YUM – Crunchy Sister’s Hearty Carrot Cake Oatmeal

crunched by Crunchy Betty on October 20, 2011
filed under Household

Remember that time I disappeared for a week? Somebody thought I fell off the face of the earth, abducted by aliens and stripped of the law of gravity (which allowed the falling, tumbling, and screaming). That didn’t happen.

Instead, I hopped – on a whim – into a car and drove to Kansas City to pick up my mother from my sister’s house. During that time, kissing babies and oatmeal ensued. (I did not kiss oatmeal, though it was considered).

My sister makes the gol-darned best oatmeal in the whole entire world, so while I sat and drank a cup of coffee, I asked her to make her carrot cake oatmeal while my mother took pictures of it. This was the easiest way I could think of to blog. I was on a whimsical vacation. I deserved this.

So now that you understand where I was, what I was doing, and that the drive all the way across Kansas – alone – is a little like slowly pulling out fingernails with a rusty pair of pliers while driving behind 200-year-old turtles in 75 mph zones with a constant loop of “There’s a Tear in My Beer” on the radio, please enjoy this oatmeal recipe.

It’s full of fiber, protein, beta-carotene, minerals, calcium, vitamin C, and love. If love has a taste, this oatmeal is it.

Here’s how it goes:

Crunchy Sister’s Carrot Cake Oatmeal

Here is everything you need to make this incredible, healthy, action-packed oatmeal:

Ingredients for the oatmeal of LOVE.

The first thing you need to do is grate some carrots – about 2 cups.

It’s handy if you have an adorable 2-year-old to watch in wonder.

While you're grating, you might want to say "Sullivan, don't touch!" 30 or 40 times, just to get into the mood.

After you’ve grated your delicious, nutritious carrots, combine 3 or 4 eggs with 2 cups of milk, whisking well.

Eggs and full-fat (raw if possible) milk make the creamy deliciousness happen.

Now, pour 3 cups of whole, organic (hopefully) oats into a big old pot and pour the milk/egg mixture over the top. Turn the burner onto medium low.

Stir.

Milk and eggs in the pot, waiting for oatmeal and hearty carrot-cake ingredients.

After you’ve stirred your oatmeal base well, and its started to warm just a bit, you then put on your Swedish Chef hat and say “Dur prunig her de burr bork bork bork carroter bur bur.”

(If you don’t have a Swedish chef hat, you can substitute a dish rag. Paper towels are not acceptable.)

Passionately, if not a bit haphazardly, toss in your carrots, 1/4 c. raisins (iff’n you like raisins), 1/4 c. maple syrup (or 3-5 Tablespoons of sugar), 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp ginger.

Find a 4-year-old who loves to stir (or just do it yourself, Chef) and mix everything together really well.

Don't be afraid to employ child labor - just be there to supervise.

Let this sit, on medium low, for 15-20 minutes or until you’ve reached your desired oatmeal consistency. Stir every so often, if you have the desire to micro-manage. At some point, you can pour in 1/8 c. chopped walnuts if you want, or just wait and sprinkle those over the top at the end.

The longer you cook it on low-ish heat, the creamier it gets (that’s my sister’s special tip).

Eventually, it will look something like this:

Carrot cake oatmeal: Love in a pot.

When it looks like that, you eat it.

And your children eat it.

And they will look something like this:

Anderson loooooooooooves his carrot cake oatmeal.

And also like this:

Well-fed children are happy children. They are also messy.

And as my sister loves to say, “In case you missed it, that’s vegetables for breakfast, my friends.”

Crunchy Sister’s Carrot Cake Oatmeal Recipe

2 c. milk
3-4 eggs
3 cups of oats
2 c. finely shredded carrots
1/4 c. maple syrup (or 3-5 Tbsp sugar)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 c. raisins (optional)
1/8 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Shred your carrots. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and eggs and pour into a pot. Add the oats, and turn the burner on your stove to medium-low. Stir well. Toss in carrots, maple syrup (or sugar), spices, and raisins. Combine well. Leave to cook on medium-low for 15-20 minutes or until you have your desired oatmeal consistency. Stir in the walnuts (or top each bowl with walnuts). Enjoy! Have energy for the rest of the day! Feel warm and cozy inside! Love.

Now Back to Your Regularly Scheduled Crunchy Betty

I’m well rested. Energetic. And full of crunchy mojo.

We have a lot of fun things coming up, to say the least.

