Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal with Steel Cut Oats

I recently found out that although my mother enjoys steel cut oats, she fears making them because they're sticky, fussy, have a knack for boiling over, and take forty-seven days to make. These are common fears among the oat eating populace, but it doesn't have to be that way! Rise up, friends, face your fears, and go for this half an hour non-fussy version of steel cut oats. You will survive. And you'll have a fabulous breakfast packed with protein, fiber, iron and other awesome things that will give you super powers such as x-ray vision and the ability to fly.* We're going to make a big batch so you'll only have to do it twice a week. (And by "it" I mean make oatmeal. You can do the other "it" as many times a week as you want. I'm not here to judge, just to make oats. And by "make oats" I mean have sex.)



Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal with Steel Cut Oats


Here's What You're Gonna Need:

1 cup of steel cut oats (if gluten is a concern, check to make sure the oats are certified gluten free)
3 cups of water

2 medium apples (red or green)
1/2-1 tsp cinnamon
a splash of vanilla extract (1/4ish tsp)

For individual servings (optional):
brown sugar
milled flax seed (Adds fiber, omega 3s, a little extra protein and a lovely nutty flavor. Do it!)
slivered almonds


And Here's What You're Gonna Do:

Bring three cups of water to a boil. Add oats and a small pinch of salt. Reduce the heat to medium-medium low (you want a low simmer, not an oatmeal volcano). Do not cover. Cook for about 20 minutes. Stir your oatmeal whenever you get the gumption to so so it doesn't stick.

While you're waiting on your oatmeal, work on the apples. Peel and dice apples into small pieces. Put them in a small pot with a couple of tablespoons of water. Add cinnamon and vanilla extract, slap a lid on it, and put it over high heat until the water comes to a boil. This won't take long. Cut the heat, keep the lid on, and let the apples steam for 5-10 minutes, or until desired state of firmness / mushiness is reached. You can also do this step in the microwave

After 20 minutes, take the oatmeal off of the heat, put the lid on, and let it hang out for at least five minutes or whenever it is you get hungry.

Heap today's serving in a bowl, stir in brown sugar (optional) and milled flax seed, top with apples and almonds and enjoy!

The rest of the oatmeal and apples will keep in the fridge for a couple of days. Reheat your oatmeal in the microwave--I usually add a splash of half and half before nuking. Now that wasn't so bad, was it?

*ability to fly not guaranteed.

Let's Get Sauced!

I bet a lot of you clicked on this link thinking you were going to get another story about the misuses of vodka or the mishaps of too much gin. Instead you get applesauce. Too bad for you. Although what you do / drink while your getting applesauced is entirely up to you. I know what I'm going to do...

Apples are in season and pretty cheap-o right now, and I am physically unable to walk past a fruit that's on sale for $1 lb (What's that? Fecal Fruit is on sale for $1 lb? Sweet! I'll take 5 lbs!). These two factors have left me with over 15 lbs of apples currently in my fridge (just weighed them). I have to do something with a them before my husband realizes the beer has been displaced to make room for this absurd amount of apples, so I'm going with applesauce. If you happen to be housing a bumper crop of pears, as well, then that's even better. Apple and apple-pear sauce is absurdly easy to make, makes your house smell wonderful, and people who eat applesauce out of a jar think you're way fancy if you serve up some warm homemade applesauce for dinner. Plus you can put it on those oatmeal pancakes I told you about last week, making you one brilliant individual.

Homemade Apple/Apple-Pear Sauce

Here's what you're gonna need:
This recipe serves 4-5. Double or triple it at will, depending on the absurdity of your fruit situation. You can freeze any leftovers in quart size freezer bags and thaw at will for future fancy and non-fancy dinners.

3 large apples, skinned (some skin left on is okay) and cut into large chunks
2-3 pears (bartlett pears work well, but any kind will do), also skinned and cut into chunks
-or-
5-6 large apples, skinned (some skin left on is okay) and cut into large chunks

3/4 cup water
3/4 Tbs butter (optional)
a splash of vanilla
cinnamon, to taste

And here's what you're gonna do:
Throw all of the ingredients into a largeish pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20-30 mins, or until your favorite kitchen stabber stabs with ease. Mash the whole mess up with a potato masher to whatever consistency you desire-you can go chunky or smooth here. It doesn't get any easier than that, folks. Go forth and be fancy!
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Have any of you ever made apple-sweet potato sauce? I was going to give it a whirl but I didn't have any sweet potatoes so I thought I'd tap into your wisdom before I go buy some and spoil any of my precious pounds of apples...