Everything You Wanted to Know about Oats
Don't forget the Oats.
Oat Groats - Use two cups liquid -- water, milk, broth, stock -- and bring to a boil. Add one cup of oat groats (the whole kernel) and lower heat, simmer for about 45 minutes. This may also be done quite successfully using a rice cooker. 3 Tbs. raw equals one carbohydrate block. These cook well in a crockpot on low overnight, but you may want to increase the liquid 3 to 1, liquid to oats.
Old Fashioned Rolled Oats - Following package directions, you can cook them 2 parts liquid to one part oats, and simmer for about 5 minutes. If you are in a hurry in the morning, try mixing them up with liquid the night before with Vanilla and Cinnamon. Then it takes less than a minute to heat them in the microwave.
Steel Cut Oats - Package directions will tell you to cook them for 15 minutes, but you may want to try bringing them to a boil for 5 minutes, then turning off the heat and covering them for an additional 10 minutes. These also do well in the crockpot on low, overnight. Add liquid 3 to 1
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Oat FAQ's
1. Can I eat oats RAW? Yes. They will not be as "sweet" as cooked oats, because heat breaks down the starch in oats into a sugar, but if you like them that way, they still have the same nutritional value. The fact is that you can add rolled oats into water that is no hotter than 110 degrees and they will still be considered "raw", i.e. a live food with all it's enzymes intact to aid in digestion and nutritional assimlation.
2. What's the difference between instant, rolled, Old Fashioned, and thick rolled oats? How far apart the rollers are set. No other prep work is done to the oat. The thinner the rolling, the quicker the oats cook because of the greater surface area of the grain. That's why my favorite way to cook oats is not to boil the grain itself, but to boil the water, add it to the oats and cover them, letting them set for 3-5 minutes. 1 part boiling water to 1 part rolled oats is a good ratio to start with. Add more or less water to suit your tastes.
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