Do you need to save a little money?
Do you need to eat a little better?
Today I’m going to introduce you to oatmeal.
We as Americans are used to having choices, and the breakfast cereal aisle is the epitome of choice. So much so that in the movie The Hurt Locker, when James comes back to the U.S., he is overwhelmed with the selection and can’t figure out how to choose, you can feel his listlessness come through the screen.
These days, our choices and our reasons for them have changed.
Going back to the basics of breakfast can help you to save money and enjoy a better meal, and when you know how to cook it, you will also enjoy the ease of this lost grain that doesn’t have a cartoon animal on the box.
Since I don’t feel that the recipe on the box does oatmeal justice, I need to share my oatmeal secrets to help you bring oatmeal back to the table.
Old Fashioned Oats
Steel-cut oats are a far superior product, but if you want quality and ease of preparation, choose the old-fashioned variety. Don’t buy instant or quick oats! They have given oatmeal a bad name, paste.
Make the right amount.
The package says that a serving of oats is a half-cup of dry oats, this makes over a cup of oatmeal, which I think is too much. When you get to the end of your bowl, you feel a little heavy. Just cook one-third cup per person.
Don’t overcook.
Let’s ease up on the cooking time. Slightly undercooking will also help, so you don’t end up with a bowl full of paste. I make my oatmeal in the microwave, in one and a half minutes. I don’t think I have a super-powered microwave, but the microwave directions say to cook for 2.5–3 minutes. If you don’t have a microwave or just don’t want to use one, put everything in a small pot, bring to a boil, lower the heat and stir for just a minute.
Salt, salt and salt.
Add the salt before you start cooking. Unless your doctor says not to eat salt, do it. (Or at least try it both ways, with and without salt, and you will learn the real purpose of salt in cooking.)
Protein and texture are critical.
There are 5 grams of protein in a half-cup of oatmeal, but I like to add a tablespoon of peanut butter to my oatmeal to up my protein and give it creaminess. Your choice of seed or nut butter will do the same.
Here’s the official unofficial recipe:
Take 1/3 cup of old-fashioned oats, combine it in a bowl with 2/3 cup water. Add a generous sprinkle of salt (trust me) and microwave for 1.5 minutes on high. While it’s going around, pull out your seasoning. I like ground cinnamon (about ¼ teaspoon), brown sugar (1–2 teaspoons), and the peanut butter (1 tablespoon). Add everything into the cooked oatmeal, stir well, and let it cool for a minute then eat.
Of course, you can go unsweetened or try any of the following (not all together): honey, maple syrup, jam or jelly, vanilla extract. I feel that the fiber in oatmeal allows the person with a healthy digestive system to process the sugar in the right quantity.
Oatmeal is a blank slate that allows for your creativity.
And, if you buy a tube of oatmeal and decide it’s not for you, I recommend the recipe on the lid for oatmeal cookies. You can, of course, omit the raisins. I have a policy that raisins should not be cooked unless they are in a cookie. But I do have a secret for this too, cut up the raisins. This way, they don’t have the plumped-up texture, that I think is offensive, and the reason so many people have an aversion to raisins.
One more thing. If you don’t eat breakfast, that doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy breakfast foods at other times of the day.
Happy cooking.
I was forced to eat (cold sticky solidified) oatmeal every morning as a child. My father made it and it was always glue by the time I got to the table. So I’ve avoided it all my life. But your recipe makes me want to cook up a nice steaming hot soft bowl of oatmeal. Thanks!