Vanilla Oatmeal with Pan-Fried Cinnamon Apples

Finally, I have made a delicious soaked oatmeal. I have to give a major H/T to my friend G for it though. My problem with soaked oatmeal has been how much honey and maple syrup it took to make the oatmeal good. It never occurred to me that pan-fried apples would sweeten it up without massive amounts of sweetener. Now I can add this to the breakfast staples. The ratio is all you need to know to soak oatmeal: for each cup of oatmeal use one cup of water, one Tablespoon of acidic medium, and one or two dashes of salt. The next morning, cook in another one cup of water for each cup of oatmeal you started with.

Vanilla Oatmeal with Pan-Fried Cinnamon Apples

The night before, in a glass bowl:
3 cups of oatmeal
3 cups of filtered water
3 T. whey, lemon juice, whole yogurt, buttermilk, apple cider vinegar, or other acid (I use whey, but Kimi Harris over at The Nourishing Gourmet says lemon juice gives the best flavor)
1 teaspoon sea salt

Cover with a towel and let soak between 12-24 hours.

In the morning, in a cast iron skillet:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or coconut oil (I do a little of both!)
3-4 peeled apples, cut into bite-sized pieces
sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg

Saute over medium heat until apples are browned and softened, stirring occasionally, and the sauce reduces down to a glaze. In the meantime, start oatmeal:

In a saucepan:
3 cups of water
all the contents of your glass bowl from overnight soaking

Bring oatmeal to a gentle bubble and stir constantly. It should only take 3-5 minutes to cook your oatmeal because of the soaking process.

Towards the end of cooking, add:
2 tsp. vanilla
sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg (yes, in addition to the sprinkles on the apples)
up to 1/4 C. honey

Your apples and oatmeal should finish close to each other. Add the apples from the skillet to the saucepan. Stir all together and serve hot. If you like, add some yogurt on top of each bowl of oatmeal, perhaps with a sprinkling of nuts or dried fruit.