Vanilla Oatmeal

I love Sunday morning.  There is nothing better than a lazy morning, cup of coffee in hand, newspaper at the ready, and a delicious breakfast.  Saturday mornings I'm usually running in the early AM, so Sundays are the only day I get to actually relax.  During these cold, wintry months, I love oatmeal and other warm cereals for breakfast. It's easy enough to just put together some instant oatmeal, which I do oftentimes during the week, and you get some of the deliciousness and health benefits, depending on the brand you buy.  (My favorite food blog Serious Eats did a taste test of instant oatmeals...results here and here.)  The simple, healthy oatmeal that I've grown to love has also been added to some fast food menus.  But beware!  These seemingly healthy breakfast options are actually teeming with sugar and additives!  You'd be better off making your own or trying some of the more healthy instant brands.  (I've even read that you can actually make your oats in a slow cooker overnight...more on that later.)

When I have the time on Sundays, I love slow cooking some steel-cut oats and adding certain accouterments that I've grown to love over the last few years.  So if you have the time, try these grown-up oats and kick back with your Sunday newspaper.

Ingredients

2 cups water

1/2 cup steel cut oats

2 tbls brown sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract
few dashes cinnamon
handful of fresh/dried blueberries
handful sliver almonds
rice milk to your liking

Cook the steel cut oats according to the package directions.  It usually requires boiling the water, adding the oats and reducing the heat to low, stirring occasionally until the oats come together.

After the oats have cooked to your desired consistency, put the oats into a bowl and add the ingredients listed above.  You'll end up with a sweet, crunchy oatmeal treat.  The best part about this recipe is that it's completely versatile.  Want to add some pecans or walnuts?  Go ahead!  Have some apples?  Well then dice them up and add them in with some extra cinnamon and maybe some cream.  If you like an almond-y flavor, use almond extract instead of vanilla extract.  Oatmeal is just begging to be dressed up in a delicious manner, so have fun creating your own Sunday morning bowls.