after you put in the oatmeal, which might be easier, especially for the cinnamon), you need to give it a good stir, then put the lid on. At this point, I usually let the jars cool for an hour or two before putting in the refrigerator to dump some of that thermal energy.

Jars Stirred and Ready For the Fridge

When you're ready to eat, just take off the lid and pop in the microwave for about 2 minutes. Stir and eat.


**I finished making the oatmeal around 8 PM tonight, and around 9:15 PM I heard the "pop" of the lids getting sucked down. I guess I can put them in the fridge now :)