Maureen, I should have clarified. We keep on hand 2 different versions of McCann's steel-cut oats. The box version is a "quick cook" version. For that, I just let the oats soak in a bit of milk while I'm getting the other ingredients ready for the meatloaf and then use as is. For the canned (not quick cook version), I soak those overnight if I'm making oatmeal the next morning and set aside some for meatloaf, but I don't cook it before hand. As for Scotland, we were there last June. My father-in-law had a sabbatical there and he and his wife had rented a house in Crail, just next to St. Andrews. So we used that as our home base and spent three weeks traveling in northern England and Scotland. If you're ever in St. Andrews, there's a butcher shop with the HUGEST, DISGUSTINGEST (is that a word?) display of raw sheep stomach encased haggises... sort of putty grey and rubbery looking. All set up in a lovely pyramid!

He sampled them last night but didn't seem overly enthusiastic about them. I do have some wheat germ I can try next time. Cutting down on the spinach shouldn't have affected the dryness of the topping because it is spread on as a middle layer--not mixed into the oat mixture. I'm trying to get him a serving of veggies at lunch. The school won't heat up their lunches so the only cold veggie he eats right now is tomatoes. I don't want to burn him out on tomatoes by giving him those every day so I'm trying to cook some veggies into food so he will eat them without having to get them heated up. I was going to slowly increase the amount of spinach I put in these after he gets used to the taste. I've got a recipe for butternut squash quesadillas and some breakfast cookies that have a white bean paste in them. I'm ok with him eating real butter--I'm not trying to limit his calories. I guess I need to research more on converting from margarine to butter when baking. He has a real sweet tooth so I know he would like these better if they were sweeter but I don't like refined sugar--that's why I was wondering if there was something I could change out or add that would be better than the white sugar that I'm already putting in there. Here is a link that might be useful: Butter

I'm happy to share, but it's just a typical "5 minutes a day" bread recipe, from Mother Earth News. It does contain honey, which gives the bread a nicer flavor, it cuts down on the bitterness from the wheat. The dough is pretty wet, but still can be baked "free form" without having a pancake instead of a loaf. I used olive oil, but did not grease the griddle. Mixing was done with a Danish Dough Whisk but could have easily been done with a wooden spoon. I didn't bake anywhere near 50 or 60 minutes, it was about 30 minutes. The dough has been in the fridge for a couple of days, so it's a bit more "sour" than I really like, but it's not horrible. Not quite right, but closer and a lovely chewy crust. Honey Wheat Bread 1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1/2 packets) 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup honey 5 tbsp neutral-flavored oil, plus more for greasing the pan 1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water 6 2/3 cups whole wheat flour • Mix the yeast, salt, honey, oil, milk and water in a 5-quart bowl or other container. • Mix in the flour using a spoon, high-capacity food processor with dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook. • Cover loosely, and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top); about 2 to 3 hours. • The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold. Refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next several days. • On baking day, lightly grease a 9-by-4-by-3-inch loaf pan. Using wet hands, scoop out a 1 1/2 pound (cantaloupe-sized) hunk of dough. Keeping your hands wet (it’ll be sticky!), quickly shape it into a ball. • Drop the loaf into the prepared pan. You’ll want enough dough to fill the pan slightly more than half-full. • Allow the dough to rest for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Flour the top of the loaf and slash, using the tip of a serrated bread knife. • 5 minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with an empty broiler tray on another shelf. • Place the loaf in the center of the oven. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the broiler tray and quickly close the door. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until deeply browned and firm. • Allow to cool completely before slicing in order to cut reasonable sandwich slices. Makes 3 1 1/2 pound loaves. I'll need to bake the rest of it pretty soon, before it gets too sour, though. Maybe dinner rolls. Or cinnamon rolls.... Annie

we do steel cut oats in the microwave at work (coaches oats) but I thought it would be nice to make one big batch instead of individual batches...plus I was trying to dupe the Jamba Juice oatmeal..After looking for jamba juice dupe recipes, all I found was that they use soymilk and one person said they had seen them use Country something or other steel cut oats...but on jamba juices website it states they used Quaker Steel cut oats, soymilk.