The challenge is on its way, but we’re going to condense it to 1 week and focus mainly on getting together a Natural Medicine Cabinet full of remedies for winter woes.

In the meantime, please enjoy this picture I took of my sister’s baby (I didn’t want her to feel left out):

This is the happiest baby I have ever met.

How have YOU been? What have I missed?

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Brianna

Being vegan I don’t use milk or eggs in my oatmeal, but I do make some pretty awesome oatmeals if I do say so myself. It’s kind of on a whim though. Sometimes I throw dark chocolate or carob chips and dried cranberries in. Other times I’ll stir in caramel sauce (homemade of course) and apples. I just make single servings though since my partner refuses to eat anything that might be healthy for him. It’s a phobia. We’re working on it.

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

So when you make vegan oatmeal, do you just use water to cook with? Or have you figured out another “milk” that works really well? I’d love to try it sometime with almond milk and see what happens. Oh yeah. Almond milk and … homemade caramel sauce. Holy yum.

Linda

I was just thinking this morning about how I could jazz up oatmeal so that kids would eat it. This sounds delicious! I’m wondering if pumpkin instead of carrots would also be yummmy.

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

Your wondering is spot on. In fact, my sister thought about doing pumpkin pie oatmeal instead of carrots for me, but she said she hadn’t quite perfected her ratios yet. If you figure it out, you MUST share!

http://100pitchersofhoney.blogspot.com/ Shereen

LOVE it! This will be our breakfast tomorrow. I love the amusing flow of the recipe story as well. I even have the two-year-old to watch and stir, so hopefully it will turn out well.

I’ve made sweet potato oatmeal as well, which is yummy. Pumpkin pie oatmeal sounds like a great idea too!

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

Oooh. Sweet potato oatmeal! MUST. TRY.

I have a wayward butternut squash sitting on my counter, and I was eyeballing it today wondering if I could pop that into oatmeal in some kind of delicious way.

These ideas are so fantastic!

Ann

This looks fabulous. I love oatmeal and am just starting to feel like to just have to have it now that the weather is turning cold. I wish I had a two year old to stir for me. I’ll have to settle for a 14 year old!

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

If you can get that 14-year-old to stir it without rolling his/her eyes and huffing a bit, I would LOVE to know your secret.

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

Testing the new comments. What you think?

Anonymous

Yeah they are easy to read. My only question is whether sort by “popular now” is the default? I’d probably prefer in chronological order first, but that’s just my engineering/OCD brain

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

So, you should be able to change that, right? I mean, I can see the drop-down box to change it, but given that I’m the moderator, now I think maybe I can see things other people can’t.

You’ll have to let me know if a) you CAN change that option yourself and b) whether or not it remembers your choice on future visits.

I’m really liking this system. It’s going to allow for deeper threaded comments, and I really wanted to employ a comment system where everyone could “like” comments that have really helped them out. Also, I LOVE the “edit” button. Hopefully that will help people who accidentally typo something, so this way they don’t have to post another comment to “fix” it.

We’ll see. Doesn’t seem like there’s much to lose at this point, but who knows?

Anonymous

Haaahaha yep I used the Edit button on the first go. Hooray for that one!

Sorry I might have confused everyone with my first comment. Yes, I can change it, it was just initially on ‘popular now’ and I wondered why it chose that first. I’ll change it now and let you know next time if it remembered what I wanted
Anonymous

It remembered
Anonymous

Heya Leslie, something I’ve noticed regarding the new set-up. When I arrive on the home page, it says the number of comments and reactions next to the title of the blog post. It seems to be inaccurate. Eg. it currently says there are 4 replies to your existential crisis post, but when you go in to it, there are 20 something. Just lettin’ ya know

http://twitter.com/franticsimple simply heidi

Ooh – I like it! Is this a plugin for wordpress?
Sweet Assilem

Can you make it so people are notified of follow-up comments? I like that feature on some blogs.

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

It’s there. You just have to scroll ALL the way down to the bottom of the comments. There are two little buttons – one says RSS and one says email. Pick your poison.

Ah. Edit. Unless you mean just follow up comments on the comment you posted. I do have a plugin that SHOULD be doing that still, though I’m not 100% sure if it still works with Disqus or not. Hm.

Joy

Betty, look into soaking your oats overnight. It makes it so much more nutritious and more easily digested. See this blog for information – http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/11/30/monday-mission-soak-your-oatmeal/ I also use the book Nourishing Traditions, which I’m sure you know about.

