Oats - The Real G.O.A.T

Oats - the G.O.A.T to the breakfast game. Growing up, I can remember oats being the tiny brown packet full of sugar making mornings a breeze with its quick assembly. Now-a-days, oats have turned into quite the wild card used in so many different dishes and recipes besides breakfast. Personally, I consider oats to be the perfect blank canvas of morning yumminess to make all my breakfast dreams come true (enter chia seeds, peanut butter, and all the fruits!).

And can we talk about all the health benefits oats have? Hello fiber!! Oats are packed with a really important fiber called beta-glucan which has been shown to have improvements on people with high cholesterol, obesity, and diabetes. Not only are oats a wonderful source of carbs and fiber, their nutrient composition is top-of-line, giving us loads of important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

So what kind should you be looking for among the different types of oats you see lining the grocery store shelves?

Whole oat groats- This type of oat is the closest you get to natural, out of the ground raw oats. They are the result of harvesting, cleaning, and removing the inedible hulls. These oats take the longest to cook.

Steel cut oats- Take a steel knife to the whole oat groats and you get steel cut oats (no way?!). These bad boys cook quicker than our whole oat groat friends and are sometimes referred to as "Irish Oats".

Rolled oats (regular or old-fashioned)- After being steamed, these oats are rolled flat causing more surface area making our lives so much easier a.k.a making the cooking time much less.

Rolled oats (instant)- If old-fashioned oats went on a diet and got really thin afterwards you would have instant oats. These beauties were made specifically for those needing less time spent in the kitchen.

Try out this yummy oat recipe by blogger hummusapien that I make for myself just about every other day.

Ingredients:
2 cups steel cut oats
4 cups water
4 cups unsweetened almond milk (or milk of your choice)

Directions: 
1. Bring milk, water, oats, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a large pot.
2. Let it boil for 1-2 minutes, stirring to make sure it doesn't boil over.
3. Remove from the heat, cover with lid, and let it sit out on the stove overnight, unrefrigerated.
4. In the morning, remove lid, stir, heat, and eat! Top with desired toppings. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

AG

Picture: https://www.liveeatlearn.com/oats/

https://wholegrainscouncil.org/whole-grains-101/easy-ways-enjoy-whole-grains/grain-month-calendar/oats-%E2%80%93-january-grain-month/types

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/9-benefits-oats-oatmeal#section2

https://www.hummusapien.com/overnight-steel-cut-oatmeal/