Power house oatmeal

This is my most favorite breakfast! Since I soak the oats overnight in filtered water, one cup of oats plus all of the stuff added, and it serves 1 person for 3 or 4 days, or several people one day. Not bad for 1 cup of oats! I use John McCann's Irish steel cut oats. Soaking the oats also makes them creamier. You'll see some "stuff" in the oats. In this batch, I've added almonds (soaked overnight separately from the oats), walnuts, and pecan pieces, ground flaxseed meal, raw sunflower seeds, dried blueberries, dried bing cherries, and dried apricots.

A photo of the nuts and seeds...makes me wonder how on earth people often think that vegetarians/vegans don't get enough protein! I'll have protein counts, and iron counts, listed below.

A photo of the dried fruits...blueberries, apricots, bing cherries, and berry medley. I also sometimes use dried cranberries and dried strawberries. These add a lot of flavor and nutrition. I rarely get hungry before lunch with this breakfast!

I also use cinnamon and some vanilla to flavor the oatmeal. The cinnamon has health benefits as well. And by using vanilla, I don't have to use much sweetener, esp. when using the dried fruits.

Some of my sweeteners of choice...Stevia, which is a sweetener from an herb extract and has no calories, and Blue Agave syrup. I rarely use white sugar these days. You could use honey or maple syrup or any other favorite sweetener. I use no salt in my oatmeal...doesn't need it.

I made note this morning of the iron and protein content in the nuts, seeds, grains, and berries that go into my power house oatmeal and here's a rough breakdown:

Steel cut oats:

4 grams of protein per 1/4 cup, so that 16 grams of protein in one cup of oats! And 6% iron so that 24% per cup of oats.

Sunflower seeds:

8 grams of protein per 1/4 cup. 10% iron.

Almonds:

6 grams of protein per 1 oz. Iron 6%.

Pecan pieces:

5 grams of protein, iron 8%.

Walnuts:

4 grams of protein, iron 4%.

Ground flaxseed:

3 grams of protein per tablespoon, iron 4%.

Apricots:

Iron 6%, no protein.

Dried cherries:

Iron 4%, no protein

Dried blueberries:

Iron 2%, no protein

Milk:

8 grams of protein per cup. No iron.