Do You Eat Oats, Rice or Beans? You have to read this!!

 How to make you own "quick cooking oats" that will be ready in a snap in the morning.  :-)

This is what oats look like after soaking over night.

 



Rinse well with cool water.

Tap strainer to remove water and place oats in saucepan.

 






    

Add milk and cook over medium heat.

Our favs.  (We no longer drink this type of milk.  ;-) )  
And I recommend raw unrefined honey bought locally.

If you eat oats, rice, quinoa, couscous, dried beans or any other grain, this post is a MUST READ!

When I learned what I am getting ready to share with you, my life and my health was changed forever.



What oats look like in their natural state.

Oats

I have been buying organic thick cut oats for a while now and love them.  "Nourishing traditions" recommends not buying rolled or cracked (steel cut) oats from bulk bins as they may be rancid.  But to buy them in packages or, better yet to grind the oats coarsely yourself in a grain grinder or roll your own, if you want (I would love to do this one day!).  I have been buying mine from the bulk section at Whole Foods and fortunately, have had no problems.  You can also buy Bob's Red Mill in the clear bag at Meijer, Bob's is not organic but it is still good.

For as long as I can remember I was told to not buy steel cut oats or quick cooking oats, due to their lack of vitamins and nutrients from the way they are over processed.  I never thought to question this, but after a reader contacted me about this, I did some research and I stand corrected....steel cut oats actually contain more fiber than rolled oats!  So, eat away at the cracked or steel cut oats!  Just make sure you soak them.  And cracked or steel cut oats do take longer to cook due to the fact that they are minimally processed (oh how I love that....less processing = healthier for me and my family, in my opinion).  When you research this topic it looks more like splitting hairs, but I'm going to choose the path less processed.  :-) 

As far as the quick cooking oats that I was brought up with, Quaker brand for example, I do not see any nutritional difference when I research this topic, just an even thinner cut oat.  Having not soaked the Quaker brand, I am not sure of what type of consistency we are talking about after they are soaked and then cooked.  So, if any of you soak and cook the "quick cooking" type, let me know how the texture turns out.  As for me, I will continue eating my thick cut rolled oats and once they are gone, I am switching to steel cut.  :-)  (Thank you Sarah!  :-) )

I only store my oats in the freezer, in a glass jar, if they are organic the have to go in the freezer for a few days, even if they are not organic, they will last even longer if they are stored in the freezer or refrigerator.

The night before you want to eat your oatmeal do the following.....
1.  Measure the amount of oats you want, place in a glass bowl with a lid.
2.  Fill a 1 cup measuring cup with clean water (filtered or R.O. if you can) and pour water over the oats in the glass bowl.  Keep track of how many cups of water you are pouring over the oats.
3.  For each cup of water you pour over the oats also place 2 tbsp of any kind of yogurt in the bowl with the oats. Stir well.
4.  Let sit overnight covered on counter top.  Do not place in refrigerator.  
5.  In the morning, place the oats in a strainer with small holes (small enough that your oats do not fall through the holes) and with your sink water sprayer, spray the crap out of your oats.  I usually do small batches, like 1/4-1/2 cup at a time, spray/rinse with water, place those in a stainless steel sauce pan, add more oats to the strainer spray/rinse with cool water, place in sauce pan, continuing until all oats have been sprayed with cool water.
6.  With all your sprayed oats in your stainless steel saucepan, pour milk (REAL milk or rice milk in our house) into the sauce pan and cook.  It will not take long at all, since the oats have soaked overnight, they are already "quick cooking oats" for you.  :-)
7.  Cook over medium heat until almost all of the milk is absorbed, stirring frequently.
8.  Place oats in a bowl, drizzle with organic honey or raw honey (heated in a small saucepan) until thin, pour a little more milk over the oats in your bowl and add any fresh fruit you would like.
9.  Voila!  You are done and getting ready to sink your teeth in to the best tasting oats you have ever eaten.
10.  And watch out, you might not even feel hungry for lunch, these oats stick to your ribs like nothing I have ever eaten.  Enjoy!

For the science part.  Oats are in rich in Vitamin B and calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium.  Oats/grains have an outer coating called phytates and oats contain more phytates than almost any other grain.  This outer coating prevents our body from absorbing all the wonderful vitamins and nutrients that oats have in them.  If we ate a ton of unsoaked oats our bodies could suffer from mineral loss, allergies and irritation of the intestinal tract.  When we soak our oats in the yogurt and water mixture, the phytic acid (phytates) are broken down.  And our bodies are given the wonderful opportunity to absorb excellent vitamins and nutrients from our oats.  Secret:  When our bodies are lacking vitamins and nutrients, we crave foods, sometimes foods that are bad for us....imagine having a body that is happy....a body that is filled with healthy vitamins and nutrients....what would you feel like, what would your skin look like, what would your body look like??  This is a step towards a healthier you.  :-)

Rice, Quinoa and Couscous 
Your rice, quinoa and couscous need soaked too.  Except here we use organic apple cider vinegar (available at Meijer).


The outer coating on the rice, quinoa and couscous need to be broken down just like the oats.  This allows for better absorption of the nutrients and vitamins that are in the wonderful foods rice, quinoa and couscous.


The night before you want to eat your rice, quinoa or couscous do the following.....

1. Measure the amount of rice, quinoa or couscous you want, place in a glass bowl with a lid.
2. Fill a 1 cup measuring cup with clean water (filtered or R.O. if you can) and pour water over the rice, quinoa or couscous in the glass bowl. Keep track of how many cups of water you are pouring over the rice, quinoa or couscous.
3. For each cup of water you pour over the rice, quinoa or couscous also place 1 tbsp of organic apple cider vinegar in the bowl with the rice, quinoa or couscous. Stir well.
4. Let sit overnight covered on counter top. Do not place in refrigerator.
5. Before dinner (or whatever meal you want to eat this) place the rice, quinoa or couscous in a strainer with small holes (small enough that your rice, quinoa or couscous do not fall through the holes) and with your sink water sprayer, spray the crap out of your rice, quinoa or couscous.
6.  Cook as you like.  We love our stainless steel steamer.  It makes the best rice, quinoa and couscous.  Remember you will need to add a little less water, since the rice, quinoa or couscous was soaked in water overnight and has retained some water. 


Note:  Quinoa rocks!!  It is a grain with protein in it.  Even my picky family LOVES quinoa.  And Meijer sells it.  :-)

Beans

Your beans need soaked too. Except here we use organic apple cider vinegar (available at Meijer).  Plus, we all know the canned beans have bpa, so we need to try to cook with dried beans.



The outer coating on the beans need to be broken down just like the oats. This allows for better absorption of the nutrients and vitamins that are in the wonderful food of beans.

The night before you want to eat your beans, do the following.....
1. Measure the amount of beans you want, place in a glass bowl with a lid.

2. Fill a 1 cup measuring cup with clean water (filtered or R.O. if you can) and pour water over the beans in the glass bowl. Keep track of how many cups of water you are pouring over the beans.

3. For each cup of water you pour over the beans also place 1 tbsp of organic apple cider vinegar in the beans. Stir well.

4. Let sit overnight covered on counter top. Do not place in refrigerator.
5. Before dinner (or whatever meal you want to eat this) place the beans in a strainer with small holes (small enough that your beans do not fall through the holes) and with your sink water sprayer, spray the crap out of your beans.
6. Now you boil the heck out of your beans in clean water.  Can take up to 2 hours.  Follow directions on your package of dry beans or check out my other blog post about cooking beans.



Happy cooking!