Anonymous

Absolutely soak the oats. If I forget to soak my oats, I don’t bother making porridge (oatmeal in Australian) anymore. It is just SO much better.
http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

You know what? I did not know that. And that seems weird to me, that I did not know that. It seems like such an essential part of oat cooking. Thank you SO much for sharing!

Sadly, I don’t own a copy of Nourishing Traditions (I keep not buying it because I tell myself I’ll never find time to ferment everything I eat, so what’s the point …), but you’ve gotten me one step closer to making the commitment.

Joy

Betty, I tried the recipe and it was scrumptious. Next time I make it,
I’m going to try adding a some pineapple bits. I’ll let you know how it
turns out.

Crunchy Sister

Yes! This is something that I have wanted to incorporate, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
Lissa

Would the proportions of milk change if you soaked the oats?

Joy

Lissa, I added about 1/2 cup in total to the oatmeal. I added just a bit at a time as it cooked until it was the consistency I like it.

http://makeitbakeitbuyitfakeit.blogspot.com Stephanie

I’ll bet the eggs make it extra hearty and filling… just the thing for chilly mornings! I’ve made that drive just once (across and back) which means I can still find it sort of beautiful And I have to say that little ladybug in the last photo is, well, cute as a bug!
RowanMist_Gen

Oooh new commenty style.

(the ladybug is preciously adorable, must say. Gave me a happy flashback to my nephew’s first Hallowe’en – when his momma dressed him in the lambie outfit his grandma had knitted for him, thus causing a melt-down because of the HORROR. The absolute HORROR of not being able to free his hands from the lambie costume. My sister is the best momma ever, as she admits that she found this reaction so amusing that she left him in it for longer, just so she could laugh. And take pictures and video for his aunties.)

You haven’t missed much round here, just a failure and a potential not-failure (horribly disgusting slowcooker multi-grain cereal and no-rash deodorant respectively).

Welcome back!

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

Tell me more about the disaster with the multigrain cereal in the slow cooker. Every week, when I make my steel cut oats, I think about doing it in the crockpot, but I never get around to digging that thing out of the back of the cupboard. I need to know what NOT to do, before I do wrestle with it.

DesignerGirl

Mostly just don’t use rolled oats in the slow cooker. They turn to mush. Like the consistency of gravy mush. It’s gross. Tastes fine, but looks terrible. No one in my family but me would eat them the one time I tried it (I had yet to discover the health food store and steel cut oats). Now that I have steel cut oats, I just might try it again, but it’ll still be a while.

On another note, anyone know how to modify this recipe to bake it instead of cook it on the stove? Cuz baked oatmeal is absolutely to DIE for. Really. And with this recipe, it would probably taste just like carrot-cake, minus the cream cheese frosting. Yum!
RowanMist_Gen

I did use steel cut oats, but I made the mistake of going a bit overboard with the ‘ancient grains’, and I suspect that the quinoa was not pre-rinsed… it was a mix of oats, wheat berries, kamut, amaranth and quinoa and it tasted like a word that rhymes with sass.

I refuse to give up, however, so I’m going to give it another go, but this time without the amaranth or quinoa. The (foolish) pre-mixed uncooked never-going-to-use grains are now super premium bird food.

The recipe is one cup of grains to 8 cups water, plus a couple of apples (thickly sliced), 1/4 tsp salt and cooked on low for eight hours or overnight. Next time I’m adding some sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg when it all goes in the slow cooker. And no quinoa! Plus I think I will pop in some chopped nuts, and maybe toss in some raisins at the end. If I’m feeling really energetic I’ll soak the raisins first in some fruit juice or something.

Aside from omitting crazy old grains, if the recipe says to put a tea-towel over the top of the stoneware before you put the lid on, I probably wouldn’t. I want the moisture to stay with the grains, not get soaked up in the tea-towel (and I suspect that this didn’t help the flavour much either).

Lemme know how you go

Danielle

Yum!! I can’t wait to try this recipe!! I’m sure my 13 month old will love it, and hopefully I can get fiance on board too (he needs mucho encouragment to eat his veggies lol). BTW, I just discovered this blog two days ago and have been shamelessly neglecting all non-essential activites ever since in order to bask in the awesome crunchiness

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

My only question: Do you consider showering essential or non-essential? Ha.

Welcome aboard!

Danielle

It depends on what kind of day my son is having; we enjoy tons of pj-only days bahaha!

http://thepetitegourmet.tumblr.com the petite gourmet

Glad you are back! Sadly, I really hate oatmeal. I’ve tried so many ways and just have always been turned off. I wish I liked it because it’s so healthy, but the slimy texture makes me shudder.

