Delicious HEALTHY Oatmeal

I know its not really my style to post recipes...Not that I don't have a ton of good ones, but I'm no longer the resident chef in our house. Adam loves to cook & is amazing at putting together meals with what we already have on hand while I'm a recipe-follower. Plus he thinks that southern cooking will make us all weigh 400lbs. Drama Queen.

Anyway, my mother-in-law taught me how to make this super easy but healthy oatmeal. I guess she got tired of seeing my packets of overly-processed instant oatmeal lol! This type of oatmeal also lasts a lot longer since its not processed so I eat this for breakfast on the days I have to work. I make a pot of it on Sunday night & it makes enough for the week! Bonus :)

What you need:
1 cup of oat groats
4 cups of water
fruit of choice
sweetener of choice (I use brown rice syrup but maple syrup works well too)
nuts, if desired

How to make it:
Soak your  1 cup of oat groats in the 4 cups of water for 3 hours. After soaking, bring water to a boil, reduce to simmer & cook for 30 mins. Cover & leave on the stove overnight. In the morning, bring water to a boil then cook for another 15-30 mins until creamy. Add sweetener & fruit. Viola!

Now, it tastes like oatmeal but probably not what you're use to. It took me a couple times to get use to it. You may have to spruce it up to your liking...Obviously brown sugar or maple syrup will make it sweeter but brown rice syrup is a healthier option (I use 3T of that so imagine what I would use in sugar lol!) I prefer to put berries or bananas in mine. Sometimes pecans for crunch! I also like to mix whole ground flax seed meal into mine.

Educational Portion:
The groat is the hulled version of the oat. Supposedly you can plant a groat & it will germinate (maybe I'll let Nolin try it sometime as an experiment).This is the most nutritious way to eat oatmeal since it has not been processed & all of the nutrients have been maintained. Groats of any grains are hard to digest so soaking eases the digestive process. But this is also why they keep you feeling full longer. Your system has to work harder to digest them so the oatmeal doesn't pass right through leaving you hungry within an hour. I usually eat breakfast around 630-7am & lunch around 12-1230. My job doesn't leave time for a mid-morning snack so I need to feel full for as long as possible! Even Nolin loves this IF I've made it sweet enough. And put bananas & blueberries in it lol! Happy Eating :)

Delicious!