Oats and Me

It’s in all kinds of media – Oatmeal is good for you. It lowers cholesterol, good source of fiber yada yada yada. The problem is I hate hot oatmeal!

As a child I was forced fed hot, runny oatmeal by my yaya (nanny). I remember the daily battles and my threats to throw up. My yaya Nena would simply put a plastic basin beside me and continue to feed me the oatmeal. Boy, did I use that basin. But my yaya never let up.

Then there’s the image of my cousin Stanley enjoying his daily bowl of super duper thick oatmeal. It’s like Dairy Queen’s ice cream – you tip it over and nothing falls. It’s so thick the spoon stands in the middle of the oatmeal ready to attack Stan’s mouth. I can’t comprehend how to this day Stanley still eats his oatmeal this way.

I still don’t eat hot oatmeal. But I eat oats in the form of Bircher Muesli. I first discovered this in a hotel’s breakfast buffet. It’s very healthy and easy to make an oh so good.

Bircher Muesli
For 2-3 servings, place 1/2 cup of rolled oats into a bowl.

Pour enough milk (skim or low fat) just to cover the oats. Add dried fruit. Dried cranberries and apricots are a good choice. Cover the bowl and let this mixture sit overnight in the refrigerator.

In the morning add half a grated apple (use the medium hole in the grater) and a sliced banana.

 
 

Optional are toasted sliced almonds or walnuts. Then add a container of yogurt to the mixture and honey to taste. Eat immediately. Leftovers, if any, can be kept in the refrigerator for 2 days. It is best to make small batches often. Based on my experience and lack of common sense watermelon and melon are fruits NOT to use in this recipe.

The reason for this blog entry is today I tried steel cut oats for the first time. All the blogs I’ve researched talk about eating this hot. But with my aversion to hot oatmeal I ate it cold. I just added dried fruits and honey. It’s not bad at all. It tastes like something in between brown rice and barley. But I still like Bircher Muesli more.