TJ rec: steel cut oats

This post is dedicated to Daddy...
I've been eating eggs every morning for breakfast for much of my life, mostly because I love them and I must have the protein to make it (literally) to lunch. However, I just read a book on living longer (The Metabolic Plan) that recommended only 3-5 organic eggs per week for different reasons, so I decided to eat more "oaties" as we called them growing up.

I'd accidentally bought a carton of steel cut oats at Trader Joe's and it was sitting in my "pantry" (the laundry closet) until my Dad discovered them at Christmas and showed me that they were in fact edible and how to make them. But even the nutty, full-bodied taste test did not get me to start making them til recently.

If instant oatmeal doesn't fill you up, this will! In fact, I'm often too full because I couldn't stop eating that nutty, oaty goodness til I'd scraped the bottom of my cute little oatmeal bowl.

Don't be alarmed by how hard they are and how different they look from rolled oats. Just soak them in the pot with a little salt the night before, with about a 3-to-1 water to oat ratio. If you forget, as I sometimes do, you can still make them on the spot, it just takes longer. Simply add more water, bring them to a boil, and then simmer on low, covered, for about 10 minutes or according to package directions. Yes, "on low" is key, as the pot will bowl over if covered, even if you're standing there...even if you're standing there and it's already bowled over once just a minute ago. Well, if your name is Nellie at least.

When the oatmeal is soft and before all the water boils out, I pour it into my favorite oaties bowl, pile on some chopped walnuts and banana slices, squirt on some agave nectar (wonderful stuff, more maple-y than honey, and doesn't spike your blood sugar), stir it together, add some milk, and stir it again. Then I sit down to enjoy manna from heaven.