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

Thanks for the welcome back. I hear you on the texture thing. I love slimy, doughy-type things (NOTHING is yummier to me than undercooked breads and such … weird, yeah?). But boiled veggies turn my stomach (especially potatoes and carrots and peas). The grainy semi-solid mushy texture. Bleh.

So, yeah. I hear you. Texture-weirdos unite!

Allison

I was reading this and thinking “Gosh, not only does this sound delicious, it could TOTALLLY GO ON MY FACE!” but sans the maple syrup, raisins/walnuts, and spices. I think I will try it out over the weekend! Thank you Crunchy Sister!

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

Um. Pardon me for a moment while I’m blown away by the WAY YOU THINK! Ha!

Y’know, even the spices could be left in for this to go on your face. Cinnamon increases circulation (good for skin), nutmeg is FAB for oiliness or pimples, and ginger … it’s after midnight and I can’t remember what ginger does (other than increase circulation and warm), but I’m sure it’s something good.

And the maple syrup? Put it in your hair instead!

Allyshazam94

This just sounds better and better! And thank you, your blog is rubbing off on me! I’ve been an avid reader for about two months now, but a relatively silent one till now ^_^ I’m going to tailor the skin part of the recipe to my very oily/pimply skin type, and use nonfat milk and extra nutmeg.
And Betty–you are AMAZING. Just sayin’

Christina

Welcome back!! You know the alien thing did cross my mind once or twice so I’m really glad to hear it was just a roadtrip This recipe sounds absolutely scrumptious! I never would have thought to put carrots (or any veggie for that matter) in my oatmeal but now I can’t wait to try this. Those photos are adorable by the way.

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

Thanks, lady! It really is fantastic – especially the part where it gets all creamy and mushy and carroty. When you try, you have to let me know what you think!

Anonymous

Woo, I’m glad you’re back. I just had a negative crunchy moment and was needing some love. The conversation topic was eggs, and I mentioned that you could wash your hair with egg. Everyone turned on me! “That’s not possible!” they all said, with various reasons. I couldn’t even defend myself, all I could say was “well I’ve done it more than once, and each time someone who didn’t even know commented that my hair looked incredibly shiny”. I let it go, but there is always a tinge of sadness when you’re faced with commercialised brainwashed friends who won’t even open their mind to the possibility that you might be onto something. *sigh*

I LOVE oats for brekky! We are coming to the end of the cold mornings here (Australia) and I’m slowly leaning away from it, but I wouldn’t have survived a Canberra winter without it. Yum!

http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

How very, very, very sad! Y’know, one thing I’ve been trying to figure out is how to “hip-up” the crunchy lifestyle. You dig? Make it even more “acceptable” than it already is – to brand new people who think things like using egg as a hair wash is gross and weird.

Regardless, though, you can ALWAYS come here and find sisters-in-arms who’ll back you up.

Also, please always say “brekky” forever. And ever.

Anonymous

The sisters-in-arms (and bros…we know they’re out there too) are a huge part of why I love this site. Honestly, I felt like a dirty deviant the way they were looking at me today. I stopped talking before I mentioned that I hadn’t used shampoo since 25th Jan haha.

Awww is ‘brekky’ a local word? It’s pretty standard terminology here. I had no idea haha, cool! I am sitting here trying to say ‘breakfast’ and I don’t think it’s even part of my vocabulary anymore. I wonder when that happened?

Anonymous

Don’t worry, you are a soap-free deviant, not a dirty one!

(if it helps, I have my own skincare biz based on herbs and oils, and my sisters, while mouthing the correct responses, refuse to use my products. Because, you know, they didn’t come from Macy’s. And what could I possibly know about it, after all. Sigh.)

Anonymous

I agree with you, washing your hair with an egg is good for your hair. I have used, olive oil, mayo,
( which is the only way I would use mayo) and a tiny bit of coconut oil on my hair.
I don’t feel we have the right to attack anyone for sharing something that works for them. You were just trying to share something that you had worked for you. Some people are just rude. Thanks for sharing your “eggcellent” Take care dear, have a blessed week. Sending you a hug.

