Economically, Nutritious Oats!!

First off, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the words of Elder Hales in Conference this weekend and I am SO grateful for a husband and children that allow us to
“Joyfully live within our means”!

This week I had a friend ask me exactly what “Steel cut oats” are and so, today I am going to share about our Monday through Friday breakfast of Steel Cut Oats. This is one of the key parts of living in our budget...our frugal, healthy breakfasts!
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This Journey we have taken in simplifying our life these past few years has been a wonderful one! As a working mom that has to leave the house at 6:30 am I have tried making everything possible for breakfast, but since my family gets up after I leave, things have never quite worked out. I have tried every kind of breakfast hot cereal, tried having an “egg” day, “muffin” day, (bought bagels/cream cheese, yogurt, breakfast bars although these got expensive after awhile)

A few years ago when we were browsing the hot breakfast cereal aisle we came across the following can of “Irish Porridge” (AKA “Steel Cut Oats”).

HOWEVER, it was quite expensive ($5.99 a can which is only 1 pound 12 ounces), but we realized we loved the flavor of it. We were sad when we had eaten the last bit of it and then our nice steel can turned into a container to store our loose change. Over a year passed and one day we were shopping at our local Winco and found “Steel cut Oats” (.58 pound) in the BULK section and so we bought a small bag and tried them out. It was wonderfully delicious and so we have been buying them ever since and that has simplified my mornings because that is what we eat the majority of our mornings.
It’s also “heart healthy” and nutritious as well. (click here)

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Tracy and I are able to purchase these in a 25 lb. bag.
Any place that sells these in bulk, will also sell you a 25 lb. if you ask them.
We get these at a place called "WINCO". I'm SO glad we found out about purchasing them this way. We used to just fill up 2 "bulk bags" on our weekly dates so we could eventually have a 5 gallon bucket filled with them.

Steel-cut oats are actually “grits” in which they have taken the whole groat and broke it into a few pieces, hence steel cut oats. Rolled oats are called “flakes”, like Quaker oatmeal are steamed and then flattened. Both are made from the whole grain.

Steel-cut oats take a lot longer to cook, because they're a lot thicker (about a half-hour, as compared to five minutes for the rolled oats), but the steel cut oats taste so much better. My sons would much rather have steel cut oats over rolled oats anyday.

BTW....these don't turn to "glop" after they have sat awhile...they are still chewy and good so that is why I choose to make this over rolled oats, besides the fact that these are less processed than rolled oats.
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We don't do cold cereal in our home (except for an occasional weekend treat). Cold cereal is not only expensive, but most varieties despite being fortified with vitamins and minerals, are not terribly healthy. Cold cereals generally have a relatively HIGH Glycemic Index which means a spike in blood sugar levels, followed by the body's response to that with a spike in insulin production. We do eat treats (especially cookies),
but causing such great fluctuations in blood sugar after sleeping all night is not a healthy way to start your day!
BTW...the longer required cook time for steel cut oats, means they are less refined and processed and because of this they have a lower glycemic index.
(for more info on Glycemic Index click here)
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Most people think they take too long to cook up, but I am here to say that they are SO easy and if I can do it....anyone can do it!!

I bring water/salt to a boil, pour in the oats, cover and turn the heat to simmer, set the timer for 30 minutes I then go shower and get ready for the day and when I am done, I pull the oats off the stove, add in brown sugar, raisins and milk and pour it in our “white” mush bowls and we all have breakfast to eat!

(For those wondering about our white mush bowls...I found these bowls at WINCO (.88 each... they are very quality for the price) and they all have lids and so after I make up the oats I put them into our white bowls, put the lids on then and we can "grab and go"!
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VERY economical to eat…..
1 cup costs .46 and
to add in ½ cup of raisins costs .25
and so for under 80 cents
4 people have a healthy, nutritious breakfast!!
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Steel Cut Oats
Bring 3 cups of water and 1/4 tsp salt to a boil.
Add in 1 cup steel cut oats
Turn heat to simmer
Set timer for 30 minutes.
Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes and then pull off heat and add in brown sugar and milk (raisins if you'd like).
This makes 4 servings

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(HINT...
to make more or less, for every 1 cup of water you have
add in 1/3 cup steel cut oats)