Frothy protein shakes! (Read 1224 times)

estrogenic effects scare me a bit.

Yeah, that is a great fiber bomb. The oatmeal packets are instant. That means, they have been cooked completely and then dried out. They lose some of their nutrition, flavor and character that way. This is, in part, why you add the grape nuts, to get some texture back. Slow-cooking oats (i.e., not instant) can be either rolled or steel cut. Most of what we eat and know in this country is/are rolled oats. With rolled oats, the grain is steamed until it is soft (but not cooked) and it is pressed between two rollers and made flat. That makes it cook more quickly and gives it a better mouthfeel than whole grain. Steel cut oats runs the grain through an apparatus that basically cuts each grain into littler bits. These retain more of the oats' original chewiness and texture, but they cook relatively quickly like the rolled oats. I prefer the steel cut oats. They are also fairly popular on the British Isles and can be bought at most health food stores that have bulk grains and beans. To cook either, the easiest way to do it is to have one part grain to 4ish parts water. You can use a crock pot, an oven or a cast iron pot. Heat the water to boiling. Add the oats with perhaps a touch of salt. Heat back to boiling and keep it hot for about 45 minutes. It takes very little work. I usually heat mine in the cast iron pot with a lid and then stick it in the oven set to 300 degrees and then turned off. I do this before my run and come home to fabulous oats. You will never go back to instant again