Really good oatmeal!

Since my toddler-baby was still sleeping when I got up this morning, I took advantage of the extra time to make myself a bowl of oatmeal--the perfect start to a drizzly gray day. I've been getting bored with my typical clean breakfast (sprouted grain toast, natural peanut butter, honey, and a small banana) and needed to change it up a bit. My oatmeal was so good! haven't had it in so long and I'd forgotten how much I liked steel oats.

Really Good Oatmeal

1/4 cup dry steel-cut oats, quick-cooking variety

3/4 cup water

1/4-1/2 cup blueberries (frozen are fine; just thaw a bit first)

Shake of cinnamon, to taste

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (or other nut if you prefer)

2 teaspoons brown sugar (or sweetener of choice)

1. Boil the water in a medium saucepan (leave room for those oats to expand!) with a tiny shake of sea salt if desired. Stir in the 1/4 cup oats and cover. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes stirring often.

2. Meanwhile, put berries, nuts, cinnamon, and sugar in a bowl. Thaw berries in microwave if frozen (about 30 seconds for me).

3. Stir cooked oats into berry mixture. Top with milk of you want.

The oatmeal came out nice and creamy, and just a touch too sweet. I haven't had brown sugar outside of baked goods in a very long time, and I think the 2 teaspoons combined with the blueberries was a tad much. I'll cut that back next time. Agave nectar would be a good substitute, but be careful with the quantity as it's sweeter than sugar. The walnuts were an excellent hearty addition, keeping the whole thing from being too mushy. Combined with my small cup of (half-and-half whitened) coffee, this was an excellent breakfast. My toast just got demoted to "AM snack." Well, at least until my stash of frozen blueberries is gone.