Tropical Steel Cut Oats

This little concoction was surprisingly very tasty.  Not that I didn't expect it to be good, but it was better than I had expected, which is always a good thing.  Let's discuss oats for a moment.  Growing up I had a sever dislike for oatmeal.  I couldn't understand why people ate it, it was slimy and just down right tasted like cardboard no matter how much butter and brown sugar I loaded into it.  About 4 or 5 years ago I decided to give it another try, only this time I bought the microwave packets that are already flavored for you (probably loaded with tons of sugar that I don't need).  It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either.  Honestly, up until about 2 months ago I didn't know the difference between oatmeal and steel cut oats.  I was reading several different blogs that had recipes for either oatmeal or steel cut oats.  After doing a little bit of research on the web I found out that its the way the oats are processed that makes the difference.  I had never tried steel cut oats so I went to the store and bought some.  I have to tell you that I prefer them way more than oatmeal.  If you aren't a big fan of oatmeal you might want to give steel cut oats a try, you might find you love them as much as I do.  And HERE is my secret to preparing them.

Tropical Steel Cut Oats

Ingredients
1 serving oats
1/4 cup frozen pineapples
1/4 cup frozen strawberries
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon toasted coconut flakes

Directions
1. If you don't have a jar of toasted coconut just waiting for mornings like this one then you'll need to toast your coconut flakes first.  Preheat an oven to 350, place coconut on a cookie sheet and bake about 5 minutes.  WATCH IT!  Once it starts to toast it will go really fast from toasted to burnt so constantly check it.  I like to give my cookie sheet a shake every few minutes to keep them from burning.
2. In a small pan over medium heat add the coconut oil and fruit.  This is the best way I have found to defrost your fruit without it becoming mushy.  Cook over medium heat until fruit is no longer frozen.  If you don't have coconut oil, olive oil will work fine, I like using coconut oil here since I was going for a tropical taste.
3. Add fruit to oats, mix and top with toasted coconut.


This honestly was so good.  You have to give it a try and let me know what you think.  You could add some mangos and other fruits to it also, whatever your preference is.