- Hey guys, back to school will be here before we know it
and so I wanted to arm you with
an easy back to school breakfast idea
that will make your mornings so much easier.
It's my warm and comforting steel cut oats
that could be made in advance
with a bunch of different toppings,
placed in a muffin tin and frozen,
and then all you have to do is
pop in the microwave and serve.
It's a family friendly breakfast
that kids and grownups are sure to enjoy.
And special thanks to Seattle's Best Coffee
for sponsoring and collaborating with me on this episode.
Together, we're gonna show you
how to make back to school mornings
go as smoothly as possible.
So, on the weekend you're gonna do your prep
and I love this idea because this recipe makes
12 individually sized oatmeal cups.
And you can just switch up the toppings
depending on everybody's taste.
I'm gonna show you three different toppings
that my family likes best.
So, the first step is we need to make
a big batch of steel cut oatmeal.
In a large dutch oven, you're going to add
eight cups of water.
Once your water begins to boil,
you can then add your two cups of steel cut oats
and then you wanna simmer this for about 20 to 30 minutes,
just until those oats start to thicken up
and the water starts to evaporate.
Now if I was serving this right away,
I would probably make sure all that water is evaporated
but because we are going to freeze these and reheat later,
I do like to make sure that
there is some water left in the pot.
As this sits in the muffin tins in our freezer,
those oats are gonna soak up some of that water
so you don't wanna take it all the way
or you'll end up with some pretty dried out oats.
Then we're gonna prepare two jumbo sized muffin tins.
I like to use the jumbo size because I find that
the portions are better for breakfast
rather than just a regular size muffin tin.
You just wanna lightly grease each well
and then you can set that aside.
And you wanna fill your wells
just three quarters of the way up,
which is about two ice cream scoops.
Then once all your oatmeal is portioned out into the tins,
you can add your toppings.
For my eldest daughter, she really likes
a dusting of cinnamon, a drizzle of honey,
some diced apples, and some walnuts.
So, I'll make three for her.
And then on the other side of the tin,
I'll make three for my youngest daughter.
And she really likes brown sugar,
a little pumpkin pie spice, some diced pear,
and then a few raisins.
And then for my husband and I,
I take a tin and I split it down the middle for both of us.
And we like the same toppings
so that makes this really easy. (laughs)
For us, I add some fresh blueberries,
a little bit of shredded coconut, and some sliced almonds.
Then you're gonna cover with some aluminum foil and freeze.
And then once they're frozen,
here's how you wanna store these oatmeal cups.
Take a nine by 13 casserole dish
that's been filled with about an inch or two of warm water.
Then you wanna take the muffin tin
and set it in the casserole,
just so that the bottoms have a chance to warm
so that it'll be a lot easier
to remove the cups from the tin.
And I think it's also easier to use a really thin knife
to kind of get in there and pop them out.
Then I transfer them into a freezer safe container
that has been lined with some wax paper,
and then you can put the lid on it,
label, if you'd like, and pop in the freezer.
There, how easy was that?
12 breakfasts ready to go.
Then, on back to school mornings, here's my routine.
Before my kids get up, I get the coffee started.
To save time, I premeasure my grounds and my water
the night before so all I have to do
when I get up is push the button.
And I think the best ratio for the perfect cup of coffee
is one tablespoon of grounds to one cup of water.
When it comes to Seattle's Best Coffee,
I really like the 6th Avenue Bistro blend.
It's a premium blend that gives you that rich flavor
that pairs really well with the oatmeal and the almonds.
That means my mornings can get off to a great start
and when back to school is in session, that is important.
The half hour I have before my kids get up
is my little sliver of me time,
especially during back to school mornings.
It's when I sneak into my office
with my first cup of coffee of the day,
I answer emails or comments from you guys,
I look at my calendar and just really tune into
what's happening through the day.
Knowing that breakfast is all taken care of
and will be ready in a flash,
makes these moments all the sweeter,
especially amidst the chaos of back to school.
As moms, we need to take advantage
of these little moments when we can find them.
Then when it's time for breakfast,
I take everybody's oatmeal cups, put them in some bowls,
and then I do like to loosen the oats a little bit.
I like a kind of runny oatmeal
so I add two tablespoons of water on top,
just to loosen them up as they heat.
But if you like a thicker oatmeal,
maybe just do one tablespoon.
And then once they're done,
you can fluff them up with a fork,
bring them to the table, and then I do like to serve
a few condiments that my family likes to put on top.
For me, I'll put on a pat of butter,
maybe a drizzle of some honey.
But I also put out some milk, as well as some brown sugar,
and then everybody can add what they like best.
This is such an easy idea
that can be prepped on the weekend,
that assures that everybody heads off
to school or work with a hot breakfast
that took hardly any time to put together.
I hope you guys give this one a try
and let me know what you think.
And special thanks to Seattle's Best Coffee
for sponsoring and collaborating with me
and to helping make all of our back to school mornings
go as smoothly as possible.
I'll see you back here next time.