Easy Oats- Freezer Friendly

We all hear that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” While you probably agree with that sentiment you also probably agree that it’s not always so simple. We’re contending with animal feeding, shower taking, diaper changing, dashes to the potty, morning crankies, work e-mail checking, franticaly trying to find something to wear that’s not covered in dog hair or spit up. In short, mornings can be tricky business. A little planning, and you can get healthy first meals in the growing bellies and in yours, too! Don’t forget about you, mama! You need it, too!

Our grandmothers had it right when they served up warm bowls of steel cut oats in the morning. One half cup of McCann’s Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal packs a punch filled with 3 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein and 8% of your recommended daily iron intake.  Get creative and mix in some fruit and nut butters instead of sugar and those itty bitties will be content until snack time rolls around! Steel cut oats take longer to cook than the more processed and less nutritious rolled oats but there’s a solution to serving this breakfast on busy mornings. Triple or quadruple the batch on Saturday night. Once the oats are finished cooking, leave them to sit in the pot for twenty minutes. After they’ve thickened, use an ice cream or muffin scoop, and divide the cooked oats into muffin tins. Pop in the freezer and let oats harden overnight. On Sunday, let the tins sit at room temperature for ten minutes and then the oat-balls can be easily removed and placed into freezer-safe containers.

Come Monday morning, simply pop a few in a saucepan with some warmed milk and stir every few minutes. The microwave works well, too, just be sure to add the milk after heating the oatmeal. By the time the coffee is done brewing: voila! Heart-healthy and belly-satisfied breakfast is served. Our favorite steel cut concoction includes swirling in flax seed, cinnamon, almond butter and a heaping handful of blueberries. I can smell it already!