Starting with a simple favorite - tea and oats

For my first entry of the new year, I wanted to share one of my favorite morning rituals and breakfasts - tea, and steel cut oats. I am a tea person through and through, but didn’t have a proper tea pot, so I asked for one for Christmas. It couldn’t be more perfect with its little blue flowers all over it. Even though I don’t use it every time I make tea (which is a lot), it makes those occasions that I do a little special and slower.

Growing up we used a kettle that you boil on the stove, but in my family, where we’re all tea drinkers, there is never enough water in it, and it seems like a waste to dedicate a permanent burner to it (since we would never ever put it away). The first thing my parents gifted us (me) off our wedding registry was an electric tea kettle and it’s probably my favorite thing in the kitchen. It boils probably 4-5 times a day, as I constantly am sipping a cup of tea.

To mark the start of the new year though, I wanted to make a pot in my cute tea pot, and pair it with one of my favorite childhood breakfasts - steel cut oats.

My favorite steel cut oats come in a tin. I really don’t like any other oats besides steel cut oats because they just turn into mush. Steel cut oats are much firmer than rolled oats because they’re the groat cut into 2-3 pieces. It has much more of a bite to it, and in my opinion is heartier but much more energy giving.

I topped mine with whole milk, maple syrup and chopped pecans. So simple, and so good. For me, whole milk and a small drizzle of maple syrup are a must, but there are tons of things you top oats with. Some of my other favorites are blueberries (frozen or fresh), almonds, chopped apples, cinnamon, and butter.

If you don’t like oats usually because they’re just a bowl of mush, give steel cut oats a try!