Steel Cut Oats

I recently read somewhere that you shouldn't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as "food". That sounded like good advice to me. When you read the list of chemicals in a tv dinner, or look at a fried tater tot, for instance, you somehow just know that great-granny would not approve.

I've read for years about the benefits of oatmeal and for many years had eaten 1-serving sized packages of microwavable oatmeal for convenience's sake. Then I decided to buy quick oats and would make one serving at a time (at a considerable saving over the cost of microwave packets).

Recently, I read about steel cut oats and thought they would be worth a try and a "step up", nutritionally speaking. I wondered if the grocery store in my small rural community would carry steel cut oats but I found the product easily in the cereal aisle, although it was a bit out of the way on the bottom shelf.

My local store carried only the Quaker brand steel cut oats at a price of $5.73 for a 24 ounce container. The package states that there are 17 servings per containers for a per serving price of approximately $.34.

(In contrast, my instant oatmeal costs about $.30 per serving.)

I had read that the biggest drawback of the steel cut oats is the amount of time they take to cook. They are definitely not "instant". It took between 25 and 30 minutes to cook the steel cut oats. However, it was a very simple process. I put a cup and a half of water in a saucepan on a burner on high heat. When it came to a boil, I put a quarter cup of steel cut oats into the water and reduced the heat to low so that the mixture would simmer. I set the timer for 25 minutes. At the end of 25 minutes, my breakfast was ready.

I added a half cup of skim milk and a teaspoon of brown sugar to my steel cut oats, but you could add maple syrup or dried or fresh fruit.

I tried the steel cut oats on a Saturday when I didn't have to go to work. On a normal (work) day, I don't have time to make this dish. In the future, I will make several servings of the steel cut oats while I am preparing our evening meal and simply microwave a bowlful on the following mornings.

A look at the back of the box of Hy-Vee brand Instant Oatmeal with Maple and Brown Sugar reveals that it contains whole grain rolled oats (with oat bran), sugar, salt, natural and artificial flavors, calcium carbonate (a source of calcium), guar gum, caramel color, vitamin A palmitate, niacin amide, reduced iron, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin, thiamine mononitrate, and folid acid.

Compare the list above to the list of ingredients on the Quaker brand Steel Cut Oats container: 100% natural whole grain Quaker quality steel cut oats.

Benefits of eating steel cut oats include stabilizing blood sugar (a special concern of people who are diabetic or pre-diabetic) and a reduction in cholesterol levels.

Now there might be one more thing you're wondering about (because I certainly wondered). How does it taste? It has a good, hearty taste, not unlike the oatmeal we all grew up with. The biggest difference is in the texture of the steel cut oats. I think it will be an easy adjustment for you.

Isn't it about time to do something good for yourself? Give steel cut oats a try..with granny's blessing!

Source: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=54