Oatmeal Cooking Ideas

Healthier_Me
Healthier_Me Posts: 5,600 Member
edited September 18 in Recipes
Oatmeal is great for breakfast or even as a snack. Here are some quick ideas for how to make super-tasty, super-healthy oatmeal.
Oatmeal is a naturally cholesterol-free, low-fat, low-sugar food. It also has four grams of fiber and five grams of protein per serving, and may even help lower cholesterol levels. No wonder the American Heart Association has given oatmeal its heart-check of approval.

The USDA recommends eating whole grains, such as oats, as part of a healthy diet. But not everything with the word “oatmeal” is good for you. For example, instant pre-flavored oatmeal is rarely as healthy as regular oatmeal. Some varieties of pre-flavored oatmeal can have over 10 times the sugar of the unflavored kind. Oatmeal bars are typically even worse! Instead of the choosing the premade stuff, people should cook (or microwave!) their own oatmeal.

Here are some quick tips on how to make delicious, nutritious oatmeal meals:

Start with 100% whole grain oats.
People who have plenty of time to spare to make breakfast and appreciate a hearty, nutty texture should try steel cut oats (also known as Irish oatmeal).
Folks who are rushed in the morning can enjoy instant whole grain oats, which can be cooked in one minute.

Choose your liquid.

Water has no calories, and results in a lighter oatmeal. This is a good choice for people who are counting calories and eating other foods along with the oatmeal or are just looking for a filling snack.

For something creamier, try fortified skim milk (80 calories per serving; contains calcium and Vitamins A and D)

Another great option is fortified soy milk (80-100 calories per serving; contains everything cow’s milk has plus soy isoflavens and soy protein; typically has less sugar but more fat than cow’s milk)

Make it yummy:
instead of sugar or honey (which add calories but no nutrients), try a calorie-free sweetener such as Splenda or Stevia.

cinnamon (not cinnamon sugar)

natural apple sauce (no added sugar)

raisins or other dried fruit (pay attention to the calorie content)

chopped walnuts or almonds

pieces of peach, apricot, apple, or whatever fruit sounds good

vanilla or other flavor of yogurt

Yes, the fruit and yogurt add sugar and the nuts add fat, but they also contain important nutrients and can be part of a balanced diet. Bottom line: a bowl of oatmeal with milk and fruit pieces is a delicious way to get fiber, calcium, protein, and plenty of vitamins. It is also a lot more filling than many other breakfast foods with the same amount of calories.


http://heart-healthy-cooking.suite101.com/article.cfm/healthy_oatmeal_recipes

Replies

  • Healthier_Me
    Healthier_Me Posts: 5,600 Member
    Oatmeal is great for breakfast or even as a snack. Here are some quick ideas for how to make super-tasty, super-healthy oatmeal.
    Oatmeal is a naturally cholesterol-free, low-fat, low-sugar food. It also has four grams of fiber and five grams of protein per serving, and may even help lower cholesterol levels. No wonder the American Heart Association has given oatmeal its heart-check of approval.

    The USDA recommends eating whole grains, such as oats, as part of a healthy diet. But not everything with the word “oatmeal” is good for you. For example, instant pre-flavored oatmeal is rarely as healthy as regular oatmeal. Some varieties of pre-flavored oatmeal can have over 10 times the sugar of the unflavored kind. Oatmeal bars are typically even worse! Instead of the choosing the premade stuff, people should cook (or microwave!) their own oatmeal.

    Here are some quick tips on how to make delicious, nutritious oatmeal meals:

    Start with 100% whole grain oats.
    People who have plenty of time to spare to make breakfast and appreciate a hearty, nutty texture should try steel cut oats (also known as Irish oatmeal).
    Folks who are rushed in the morning can enjoy instant whole grain oats, which can be cooked in one minute.

    Choose your liquid.

    Water has no calories, and results in a lighter oatmeal. This is a good choice for people who are counting calories and eating other foods along with the oatmeal or are just looking for a filling snack.

    For something creamier, try fortified skim milk (80 calories per serving; contains calcium and Vitamins A and D)

    Another great option is fortified soy milk (80-100 calories per serving; contains everything cow’s milk has plus soy isoflavens and soy protein; typically has less sugar but more fat than cow’s milk)

    Make it yummy:
    instead of sugar or honey (which add calories but no nutrients), try a calorie-free sweetener such as Splenda or Stevia.

    cinnamon (not cinnamon sugar)

    natural apple sauce (no added sugar)

    raisins or other dried fruit (pay attention to the calorie content)

    chopped walnuts or almonds

    pieces of peach, apricot, apple, or whatever fruit sounds good

    vanilla or other flavor of yogurt

    Yes, the fruit and yogurt add sugar and the nuts add fat, but they also contain important nutrients and can be part of a balanced diet. Bottom line: a bowl of oatmeal with milk and fruit pieces is a delicious way to get fiber, calcium, protein, and plenty of vitamins. It is also a lot more filling than many other breakfast foods with the same amount of calories.


    http://heart-healthy-cooking.suite101.com/article.cfm/healthy_oatmeal_recipes
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    Love the steel cut kind.

    My breakfast every day with some milk and an apple. Yum.

    :drinker:
  • Healthier_Me
    Healthier_Me Posts: 5,600 Member
    I'm going to add some strawberry cheesecake yogurt in my oatmeal tomorrow:drinker:

    ~Joanna:flowerforyou:
  • teetsel4
    teetsel4 Posts: 288 Member
    Great post!

    I watched an episode of Good Eats with Alton Brown on Oatmeal. He also recomends the steel cut oats. For those who are rushed, he made them in a crock pot and cooked them over night to have ready in the AM. Pretty neat and yummy!
  • Healthier_Me
    Healthier_Me Posts: 5,600 Member
    Gotta :heart: Alton!
    I have to try steel cut oats.

    ~Joanna:flowerforyou:
  • gwennie
    gwennie Posts: 1
    Sunkist has diced dried fruit bits that are great to add to get in a serving of fruit and a natural fruit sweetner. I add a little less than a 1/4 cup along with my 14 almonds that I cut in half. (Nice sweetner and texture for the oatmeal.)

    The two mixes I have tried are the raisin, cherry and (?) misc. and the mango & ? (one other tropical fruit) . The mango and (?) is my favorite.

    It is kind of a high calorie breakfast, but I like to jump start the day with filling oatmeal , and I also like the idea of having the high fiber with my sugar to metabolize the sugar at a slower pace.
  • curvylady
    curvylady Posts: 135
    I make 2 cups on Sunday using the steel cut oats, apple juice instead of water, cinnamon and raisins. I eat half a cup for breakfast during the week, sometimes cold, sometimes heated up. No need for sugar and butter and milk because this is so flavourful.

    Karen.
  • blueberrybox
    blueberrybox Posts: 72
    unsweetened almond milk is also very good

    the almond breeze origional unsweetened is only 30 calories per 8oz!
  • dulceluva
    dulceluva Posts: 728 Member
    I disagree with the splenda over honey idea. Sure it makes it sweeter without the calories but honey is a natural food and sweetner is not.

    natural is good.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
    I love oats! They are a staple of my diet, I will eat them 2-3 times a day. I like to mix in any of the following depending on my caloric needs:

    protein powder (flavored or unflavored)
    natural peanut butter (chunky is great)
    sugar free jam
    cottage cheese
    splenda
    cinnamon
    yogurt
    honey (only post-workout though)

    And they're even more yummy when cooked with milk!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories