Breakfast

Today I had an interesting Breakfast and I thought, "Other people might like this, too." So, I'm putting it up on my blog.

Almost Apple Pie

I use this "filling" as a sweet pancake or ice cream topping, or I eat it by itself when I need a sweet fix and don't have much in the house but apples...and I always have apples.

1 apple
3/4 cup water
2 Tblsp Splenda
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Put all this in a little pot and cook it on the stove until the apples are soft and half the liquid has evaporated. Then, in a little bowl or cup, mix together 1 Tblsp white flour and 3 Tblsp water with a fork. When the flour is dissolved in the water, pour it into the apple mixture, still on the stove over medium heat. The apple mixture will instantly get thick. Stir everything up for a few seconds then take it off the stove and let it rest. It is yummy.

Whole Oat Groats
If you don't know about whole oat groats get some. They are great! They have more texture and are not as viscous as oatmeal, have more fiber and more flavor. They make a nice rice-substitute, pilaf-like side dish or they make a delicious hot breakfast cereal, especially good with the apple mixture above. You can get them in the natural section of your supermarket. They are made by "Red Mills."

Dividing the directions on the package to make only one serving does not work. You need to add a lot more water or else it will evaporate off and you will have burned groat briquettes. I suggest this:

Combine 1/4 cup oat groats, 1/4 tsp kosher salt, and 1 1/2 cups water in a very small covered sauce pan over high heat. Bring mixture to a boil and then turn down heat to low. Keep the lid partly off the pan to allow steam to escape; otherwise you will have a gooey, foamy mess on your hands. you will need to let this stuff simmer for about tan hour, so this isn't a dish for those who need breakfast quickly. You can cook it in advance though. Check on the groats periodically to make sure all the water has not evaporated. If it has, add enough to cover the groats and bring it back to a boil. After 50 minutes or thereabouts, either add a little water or let enough boil off so that the groats are not dry, but only have a little water left on them--sort of like wet rice.

Add a little butter or margarine and some Splenda. If you can have sugar, you should add honey because it tastes so good on the groats. If you are like me and shouldn't have honey, use Splenda. I’m sure that very soon we will have honey flavored Splenda. You can already buy Brown Sugar Splenda, but be careful as this mixture actually is part brown sugar. It has the moist molasses texture of brown sugar, so it works in recipes with half the sugar. I believe that one day there will be a molasses flavored Splenda as well so that people who shouldn't have half the sugar will be able to get the molasses flavor without the glucose.

In any case, enjoy it with fruit, cottage cheese or just by itself. Try it with the stewed apples recipe above. It is a great rainy day treat.