Fifth Step

Ok, let's do one more breakfast recipe before we move on to another meal. Baked Oats. These are made with whole oat groats that you can find in the bulk section at your local health food store. They are so healthy as the entire oat is still intact and all the enzymes are with it. There are 2 ways you can go about this one.

Option #1- soaking (from Nourishing Traditions)-harder
1 c oat groats, place on a baking sheet at 350 degrees until the turn light brown
Process in a food processor or coffee grinder
Soak in a bowl with 2 cups water plus 4 tablespoons yogurt for 7- 24 hours
The next morning-
In a pot, bring additional 1 1/2 cups water to boil, add soaked oatmeal and cook on low for 10 min.

Option #2- crock pot-easier
Before going to bed at night, place 3 parts water to 1 part oat groats, in crock. Turn to low until the morning. Now, if you really dislike the edges getting hard, you can place a heat proof bowl in the crock filled with the oat/ water mixture, add water half way up the sides, heat again on low. No hard edges, but an extra intial step.

These are great with wild blueberries stirred in and topped with real butter and cinnamon. I buy the frozen wild blueberries in a large bag at Wal-Mart for $10 and it lasts a while! I usually add about 1/4c per person to the oats,and it does the job.

So, with step two, three, and six you now have 3 really healthy, easy, and inexpensive options for breakfast. Serve each one twice a week, and that only leaves 1 day for pre-packaged box cereal, or a special day of eggs and toast. I will include other ideas later as we journey further down our road to healthy eating.