|
|
| If you like oatmeal, throw out the more highly processed instant and quick cooking stuff with a higher glycemic impact and give the original "porridge" a go. Don't have time to watch it simmer for 20-30 minutes in the morning? Try the overnight method. Use only water (no milk), bring it to a boil/simmer for 5 minutes, turn off the heat and go to bed! It will continue to cook and absorb the remaining water overnight. In the morning, add your own ingredients (I like fruit, cinnamon, natural PB and a bit of maple syrup) and a bit of milk and micowave it for a minute and you have a quick, nutritious, and heart healthy breakfast that will last most of the morning and get your motor running! Make a double batch (I make a cup for four servings for the two of us) and refrigerate half to have another morning. Again it only takes a few minutes to reheat with some milk and all the fixins'! If you hadn't already guessed, with our cooler mornings, I just put up a pot and am looking forward to the morning! 
And if the price of the imported Irish name brand stuff is hard to swallow, the organic stuff in bulk at your local healthier foods outlet can be had for a fraction of the cost.
Edited by redrox 2006-09-27 12:50 AM
|
|
| |
|
   
Location: London, England | Hi Redrox,
Yum!!
Nick  |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
 
| I'll second that thought, Nick! I have a porridge recipe (with many more ingredients) that is intended to cook in the oven overnight. I can post it if anyone is interested. |
|
| |
|
| I know the chances are slim...but since I'm a cook and have to be conscious of these things.. I'm going to throw it out there...
anything brought over 140 degrees and then turned off and "left" overnight has the chance to growing harmful foodborne illnesses. The danger zone is between 40F and 140F... anything left in that zone for more than four hours (some schools even say two- I'd worry more about obvious things in two- mayo, chicken, mushrooms, etc) is subject to the nasties...
barring all of that.. it does sound yummy..
I also like rye flakes- I prefer the texture and at 69 cents/# they are super affordable (and I believe have a lower glycemic index than steel cut oats)
I worked with a pastry chef who made oatmeal ice cream for a black walnut steamed pudding.... talk about awesome!!! She cooked oats as she would for breakfast (cinnamon, sugar, etc) and then folded them into a buttermilk ice cream base.... holy moly! |
|
| |
|
| Well with some fresh native colorado peaches it was pretty yummy this morning and I'm not sick yet! ;)
joscmt, I do worry about the threat a little bit, but so far so good. I guess if I ever do get sick from it, I'll rethink my process! I just like the convienence of having them mostly ready when I get downstairs. I've got enough to do with making lunch salads and kitting my snacks and other food for the day and getting ready for the day in general. I like the idea of adding rye flakes or trying them solo. Might look for some next time I'm at my store. The organic oats just had a 5 cent a pound increase and are now 73 cents a pound so really pretty much in the same price range.
tourist, always looking for a good porridge recipe so post away! |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | About food and temperatures issues... For years I used to worry about getting food back into the frig...drove me nuts. When I started living with Asians, I noticed they ate everything either at room temperatures, or food - especially vegetarian items were left out on the counter, but covered with wrap or a lid. So, I changed my methods drastically!!! Its really interesting, I don't have problems with eating contaminated scary nasty bacteria...in fact, I enjoy my food and I'm healthier because I don't go from one extreme to the other and most importantly, I retain vital nutrients by doing so. I feel that the way food is stored, before and after preparation, alters the Chi in the food, so therefore, the less I manipulate, whatever that may be, by way of storage in cold temps etc., the healthier the food is. Of course, all prepared/cooked food eaten in a 24 hr period is preferable. Ayurveda highly recommends not eating left over food, with some exceptions. Meat items go into the frig sooner, my gauge is usually 3 or 4 hours after preparation. I KNOW this is going to upset some people, but I think that is BS about getting everything to the frig and so on.
Oh yea, once my TCMD told me something interesting when we were discussing this and the Western mindset where food storage is concerned...."Fish can't live in too clean of water". Better to have some of those "nasty" bacterias, they really won't kill you. Humans have been living with bacteria since time and memorial.
About Steel Cut Oats...that's a great idea redrox. I get my old fashioned rolled oats straight from a local grist mill. In fact, I'm making large batches of granola with it right now. Next time I get a chance to eat the steel cut variety, I'll do your way, as I have this vision of crunchy and I like smooth soft porridge for oatmeal. I do the same method with legumes and beans when I'm in a hurry. |
|
| |
|
| Well I don't know that you will experience crunchy, although I am sure you can get there with less cooking! But it is a different, firmer, texture than rolled which we use as well. Those I can cook as needed though because they do cook more quickly. And I imagine you would prefer your own honey to maple syrup and those peaches Georgia is known for! (I seem to have placed you in Georgia, although not 100% sure that is correct.) I'm a New England boy so a bit of 100% maple syrup is one of my few sugar related vices I keep as in my mind there are no acceptable substitutes and it's a bit like having some of home in my bowl!
