Toasted Nut + Honey Oatmeal

I like to buy big bags of bulk, raw nuts to keep around the house because they come in handy for cooking so many different things.  If you buy them raw, that leaves the possibility open for preparing them in a variety of different ways, like the other morning, when I was in the mood for some oatmeal that packed with fresh strawberries, oven-toasted nuts and topped with raw honey.  

A couple of tips about oatmeal…

1.) I always like to cook it with half water and half almond milk… it’s just creamier that way.

2.) I add in a drop of flavor extract to make it a bit more interesting.  My favorite are vanilla, almond and maple extracts.

3.) Stirring in fresh chopped fruit while the oatmeal is still warm keeps the juiciness but cooks the fruit a little bit too, making it a very enjoyable texture to eat

What will you need?

3/4 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup milk (cow, almond, soy, flax, hemp, etc.)

1/2 cup raw nut mixture (I used pecans, walnuts and cashews) (roasted with a pinch of brown sugar + kosher salt, then chopped)

1/2 cup fresh strawberries

2 drops almond extract

1 tbsp raw honey

Optional: Additional milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin seeds

How do you make it?

On a small baking sheet, sprinkle some brown sugar and kosher salt on your nut mixture and toast in the oven at 350 degrees for only a few minutes.  Watch to make sure they don’t burn. Remove from the oven and finely chop, then set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine oats, water and milk and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook for only a few minutes until the oats are done.

Remove from heat and stir in your fresh fruit.

Add in about 3/4 of the chopped nuts and stir to combine.

Add the oatmeal to a bowl, sprinkle on the remaining nuts and drizzle with honey.

This looks a lot better than a bowl of honey nut cheerios, right?