Once and for all which oatmeal?

[jojo77]

I heard quaker oats instant oatmeal isn't good for you. So how about regular quaker oats oatmeal? Then I heard steel cut oats is the best. I tried it today and it took forever to cook and it's pretty chewy.

So which oatmeal is healthy but easy to cook and eat??

 

[eurorides]

????????????? never hard that...i get instant oats from vons,

 

[Babyfaced Assassin]

I buy McCann's Irish Steel Cut Oats. They come in a round tin and are grey and silver... only one store in my whole town sell them in England (In the import section) but I know you can get them in america cos I think these are imported from America cos of the address and the format of the nutritional info on the back

 

[MissChris]

Whatever oatmeal has the following as its only ingredients is the one to eat:

-100% rolled oats

That rules out the instant variety, no matter what brand (Quaker or otherwise); however, the old-fashioned variety of any brand is decent (just check the ingredients), although some oats are less hulled than others (thus they retain more fiber), which you can tell by the thickness and consistency. Old-fashioned oats also cook more quickly than steel-cut, if that's a concern for you.

If you have a health food store nearby, check out the bulk grain bins. You can get rolled oats as well as organically-grown rolled oats very cheap per pound.

 

[jojo77]

so regular Quaker Oats oatmeal is ok right? I might go back to that cause steel cut is harder to cook and eat.

 

[MissChris]

Old fashioned Quaker oats are fine.

Double check the ingredients, like I said. As long as it's only "rolled oats" as the one and only ingredient, you're all set... also make sure the canister does not say instant.

 

[Babyfaced Assassin]

I soak my steel oats over night in hot water and then by the morning i zap them 10 minutes in the microwave whilst im having a shower, they taste fantastic

 

[Mini Viper]

as posted by Babyfaced Assassin

I soak my steel oats over night in hot water and then by the morning i zap them 10 minutes in the microwave whilst im having a shower, they taste fantastic

or better still, what I do is soak them in semi-skimmed milk overnight and then zap them 10 mins in the microwave, hmmmm its real creamy, yum!!

 

[Babyfaced Assassin]

Mini that sounds damn nice, i'll have to try that one day, albeit ion a day when i'm in isolation cos im sure that much milk will give me the runs

 

[juve]

'I soak my steel oats over night in hot water and then by the morning i zap them 10 minutes in the microwave whilst im having a shower, they taste fantastic'

Yup soak'em and zap'em is the way...i tried crystal lite and diet pop and such produces some weird taste combinations...but good for variety..

and plain quaker oats are fine...it's the other ones (instant oatmeal) that have sugar and other crap added to them - trash food disguised as 'healthy, low-cholesterol, heart risk averting' food

 

[jojo77]

i just put honey of mine

 

[MissChris]

My favorite approach for oats is to cook them with 3-4 egg whites, a little water, a handful of blueberries, and plenty of splenda and cinnamon.

 

[young guns]

MissChris, when you say no Quaker Instant, you're not talking about the 1-Minute kind are you? Cause the only ingredient is "100% Whole Grain Quaker Quality Rolled Oats."



And I second the splenda and cinammon idea.

 

[land0220]

The Instant Oatmeal is okay if it's just the plain oats that come in the big container. Don't get the flavored Instant Oatmeal that comes in the packets though, as it contains all sorts of sugar and other crap....which is why it tastes so good!

 

[Babyfaced Assassin]

My favorite approach for oats is to cook them with 3-4 egg whites, a little water, a handful of blueberries, and plenty of splenda and cinnamon.

You mix your oatmeal and eggs?
do u make it in the microwave? how does this turn out??

 

[MissChris]

Young Guns, yes I'm referring to the one minute kind as well, even though the ingredients say only rolled oats. The instant oats have a considerably higher GI than the old fashioned ones do, due to the oat groat being hulled to a much finer texture. It's just too processed IMO.

Babyfaced, yup I zap them in the microwave. It turns out much like a danish if you use your imagination, hehe. Have you ever made BBer pancakes with oats and egg whites? Similar texture, but thicker and not browned on each side. Very good when sweetened and with some berries or chopped apple/banana thrown in.

 

[young guns]

looks like i'll have to buy the old fashioned oats then

 

[JoNeS]

Considerably higher "GI" what's that?

 

[Babyfaced Assassin]

i will try them miss chris, you have tempted me

 

[MissChris]

Parker,

GI refers to the glycemic index, which is useful for planning a diet in which your goal is to minimize insulin spikes. It's a ranking of how every carb food affects your blood glucose levels. Some higher carb foods, for example, have a lower glycemic rating than some low carb foods. It's a pretty handy tool.

Read about it here if you like.
http://diabetes.about.com/library/mendosagi/nmendosagi.htm

An excerpt from one of the articles just to illustrate:

Many of the glycemic index results have been surprises. For example, baked potatoes have a glycemic index considerably higher than that of table sugar.

And here is a searchable database so that you don't have to scroll through a HUGE table. (Although it's fun to read the whole table once if you're bored, to familiarize yourself with the GI of all sorts of foods).

http://www.calvin.biochem.usyd.edu.au/GIDB/searchD3.htm

 

[MissChris]

Almost forgot to say...

Hope you like them, BA! I've heard others on forums mention that they use only egg whites to do this (I got the idea just as you are now, online), but I've found that I prefer to add in 1/4 cup of skim milk or water with the whites, and stir it up really well, so that when it cooks it doesn't get too hard and eggy. With some extra liquid it stays pretty soft in the center at least.

 

[Babyfaced Assassin]

i'll deffinately try them with a little liquid, i'll tell u what i think and i'll ad some splenda to it can't wait!!!

 

[Babyfaced Assassin]

Well miss chriss, i'm eating them now
all i can say is yummy
thanks for therecipe

 

[MissChris]

Sweet! Glad you liked 'em.