Start the night before by mixing oats, water and yogurt.  I never have flavored yogurt on hand anymore.  Instead, I use plain greek yogurt and add a drizzle of honey and a splash of vanilla.  Oh, and make sure you use old fashioned oats.  If you accidentally use quick oats, they will break down way too much!

Mix it up, cover it with a tea towel and leave it out overnight (or at least 7 hours) on the counter.

In the morning it will look like this.

Add all the other ingredients and mix it up.  I normally pre measure everything the night before and have the apples chopped up and stored in the fridge.  That way, while the oven is preheating, I just melt the butter (or coconut oil) and mix up everything else, pop it in the oven and go back to bed!

Put it all in a greased 8×8 pan (or double in and use a 9×13).

Bake it for 35 minutes at 350 degrees or until it’s golden on top.

Let it sit out for about 5-10 minutes for the custardy bottom to set up.  Then serve!  I find this delicious warm, or just as yummy cold.  It makes a great recipe to bring to a morning coffee date or moms group.  Every time I take it someplace, I’m asked for the recipe.  So try it!  I bet you’ll like it!

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I know it’s not fall.  But for me, pumpkin is not limited to a few months a year.  Plus, today is drizzling and cloudy and rainy so it feels like fall.  Pumpkin steel cut oats it is!

Start by toasting steel cut oats in the dry pan.  I usually use medium heat and keep stirring them until they are fragrant and starting to brown.  This makes it takes richer and more nutty.

Add water, almond milk, pumpkin, salt and pumpkin pie spice.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat for about 20 minutes.  Stir often.

Meanwhile, toast pepitas in a small pan until they are making popping sounds and browning lightly.  Have you ever had pepitas?  They are great for people with a nut allergy because they are nutty and crunchy, but they are a seed – the inner part of a pumpkin seed.  They are a bit pricey, but I buy them from our local Earth Fare in the bulk bins.  Then I can buy as little or as much as I want.  In the next few days I will post a delicious trail mix that uses pepitas.  It’s SO good!!

Some people like their oats more chewy.  In that case, you may cook it less than 20 minutes.  You could also make this the night before and put it in a crockpot on low.  I used to cook it in the crockpot often, but I felt like it got overcooked and made a mess.  I use a very small crockpot specifically for steel cut oats, but I’ve heard there are ways to cook it inside a bowl in a big crockpot.  I should try that out and let you know!

Top with toasted pepitas and real maple syrup.  It’s so delicious!

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One of the things that’s really important to me is making traditions for my kids as they grow up.  Because we are from Michigan, it’s also important that my traditions are portable.  Going to a certain place each year may work well for some families, but we never know where we will be from year to year.  There needs to be a thread that runs through each special occasion so my family feels stability amidst lots of packing, driving and unpacking.  This tradition of Easter morning resurrection rolls can be made wherever we are.  I love the symbolism with these sweet breakfast treats.  Each night before Easter, I pull the Rhodes rolls out of the freezer and put them into a greased cupcake pan.  I cover it with plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge to defrost overnight.  In the morning, the kids help put the marshmallow inside the roll, but when they come out of the oven they are empty!  It’s miraculous, and the kids are always amazed.  It gives us the perfect opportunity to talk to them about the even more miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ and his empty tomb!

As a side note, I am showing these made with Rhodes rolls because I originally found the recipe on their site.  I have also made them with “crack on the counter” biscuits (as I’ve called them since my childhood) and I’ve heard they work with crescent rolls too.  I prefer this method, but it is a bit more prep.

Start out by defrosting the Rhodes rolls overnight in the fridge.  I normally put them in a greased muffin tin, covered with plastic wrap.

In the morning, melt the butter and make the cinnamon sugar by combining the cinnamon and sugar.  I only had raw sugar on hand, so mine looks a bit different.  It’s definitely crunchier, but you can use regular sugar too!

Get a little assembly line going with your kids.

Dip the marshmallow in butter and cinnamon sugar, place in a flattened roll.

Pinch the roll shut

Place in greased muffin tin with the seam side down.  Alternately, you can dip the whole thing in butter and cinnamon sugar.  My family cannot decide which we like better!!!  You can see both at the top.  The alternate version is sweet and crunchier and buttery.  The typical one is softer and simpler.

Cover with plastic wrap and let them double in size.  You could probably skip this step if you’re in a rush!  Put them in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  This is what you’ll find inside.

Let me know which ones you like better.  Happy Easter!  I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow morning and celebrate my resurrected Savior!

*** Disclaimer!  Make sure rolls cool a bit before you eat them.  One year my kids had a friend that burned his finger horribly on his Easter morning resurrection roll because he ate it fresh from the oven.  Ouch!!

