I love fancy oatmeal flavors, but I don’t love perfecting a detailed recipe. Luckily, a CoachLevi.com reader (and oatmeal expert) named Joe does! Joe submitted this oatmeal recipe, and I thought it looked so awesome, I’m highlighting it right here!

I’ve always said oatmeal is the perfect breakfast for a long day. Well, this deluxe oatmeal is perfect for a long, long day! In Joe’s words, “Eat this the night before an Ironman competition or the Tour de France.”

Here ya go:

The Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Steel Cut Oats
• 1/3 cup Now Foods Unflavored Whey Protein Isolate
• 2 Tbsp Bob’s Red Mill Organic Ground Flaxseed Meal
• 1 cup Mott’s Healthy Harvest Granny Smith applesauce
• 2 Tbsp 100% Pure Maple Syrup (such as Coombs Family Farms)
• 1 Tbsp Beit Yitzhak Fig Spread (No Sugar Added)
• 1 cup Rice Dream Classic Original Rice Milk
• 1/2 cup Libby’s Pure Pumpkin
• 1/4 of Granny Smith Apple (chopped into cubes)
• 1/2 of Anjou Pear (chopped into cubes)
• 10 almonds, chopped
• 5 toasted walnut halves, chopped (half an oz serving)
• 1/2 tsp McCormick’s Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves

(Feel free to substitute different brands of products depending on what you can find locally, and as usual, I encourage you to experiment with this recipe to make it perfect for your needs and taste buds!)

The Directions

Joe didn’t submit any directions, so here is how I would do it:

1. Decide how you are going to cook up the steel cut oats. (For this example, let’s say you’re going to use the stove top.)

2. Measure out all your ingredients, making sure everything is chopped and sliced and ready to go.

3. Now put the oats, milk, apples, and pears into a large pot and stir it up.

4. Start cooking on high heat to bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

5. After 10 minutes, stir in all the other ingredients (the pumpkin, apple sauce, etc.)

6. Continue cooking on low for about 10 more minutes.

7. Whenever the oats are ready, remove from heat and allow to cool.

8. Eat!

Nutrition Facts

If you follow Joe’s detailed recipe, these are the calculated nutrition facts.

Calories: 1,038
Total Fat: 26.9g
  Saturated: 2.7g
  Polyunsaturated: 10.1g
  Monounsaturated: 6.5g
Carbohydrates: 170.1g
Dietary Fiber: 24.6g
Protein: 47.1g

If you try this recipe, please post your review in the comments!

Today’s question is about Malt-o-Meal and Cream of Wheat, and if they compare to oatmeal…

I read a lot of magazines and talk to a lot of riders about what food to eat. I’ve been riding for only 2 years. Yet, no one ever mentions malto-meal, cream of wheat or cream of rice. Are these good to eat or should I just stick with Oatmeal? I eat them anyway, but not as a meal before riding.

Thanks,
Malt-O-Matthew

Hi Matthew,

I used to eat cream of wheat years ago. I liked it, but I’d get sick of it after a while and have to take a break.

I may have tried Malt-O-Meal but I can’t remember. I think that is very similar to Cream of Wheat.

Cream of rice… I’ve never actually seen that.

Along those same lines, I don’t think many of my buddies ever ate cream of wheat or even knew what it was. Whereas everyone just knows what oatmeal is. I’m not completely sure why, but the other hot cereals just don’t get any publicity it seems.

Oatmeal, I always liked it, and it was something I could eat every day.

Anyway, here are a couple reasons I don’t really eat cream of wheat or rice:

1. I already get whole grain wheat and rice in my diet.

I get plenty of wheat in my diet already from whole grain bread, pita bread, and sprouted grain bread. I don’t need any more.

I enjoy eating long grain wild rice or brown rice on their own, in their natural state. I’ve never felt a need to get more by eating a cereal made of it.

Oats on the other hand, I don’t really eat them outside of my oatmeal (and sometimes my homemade protein bars.)

2. These hot cereals are processed foods.

The main reason I skip hot cereals now is because they’re still processed foods. I think of them like the instant oatmeal packets you can get in stores – highly processed, contain too much sugar, etc.

The original Cream of Wheat is basically just wheat (no added sugars and flavors,) but it still reminds me too much of white flour rather than whole grains of wheat.

So I stick with oatmeal because I can get the oats plain and start fresh, which gives me much more control over the cooking process.

And that’s what I recommend. Buy some steel cut oats, cook your steel cut oats, flavor your steel cut oats, and enjoy!

I was once a big fan of the fruit and nut bars from the Quaker Simple Harvest line, but you can’t get those anymore, so I tried the hot cereal hoping it would be good, too. I grabbed the vanilla almond honey flavor since it was on sale.

The Simple Harvest hot cereal is a lot like oatmeal, but it offers more than oats. Yes, it’s mainly oats, but they throw in a little wheat, barley, and rye, too.

