Better Oatmeal

I have been slacking in the kitchen soooo bad!!! Thought I would give a few tips for adding some punches of flavor and texture to your morning oatmeal.

First off I love the large flake oatmeal not instant or minute. Why? Texture and health reasons. You can go for steel-cut oatmeal too but it takes sooooo long to cook and I am damn hungry 😉 The hardier the grain the healthier it is.  The more natural foods are, the longer it will take for your body to break it down; this is also known as low glycemic index foods. Great for diabetics!! The longer it takes to digest the longer we feel full and satisfied and won’t snack in-between meals. Also if our guts have to work so much to break down all this hardy goodness then our metabolism increases and burns more calories!! Yay! Ok I know boring science food nutrition garbage! Lets get on to the good stuff!!

Here I have 1 serving of milk I heated up with a bit of orange zest till it started to boil then plop in your serving of oatmeal and let it simmer till it is cooked.

Off heat I added a few drops of vanilla, few sprinkles of cinnamon and mixed that up.

Put that in a bowl, now comes the not so healthy part but hey you counteracted that with the whole grains right??? Drizzle a bit of maple syrup on it and because I am french a dollop of butter!! Ahhhhh.

Ok what am I missing?? Lets get a bit of crunch going on in this bowl…. slivered almond, pecan bits, walnuts or this:

Take a spoon and dig in!!

And I took some pics of some latte art me and my hubby enjoyed the day before 🙂

Skillet Apple Pie

Ingredients:

• 6 cooking apples (I used granny smith)
• 1 1/2 cups of apple cider
• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 1/4 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 prepared pie crust

Directions:

Cut your apples into wedges and add 2 tbsp of butter to a skillet on medium-high heat.  Brown apples a bit in your pan.

Stir together the apple cider and cornstarch before adding to the skillet or you will get lumps and bumps. Let that simmer.  Add your maple syrup and cinnamon. Stir.

Now roll out your pie crust and top off  your skillet with it. Cut a few slits into it. I brush the top of mine with milk or butter and sprinkle sugar on it.

I know it’s not pretty but it’s rustic! That’s my story and I am sticking to it.

Place your skillet into a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes till crust is golden and enjoy!

To get a great flaky pie crust use ice-cold water and cold butter. Handle as little as possible. It is the chunks of fat distributed throughout the dough that makes your pie crust flaky and tender 🙂

Skillet Apple Pie

• Servings: 6
• Time: 1hr
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients:

• 6 cooking apples (I used granny smith)
• 1 1/2 cups of apple cider
• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 1/4 tsp of cinnamon
• 1 prepared pie crust

Directions:

Cut your apples into wedges and add 2 tbsp of butter to a skillet on medium-high heat.  Brown apples a bit in your pan.

Stir together the apple cider and cornstarch before adding to the skillet or you will get lumps and bumps. Let that simmer.  Add your maple syrup and cinnamon. Stir.

Now roll out your pie crust and top off  your skillet with it. Cut a few slits into it. I brush the top of mine with milk or butter and sprinkle sugar on it.

Place your skillet into a 425 degree oven for 30 minutes till crust is golden and enjoy!