Vegan Oil-Free Sugar-Free Carrot Cake Oatmeal

I know it's been a while, I'm hoping to post a little more often to force my scatter brained self how to re-create some of the delicious foods that I make!

This recipe has quickly become a favorite in our house and is sweetener free too!!  It's a great recipe if you're craving something sweet or just want to get a great start to your morning!  I try to have steel cut oats once a day and this one is my new go to recipe.  I'm not posting a picture because it rarely lasts long enough for me to take one!  Next batch I'll update this post with one though!

Carrot Cake Oatmeal
2 cups almond milk
2 cups water
2 cups steel cut oats
1-2 cups grated** carrots (more if you really love carrots less if you've got pickier eaters!)
1 can crushed pineapple in juice (make sure it's the no added junk you can't pronounce kind)
1/4 cup golden raisins reconstituted in boiling water*
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
Dash freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Walnuts (Optional for garnish)
Shredded Coconut (Optional for garnish)

*I do not like raisins, I do however love them when they're reconstituted and plum up 3x their size.  If you like your raisins wrinkly, do not reconstitute them and add them as a garnish at the end.
**I do not like the bagged shredded carrot at all for this, it's far too dried out.  I'd strongly recommend grating your own to make sure you're capturing all the delicious carrot juice!

Toss the almond milk, water, oats and raisins in a pan on the stove and bring to a boil then lower to a simmer.  I've found different brands of oats take different amounts of cooking time so keep your eye on it and keep stirring.  After about 10 minutes add the rest of the ingredients except for the walnuts and coconut. Keep stirring until your oats are done and it's the thickness you like (you can always add a splash more almond milk if you like!)  Garnish with walnuts, shredded coconut, pineapple or anything else that sounds good to you!

For special occasions, we make a "frosting" for the oatmeal.  It contains vegan cream cheese which is a little too processed for me to eat often but it works really really well in this frosting/drizzle.  I've never really measured it, but I'd say it's about 1 tbs vegan cream cheese, 1-2 tbs almond milk and 1/2 tbs maple syrup.  I usually microwave it for 10 seconds to soften the cheese and then whisk until combined!

I hope you remember this recipe the next time you're craving carrot cake and try this instead.
Who says you can't have cake for dinner :-).