Hearty Gourmet Oatmeal

Ingredients:
Raisins
Craisins
Cinnamon stick or ground cinnamon
Nutmeg
Old fashioned oatmeal (not instant or one minute)
Grape nuts cereal
Flax seeds
Finely chopped walnuts
Toasted coconut**
Vanilla

Use your judgment to decide how much of everything to use according to how much you like and the number of servings you’re making. Put the water on to boil along with the raisins and craisins and the cinnamon stick (add ground cinnamon later) and bring to a boil. The fruit should start to absorb the water and become juicy again. Pour in the mixture of mostly oatmeal with small portions of grape nuts, flax seeds, walnuts, toasted coconut and whatever else you might have that sounds good. Mix and reduce to low heat. Add a few drops of vanilla, a pinch of each ground cinnamon and nutmeg and let cook until it reached the desired texture and serve. Does not require extra sugar and the combination of textures and flavors is a surprise in every bite.
** If you haven’t toasted coconut already, it’s really easy and you can keep it in a jar for a long time and put it on top of ice cream or cereal or Kami’s delicious granola recipe. You just get a bag of regular sweetened coconut and pour it into a large frying pan and put the heat on medium. It will take a few minutes for them to start toasting, but when they do, flip the coconut up like you’re flipping an omelet until most of it looks nice and toasted and many pieces are crispy. We love having it around and it’s a nice topping on our oatmeal.
Amelia