Cinnamon Stewed Pecan Apple Almond Milk Oatmeal
I feel like I am finally seeing the end of this seemingly two month flu/cold I have been dealing with. I have always been one to get sick pretty easily and when I get sick I get sick. Those little head colds some get are like world war three for my head, a regular sore throat is like knives sliding down mine for a week and don’t even get me started on my cough. I have had it since I was a baby and it sounds like the deepest, like as far down south as you could go, Grandpa cough imaginable. Seriously it is like I am a man. I first got sick over Thanksgiving weekend which is in early October here in Canada with a head cold (like war of the world’s style) and since then I have been coughing. Although on the surface I was getting and sounding better, I still had a cough from almost 8 weeks ago and then last week it hit me again. This time with the knives sliding down the throat thing, it was a viral infection; my immune system just seems to suck. But this week I am feeling better than I did when I thought I was better the first time so maybe this is the final straw in my winter sickness for this year, at least here is hoping.
Anyways this oatmeal was supposed to go up last week but instead of writing I rested and instead of taking pictures I napped and instead of cooking or doing anything productive I netflixed and maybe finally all that rest did me some good.
It’s hard I know, the whole rest thing and by rest I mean actually resting, not doing anything. If you are like me then you rest a little and think oh I am feeling so much better, get back into normal life and two days later you are feeling worse again or maybe you didn’t even rest a little because the laundry piled up and the fridge was empty and work stacked and stacked or worse of all you don’t believe you are worth the rest.
We all do it, believe we have to keep going, keep showing up and keep staying strong even in our least desirable states. But what if this year and all the coming years you actually slowed down, took the time to rest, cozied up in a blankie, made yourself (or better yet get the hubby/partner) a pot of tea, stayed in your pj’s and napped in the afternoon, rested. You deserve it as much as you would tell your bestie or your daughter or your son or your hubby.
We need to stop being so hard on ourselves, the go go go mantra is played out and really this should be a day to day way of living not just when you are sick and need the rest the most. Sprinkle these slower more restful, full of ease days into your life every so often sick or not and maybe just maybe those sick ones won’t come as often, or hey maybe you just have a crappy immune system like me but at least your body, mind and soul will love you all that much more for the down time, sick or not.
Alright enough of my two cents let’s get to the oatmeal. You could easily make this without the almond milk and use all water or regular milk but the almond milk gives the most luscious creaminess to the oats, I highly recommend it.
In the winter I love stewing my fruits, actually I love stewing my fruits all times of the years, strawberries and peaches in the summer and banana and apples in the winter. I don’t cook the apples all the way I like to still have the apple crunch that makes apples, well apples. The pecans are a perfect nutty touch, but so would walnuts be. It is like a warm bowl of heaven in the chilled morning winter air. And the smell that hovers around in the kitchen afterwards will sure to wake the little kidlets noses with joy.
cinnamon stewed pecan apple almond milk oatmeal
ingredients
2 cups of rolled oats
3 cups of almond milk
1 cup of water
2 apples (I used gala)
½ cup of chopped pecans
2-3 tbsp of maple syrup
2 tbsp of pure vanilla
2 tbsp of butter or coconut oil
1 tsp of cinnamon
½ tsp of ground ginger
zest of one lemon
directions
Chop the apple into small bite size pieces, zest the lemon and chop the pecans.
In a pan, on medium heat melt the butter, add in the maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger and vanilla. Let this get saucy for about 2 minutes, then add in the apples and pecans and simmer on low for 8-10 minutes until the apples are tender yet still have a crunch to them. In the last 2 minutes add in the lemon zest.
In a small pot on medium heat add the rolled oats, almond milk and water. Bring to a slight bubble and then turn the heat down to a simmer until the oats and tender yet creamy (about 5-8 minutes).
Add a large spoonful of the oats to a bowl, top with a little more almond milk and then the apple mixture and serve.