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This particular day, I pulled out the leftover vegetables from the Mongolian vegetable stir fry I had made the day before.  I just popped them in a pan and rewarmed them, getting them all browned and delicious.  I topped it with a medium egg (so the center is still gooey), cut it up and tossed it together! Soooooo good that I crave it!  Every day is different because I use whatever veggies I have in the house.  Yesterday I used green peppers, brussel sprouts, onions, carrots, mushrooms, broccoli stems.  Whatever you have on hand will work.  I promise, you’ll love it!

Here’s a couple more pictures from when I made it for dinner one night.  I absolutely love the cabbage in the mix.  Delicious.  The lighting was pretty bad since it was a late dinner, but here you go!

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This part is optional, but I think it really deepens the flavor.  Put the steel cut oats into the pan and turn heat to low.  Keep stirring or tossing around until it smells nutty.  Then add apples, water, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.  I usually use a whole nutmeg and grate it on my microplane.  This is what a whole nutmeg looks like.  They last forever!  I’ve probably used this particular one in at least 4 recipes and there’s still lots more.

Since I don’t measure it, so I used about this much in the recipe (see below).

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook about 15 minutes, or until steel cut oats are done.  It’s hard to judge time on this because everyone likes the texture a little different.  I like it still a bit chewy.  You could also make this in the crockpot if you want an instant breakfast.  Add all the ingredients and set to low overnight.  Turn it on as late as possible because it gets mushy if it cooks too long!

I top mine with brown sugar, chopped pecans and a pat of butter.  It’s so delicious!  I hope you love it!

[ultimate-recipe id=”2276″]

The post Steel Cut Apple Oats appeared first on Little Reasons.

My family doesn’t eat a lot of boxed cereal.  It’s not because we don’t love it.  Actually it’s just the opposite! Every morning we have cereal, they eat two bowls…and my husband loves it!!  Therein lies the problem.  He’s diabetic and carb laden milk on top of processed carbohydrate cereal is a sugar bomb.  So in order to not tempt him, we keep it out of our house.  Plus, I feel like my kids easily make it through until lunch without snacks when we eat something with complex carbohydrates or protein.

Most mornings I make something, and I try to incorporate veggies whenever I get the chance.  This morning I had lots of grated zucchini and yellow squash on hand because I’m getting ready to preserve it for the winter.  So I made a hearty zucchini oatmeal.  I’m sure you could make this in the crock pot, but I never love the texture of the oats after they have cooked all night.  It’s a bit too mushy for me.  Even though stovetop takes longer, I just prefer the nutty oatmeal with a little bit of a bite in texture.

My favorite way to cook steel cut oats is to add the oats into the pan first and heat it, stirring often, until the oats get a tiny bit brown and smell nutty.  If you’ve ever toasted nuts, it’s the same thing.  Don’t let it go too far, because they get burned fast.

I usually do a 4:1 ratio of liquids to steel cut oats.  Today I used 3/4c. to measure the oats, so I added 3c. of liquid.  Last time I made this I did 3 parts milk and 1 part water.  Today I did 3 parts water and 1 part half and half because that’s what I had on hand.  I bet this would be absolutely fantastic with almond milk.  I didn’t want to make two batches and since we have a nut allergy, we stuck to real dairy.  You actually don’t even need to use anything but water.  I just think it takes on a creamier texture when you add milk of some sort.

After I toast the oats and add the liquid, I toss in the zucchini or squash and spices and let it cook!  I cooked this today for about 20 minutes.  Just taste it around 20 min and see if the oats are cooked enough for you.  Everyone has a different texture they like.  If you’re used to quick cooking oats or oatmeal from a package, you may want to cook it a bit longer to get them softer.  If you cook it longer, you may need to add a little more liquid as it cooks.  Just keep an eye on it and stir often so it doesn’t burn.

Top it with real maple syrup or brown sugar, a pat of butter and a sprinkle of nuts to add those brain building omegas.  I’d love to hear how your family likes this hearty summer oatmeal!

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The post Hearty Zucchini Oats appeared first on Little Reasons.

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Start by mixing your dry ingredients together.  I usually pour them all in the bowl and give it a little whisk to incorporate.  

Mix the wet ingredients in a separate glass measuring cup.  Add zucchini and wet ingredients.  Stir to combine.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Cook on greased griddle.  And there you have it!

We served these with just butter on top.  The original recipe that we adapted recommended topping with syrup.  I thought with the chocolate chips, it was altogether unnecessary.  Even without syrup, these were such a hit that my kids asked for them over and over!  I ended up running out of zucchini and replaced it one day with yellow squash. Total success.  So if you have either one sitting on your counter, I think this would be a perfect Sunday morning breakfast tomorrow!

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