Anonymous

Thank you dear, I needed that hug this week You are lovely!

mamie

Yesterday I decided to treat myself (ala “parks and recreation”) when I went to a health foods store and I bought lots of herbs!!! So exciting! I finally have calendula and lavender blossoms and also nettles, red raspberry leaf, catnip, and dried rose petals. I also bought lavender essential oil…I’d had a tiny bit since I was 12 but I tried to use it so sparingly that it wasn’t as much fun. So now I’m crunchy PUMPED! I did a brewer’s yeast face mask last night and it was nice. It was pretty astringent but it made my face smell kind of like parmesan pizza dough or something. Also I read a book that made me decide to try veganism.

Overall, very crunchy week but I missed you! Sorry about your long drive!
Kelli

Thanks for the great post! Hilarity, adorable children and delicious food. What more could a pregnant woman ask for?
http://www.crunchybetty.com CrunchyBetty

Testing the image thing.

Okay. How cool is that?
Vanessa

Damn, now I’m hungry but I’m at work! I usually just make *whispers* instant oatmeal.
lisa

Three things I have never master: eggs, oatmeal, rice, from scratch cookies.

I like the taste of this oatmeal, but I still messed it up even after following the instructions to the T.
Gelato

After seeing your previous blog about detoxing sit and sit and sit—–I thought you had fallen in! Laughter! So happy you were able to get away. Love the recipe and the pictures of your sister’s darling children. Glad you are back. I was getting quite worried about ya love.
***** Sisters are different flowers from the same garden. ~Author Unknown*****
http://reallyawesomestuff.wordpress.com Daisy

I make overnight oats without any heat. It makes the oats a little firmer (think al dente) but by not heating the oats, they maintain more of their nutritional value. Plus it’s SO much easier. The basic recipe is:

1 part steel cut oats (rolled oats work too)
1 part liquid (regular milk, almond milk, soy milk, hemp milk, even water)
1 part yogurt (I use Greek yogurt, but regular yogurt is fine – this thickens the whole mixture so the texture is more similar to regular oatmeal)

Put everything in a bowl, then stick it in the refrigerator overnight. That’s it.

The one thing to remember is that oatmeal without flavoring is kind of bland (especially if, like me, you grew up eating sugary Quaker Instant Oats). I add a big spoon of Manuka honey at night so that the oats absorb the honey flavor, but you can also use maple syrup, half a smushed banana, vanilla, applesauce, pretty much anything sweet.

In the morning, add any toppings you like: peanut butter, chunks of Attune probiotic chocolate bar, sliced banana, fresh fruit, granola, nuts, whatever you have lying around. My husband has been using fresh blackberries and raspberries. Mmmmmm.

If you want to add a little extra nutritional value, throw in a spoon of chia seeds or flaxseed. I add mine at night so they’re more incorporated but you can sprinkle on top in the morning.

One nice thing about this recipe is that it’s so flexible. You can make it non-dairy, vegan, whatever suits you. My husband leaves out the yogurt (not because he’s anti-dairy either because he uses regular cow milk for the liquid) so his is thinner than mine is.

If you want to leave out the yogurt but still want a thicker texture, add more chia seeds which will not only give you tons of antioxidants and omega 3, but also plump up the oatmeal without any dairy products.

You can also make a big bowl/pot of this and spoon out individual servings for a few days (some people use the same batch for up to a week but if you do this, just make sure that any milk you use hasn’t gone past its expiration date during the time that it’s sitting in your oatmeal).

If you really can’t stand eating cold oatmeal, you can gently heat it a little in the morning. Just remember that the less heat you use, the better!

Anonymous

Yeah that is what I have in the warmer months. Sort of a basic bircher. I’ve also been known to eat the milky oats when I’m training in the morning and just want something I can throw down in a hurry (because it’s 5am lol)

http://franticallysimple.com Simply Heidi

I’m so glad you’re back; I was afraid it was detox gone wrong… Scary.
This oatmeal seems to be the stuff that dreams are made of. I may have to make it for dinner.
gera

soooo delish! i want to eat it all day.
Lisa K.

I made this last week… and i must have messed up somewhere.. i usually make my steel cut oats in the crockpot overnight 1 c. oats. 4 c. water…so when i read 2 c. milk 3 c. oats.. i just went along with it…figuring this is a tried and true recipe but when it looked and stirred like consistency i like..my oats weren’t done. was it the steel cut oats? in the end it was really good. it just took me a bit longer and i had to add more liquid in to keep it the consistency that i like while getting my oats as done as i like them.
Amy

I made a version of this recipe this morning with mashed sweet potatoes instead of the carrots. I had to add an extra 1/4 cup of milk as it cooked, but it turned out great! My little guy devoured it.