If you’re like me when you’re wandering down the cereal aisle (before you get distracted by delicious, high-sugar cereals like Lucky Charms or Cinnamon Toast Crunch), you see dozens of boxes of oatmeal. You have wondered, “Which one of these 500 boxes is the healthiest but will taste a little better than cardboard”?”.
Well, I’ve done a little research into oats (and honestly was a little shocked at what I discovered).
There are only TWO types of oats. Steel-cut and Rolled. Nearly every other “oatmeal” is a more processed variation of one of these two.
But for the sake of this discussion, I’m going to break down the two types AND instant oatmeal (because if you’re eating for convenience, you need to know what you’re eating).
Steel-Cut:
Harvested by removing the stalks & hulls from the kernel (this is known as OAT GROAT) and then cut with a sharp blade.
LONGEST TO COOK (30 min)
More coarse therefore they’re chewier and more filling
Old Fashioned:
Rolled oats
Most common type of oats
Made by steaming oat groats and flattening them.
Reduced cooking time (5 min)
Stays fresher longer
Instant:
PRECOOKED-then dried (YUCK)
Lots of added sugar/sodium
Lower nutritional value
My favorite oats:
*OVERNIGHT OATS
Great bc they’re not heated at all, so they hold all of their original nutritional value.
You can make them ANY FLAVOR.
One of my favorite overnight oat “recipes”:
Foundation-
1/2 c oats
1/4 c almond milk (unsweetened/vanilla)
1/4 c water (or enough to barely cover the oats)
Add-Ins-
1/3 c Greek Gods Strawberry or Honey Greek yogurt
- 4 sliced strawberries
- 1 Tbs peanut butter
OR
1/3 c plain Greek yogurt
- 2 Tbs Bonne Moman Wild Blueberry preserve
- 2 Tbs Graham Cracker crumbs
OR
1/3 c fruity pebbles (YUM) or your favorite cereal (ADD at meal time for a crunch)
If you have a great overnight oats recipe, feel free to comment it and I’ll try it out!
Happy eating!
The Crumb Corner 