Oven Baked Steel-Cut Oats

Well, since the fiasco with the stove a few weeks ago, we have been without a stove top or an oven. My cooking appliances have been my crockpot, toaster oven and an electric kettle. We have made a lot of soups, which doesn't bother anybody. We love soups! And we have discovered new ways of cooking the things we like and are convenient for us, or use to be, like eggs. We used to eat eggs for lunch nearly every day. Egg sandwiches, egg salad, quiche, omelets, etc. But, with no stove top, it's a little difficult to make anything other than quiche. We discovered that you can bake whole eggs, in the shell, right in the oven. 30 minutes at 350 degrees and you have a beautiful hard cooked egg! Isn't that nifty? So, it has been an interesting couple of weeks, but we are still eating and eating well.

Breakfast has been my biggest challenge. I have never been able to get the hang of hot cereals in the crockpot. They always turn into paste for me. I've tried different varieties of grains, but still the same result, gag-inducing glue. So, we have made a few new recipes in the toaster oven. One of my FAVORITE recipes has been square pancakes. It's ingenious. No more flipping flapjacks for an hour and sitting down to rubbery luke-warm pancakes. Here is the recipe (they are truly delicious):

~Pancake Squares~ 

1 1/2 c. milk (I use buttermilk)
4 T. melted butter or coconut oil
2 large eggs
1/4 c. sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc.
2 c. whole wheat flour
4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

I ALWAYS add cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg to pancakes. I couldn't imagine them without it. 

Mix dry ingredients together and add eggs, sugar, milk and butter. Stir until well mixed and pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan. You can top it with blueberries like we do, or pour half the batter in, top with bananas, and then pour the other half in, or top with whatever fruit you prefer. 

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes serves 8-12

DELICIOUS!! 

I found this recipe over at Big Red Kitchen and modified it slightly to suit our own tastes (we like a sweet pancake and whole wheat flour).


So, back to my inability to make crockpot hot cereals...we eat a lot of steel-cut oats, freshly ground cream of wheat, rice, and corn cereals, oatmeal, seven grain cereal, and just plain rice with milk, cinnamon, and sugar. However, without a simmering pot to make these in, breakfast has been a little difficult. Until I decided to try baking my steel-cut oats! It worked and here is the recipe (or guidelines I should say):

~Baked Steel-Cut Oats~

1 c. steel-cut oat groats
3 c. water

pour into an 8x8 baking pan and bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.

You have a few options as far as add ins. You can wait until it is done baking to add sweetener and spices, or you can add them at the beginning. If you add them at the beginning, then you will want to stir your oats in about 30 minutes, because things like cinnamon will just float on top of the water until it starts to thicken. 

Besides adding 1/4 c. brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, etc., we usually add the following:

1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 t. vanilla

or

1/2 t. almond extract
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. slivered almonds

or (our favorite)

 1 T. peanut butter
1/2 t. cinnamon

top with a sprinkle of flax seeds and you are ready to start your day!

I think I will stick with my toaster oven steel-cut oats. I ALWAYS have a boil over when I am cooking on the stove top and they ALWAYS stick to the bottom of the pan. (my lowest flame still runs a little high) With the toaster oven I don't have to wait until they start boiling, reduce the heat, and simmer for an eternity. I can just stick them in the oven and forget them for 40 minutes! Now...if I can just figure out RICE, I'll be set. Who needs a stove top? Well, ME! Do you know how to make gravy without one????? White sauce is the basis for many recipes and I have a hankerin' for chicken pot pie...we might have to do some more experiments...