And in the interests of alternative grains and quicker cooking/sitting times, this recipe for bulghur wheat was in my diet board today, although it comes from a Whole Grains Council website:
BREAKFAST BULGUR WHILE YOU SHOWER
yields 2 servings
2/3 cup bulgur (dried cracked wheat)
1 1/3 cup water
dried fruit of choice, chopped (cranberries, apricots, raisins, etc.)
nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds, etc.)
favorite spices (cinnamon or nutmeg work well)
seeds (sunflower, pumpkin)
a little sugar or maple syrup (optional)
milk or soy milk
1. Add the bulgur to the water, bring to a boil, then turn off and go take your morning shower, while the bulgur sits for about 25 minutes. This makes a dry fluffy bulgur. For a softer, mushier bulgur, stay in the kitchen and keep the stove on low until the water is absorbed.
2. Add anything else you like, and eat it.
Oatmeal's great, but go for variety. Almost any whole grain makes a satisfying breakfast, especially topped with fruit (dried or fresh) and a handful of nuts and seeds
Source: Whole Grain Council Bulgur Recipes
|
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Redrox,
Oh yea those Georgia Alberta Peaches. You're right, I'm a Georgia girl...born and bred, but my heart and soul is in the mountains right now cause it got too crowded down there. I needed more space to do my Yoga Breathing and have my mini-farm with no restrictions,
Maple syrup...I love it too. I mean the really pure organic kind. Thank God we can get it imported right?? I alternate Maple Syrup and Honey in my granola batches, for a nice change.
Thanks for the recipe, it looks great! Not only can I get Georgia Peaches....but how bout' them Georgia Pecans...and it is the season,  I'll post my Butternut Squash Custard I made the other day....it melted in your mouth...and had such a fall flavor to it. Cya later,
Edited by Cyndi 2006-09-27 7:08 PM
|
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| Great, now I can't find the recipe. The search is on!
I also don't fret much about food temps for certain things. Oatmeal would not be high on my list of scary stuff. Think about bread - grains and liquids, cook it, cool it, keep it at room temp. Bascially the same as porridge, just a bit wetter. I had many a youthful camping trip where breakfast was leftover pizza or Chinese food from the night before with no fridge and we are still here to tell the tales  |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| OK - here is the porridge recipe:
Oatmeal
1 C unrolled oat groats
1/2 c pot barley
1/2 c rye kernels
1/2 c nuts of choice (opt)
1/4 c sunflower seeds
1/4 c pumpkin seeds
Ratio is 1 cup of the mixture to 4 cups water & pinch of salt. Cook covered in the oven
overnight at 200F.
I find I can do as little as a quarter of the recipe and it still works.
This still makes enough for about 2 or three servings, so it is possible to
add some milk to it before putting it in the fridge, then heating it in a
pot the next morning. |
|
| |
|
| Sorry all.. I had to get a new screenname.. I forgot my password and yoga.com never emailed me back to remind me of it....so it's me, joscmt... just revised as joscmt1.. .with no avatar, yet..
Cyndi- I will be blown away the day you agree to anything I ever say.... you seem to refute everything I have ever posted here at this site. Phew....
I SAID, that I simply posted that info about foodborne illness as my duty to inform the public. I feed 1000-1200 people/week... and I am happy to say that we have never made anyone sick... so I DO think about proper handling of foods...
Do I think that people need to be germ free??? Heck no... I think antibacterial soap is the devil that is making us a society susceptible to stronger germs... Do I follow all of my own rules at home? No.. and I've never been sick either. My family in Italy takes leftovers and shoves them in the sideboard in the dining room- I've never gotten sick there either. AND they drink raw milk..
All I was saying that in a post that potentially hundreds of people could read- one should mention the dangers... grains are, in fact, very dangerous.. adding things like turmeric or garlic help kill germs in food.
Spices as a flavoring originally were used to kill any bacteria lurking around in food ... or medicinally... countries that heavily spice their food tend to be in hotter climates and in places where refrigeration wasn't readily available. Spices were also used as a way to cool the body (by inducing a sweat)
That's all I was getting at folks... all the other recipes do sound yummy though! |
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| jo - I have to agree. Although I use my own sense of what is safe at home, on a commercial level or in a public place, the rules are important. I spend a lot of my day sanitizing, handwashing and refrigerating, as well. |
|
| |
Steel cut oats
