If you are curious about my great grandfather’s oat farm, how he and his 3-legged dog Stoofus used to have to fight off flying squirrels from destroying the family oat crops, and you would like to scroll though a book about it, I have to apologize. This is just a recipe.
Carrot Cake Oatmeal
Ingredients:
½ cup dry rolled oats
1 medium carrot
¼ cup chopped walnuts
1 Tbsp maple syrup
Directions:
Cook the oats per package directions.
Note: I usually use a little less water so the oatmeal is not soupy.
Grate the carrot.
Chop the walnuts, if not purchased chopped.
Note: Walnuts break up pretty easily. I just use my fingers to break them up in lieu of chopping them with a knife.
Add grated carrot and walnuts to the cooked oatmeal.
Top with maple syrup.
Tips:
If you like oatmeal thick (like me), try adding water to the oats several minutes before cooking. This helps from having the oatmeal turn out soupy.
The carrot can be grated with an ordinary cheese grater. I use the finer grate.
Make sure to purchase pure maple syrup. The ingredient list should be: maple syrup. Avoid products like “maple flavored syrup” which oftentimes is high fructose corn syrup with maple flavoring.
If you prefer sugar-free syrup, aim to find one without artificial sweeteners.