Disaster Chef: Pear Pecan Steel Cut Oats (project pinterest)

I bought a bunch of steel cut oats a while back because I heard they were healthier than rolled oats. I didn't know how to cook them, so I did the overnight oatmeal with the first batch. It was okay, but my son did not like the 'chewy oatmeal.' So I ended up eating all 5 jars that I'd made for the week. The next time, I tried to cook it, but didn't leave it in nearly long enough and it was very chewy.

This time I made it the right way, cooking it for a long time with lots of water as directed in the article on two vrooms blog.
Here's their recipe:

1/4 tsp salt
1 c. steel cut oats
1 T + 1 tsp butter
1/2 c. pecans
2 tsp sugar
2 pears (peeled, cored, sliced into chunks). If you don't have or don't like pears, try this recipe with apples instead.
3 T honey
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Half and half

In a medium size sauce pan, boil 4 c. water and salt. Add steel cut oats and wait for it to boil again. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Simmer (uncovered) for 25-35 minutes, stirring often.

In a frying pan, melt 1 tsp butter. Add pecans and sugar. Stir 1 minute: the sugar should melt and coat the toasty pecans. Move them to a cutting board and chop coarsely when cooled.

Right before your oatmeal is done, melt a tablespoon of butter in the frying pan again. Add the pears and stir occasionally for 3 minutes. The juice should come out of them and they should be hot all the way through. Add honey and cinnamon.

It turned out delicious. My son even ate it a couple days, though he still prefers rolled oats. For this recipe, I used pears from the tree outside our new house, which was exciting. I'm not a big fan of pears, but I wanted to find ways to use up the ones on the tree, since they were there and obviously all-natural and organic and not sprayed. So we collected a bucket of them and used some in this recipe. I made it later for my husband, and he liked it, too.

I did not prepare the pecans as directed in the recipe. I just used plain pecans. I added more honey to the pears than the recipe calls for, and more butter, and I cooked the pears for probably 15-20 minutes before they got juicy and somewhat cooked. I didn't want to cook the pecans, as I don't like the way sugar-coated things feel between my teeth. Plus, raw nuts are healthier. So I just threw a handful of raw pecans on top. This breakfast was great all week, healthy and tasty. Sure, it's still just oatmeal. But it was as exciting as oatmeal gets
.