One of my gifted husband's many talents!
All you breakfast-skippers, raise your hand!
Now put your other hand out in front of you…
…and slap it.
Shame on you.
Cliche or not, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. Before heading out the door each morning, you dictate whether you’re going to have a calm day full of focus or an emotional day that eventually succumbs to the hallway vending machine.
A simple nosh of cottage cheese, a handful of nuts and a piece of fruit can have you powering through the morning with mental clarity, boundless energy and best of all (in my books, anyway) fat burning!
If you have the time to run through a fast food drive-thru (and the talent to dangerously drive while eating), than you, my friend, have the time and talent to make Tim’s Oats. And once your taste buds realize that the McMuffin is so 1994, they’ll never go back.
***
Although it requires plenty more photography skill than I possess to make porridge look appealing, I assure you, this tastes wicked good.
Tim’s Oats
4 servings, takes approximately 10 minutes
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups milk
3 tbsp slivered almonds
3 tbsp dried cranberries
2 tbsp maple syrup
pinch of salt
Put all ingredients in a small pot. Bring to a boil and then immediately reduce the heat to low and let it simmer until desired thickness, stirring often so it doesn’t burn.
Domestically Yours,
Natasha Kay
After eating Tim’s oats last month from the chef himself I can confirm that it is delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Posted by Vanessa | February 14, 2011, 8:51 pmMmmh, this is also my favorite breakfast! Though I admittedly make the lazy variant (heat milk in the Nespresso frother, soak oak & chopped dates while waiting for the coffee). Just yesterday I baked cereal bars with roughly the same ingredients, they were a total success and will be my pre-gym-snack from now on…
Posted by Rahel | February 15, 2011, 6:56 amI have just written the recipe down for you… Lg, R.
Posted by Rahel | February 15, 2011, 11:08 amI’ve been wanting to start using more dates so I’ll definitely try this out! But what about using peanut butter instead of butter…it would convert the fat portion of the recipe into a healthy fat, no?
Posted by Natasha Kay | February 17, 2011, 12:15 amThat’s an excellent idea, which I’ll definitely try out! Sometimes I really wonder why peanut butter is not more common in Europe? The bars will have a lot less fat & calories — would almond butter be an even better replacement, with more nutrients?
Posted by Rahel | February 17, 2011, 8:26 pmWell, clearly it’s not having all that negative of an effect since you’re all skinnier than us!! LOL!
But yeah, almond butter would be great — but be wary of the ingredients as many almond butters have added sugar. At least here anyway!
Posted by Natasha Kay | February 17, 2011, 9:26 pmPS…almond butter also has more fiber, calcium, iron, vitamin E and magnesium than peanut butter. It packs the same amount of protein but almost half the saturated fat.
Posted by Natasha Kay | February 17, 2011, 11:11 pmOk so I am SO going to try this tomorrow for my fam
Question though…what kind of dried cranberries do you use? Should we be steering clear of the Ocean Spray ones?
PS. Did my first workout on Jillian’s yoga dvd. Thought I was going to die, but am STOKED to do it all again tomorrow!
Posted by Natasha M | March 3, 2011, 12:46 pmIn a perfect world, you would use orange-juice-sweetened cranberries but not only are they harder to find, they are twice the price. We just use the sugar-sweetened craisins (but just make sure it’s real sugar they are sweetened with!) and because there isn’t a lot of sweetener in this oatmeal, they add a nice touch. But use sparingly.
Oh, a few other recent developments with this recipe…Tim told me after that he also adds a tbsp of butter and we found that using 1 or 2% milk is best. Skim milk tasted awful.
Let me know how it goes!
Posted by Natasha | March 3, 2011, 1:15 pmOh and great work on the DVD!!! Keep it up!
Posted by Natasha | March 3, 2011, 1:16 pmDelish! I will try the almond/cranberry/syrup combo. I love cooking oats with half milk and half water—so creamy. Often I put cinnamon and vanilla in the oats while they cook as well. So much flavour with no sugar!
Posted by Jen @ Renaissance Ma'am | March 28, 2012, 10:00 pm