Ingredients:

Whole Grain Rolled Oats, Whole Grain Rolled Wheat, Rolled Barley, Whole Grain Rolled Rye, Sugar, Almonds, Whole Flaxseed, Oat Flour, Natural Flavors, Salt, Molasses

The taste is pretty good. It’s like oatmeal but slightly different thanks to the variety of grains. It’s extremely sweet, though. The vanilla flavor is overpowering, then you add the sugar and honey, wow! I’m not sure if the vanilla is a bit on the artificial side or if it’s just because of the sweetness level, but the bottom line is – this stuff if sweet.

To add to the texture, there are big almond slivers in there. I don’t really like big crunchy things in my oatmeal, but if you do, there are quite a few almonds for your enjoyment.

I don’t like rye bread either, but I have no problem with the rye grain in this cereal.

Since it was so sweet (and has way more sugar than necessary,) I found myself dumping one packet of this in a bowl and then dumping in an equal or greater amount of plain rolled oats. It was still sweet and flavorful, but not overpowering.

You’d need at least four packets of this in a bowl to equal my typical size bowl of oatmeal. But there’s more sugar in one packet of this than I put in one of my large bowls of oatmeal!

Quaker Simple Harvest Hot Cereal also comes in maple brown sugar with pecans and apple cinnamon. I’d like to try the apple cinnamon someday as I would probably prefer that one, and hopefully it wouldn’t be overly sweet.

Here is the dry mix before adding milk and microwaving:

My final verdict is…

The taste isn’t bad, but it’s so sugary, I plan to stick with my own oatmeal recipe, so I can keep the sugar content in check.

This appears to be slightly healthier than some other pre-packaged oatmeals, but if you’re going to eat oatmeal, make it yourself. It’s healthier that way.

Official website: www.QuakerOats.com

Oatmeal is great. It provides a healthy dose of carbohydrates for energy, and unlike most carb-heavy meals, oats fill you up. Simply put, oatmeal is just about the perfect breakfast.

My “go to” oatmeal is cinnamon raisin, but there are many other ways to flavor your oatmeal. Just grab your favorite rolled or steel cut oats and some flavorings…

1. Honey

If you do need to add a sweetener to your oatmeal, try adding honey instead of plain white sugar. It’s healthier and more flavorful, but don’t go overboard – it’s still high in calories.

2. Flax seed

To add a nutty flavor and a light crunch to your oatmeal, sprinkle some ground flax seed (i.e. flax meal) on top. I usually do this after the oatmeal is cooked.

This also adds some important Omega-3 fatty acids to your cereal.

3. Chopped nuts

If you want a real nutty flavor and like big chunks, add some chopped nuts to your oatmeal. Walnuts are healthy and easy to chop, but you can also try almonds, pecans, and macadamia nuts.

4. Brown sugar and cinnamon

Brown sugar and cinnamon is a classic flavor combination, and it works great with oatmeal.

(Brown sugar isn’t exactly healthy, but you shouldn’t need to use very much.)

5. Cinnamon and raisin

As mentioned, the cinnamon raisin combination is my personal favorite oatmeal flavor. It’s very flavorful and it’s still sweet without any sugar, thanks to the raisins.

6. Maple syrup

Another unprocessed sweetener with a unique flavor is maple syrup. As with honey, go easy – maple syrup is still loaded with sugar.

7. Apple cinnamon

Peel an apple, slice it up into little chunks, and add it to your oatmeal. Sprinkle some cinnamon in there and you have a delicious flavor.

If you don’t like chunks, add applesauce instead. Or try some apple butter for a more robust flavor.

8. Berries

You can add all sorts of berries to your oatmeal. Fresh picked berries are the best, but frozen berries will work, too. Look for blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries.

9. Tropical fruit

Add coconut flakes, pineapple chunks, and mango slices to your oatmeal for a tropical breakfast.

10. Banana

I love to slice up a banana and add it to my oatmeal. You can do plain banana, or add banana to your cinnamon raisin oatmeal, which is delicious!

Banana chips may work, but I’ve never tried, because they’re pretty hard.

11. Chocolate peanut butter

If you’re not one for fruit flavors, add some cocoa powder and natural peanut butter to your oats. This will give you a chocolate peanut butter flavor, and it should taste quite a bit like a “no bake” cookie.

12. Wheat germ

To add a little crunch to your oatmeal without overpowering the existing flavor, sprinkle some wheat germ on top.

13. Dates

Like raisins, dates are a sweet little fruit that go well in oatmeal. A popular mix is to combine raisins, dates, and walnuts.

14. Sea salt

If you like to mix things up and do some “sweet and salty” type flavors, you could add a little sea salt to your oatmeal. I recommend a brand like Real Salt which is unprocessed and contains trace minerals, plus a good flavor.

15. Peanut butter banana

While I’m more likely to make a peanut butter banana sandwich or smoothie, the combo works in oatmeal just as well.

16. Cranberries

Dried cranberries have a sweet and tart flavor. They are good alone, but I think they’re even better when combined with banana slices and raisins.

17. Vanilla

Vanilla is a great flavor, and you can easily add some vanilla extract to your oatmeal for a boost in sweetness and flavor.

Vanilla goes well with bananas, chopped walnuts, and other additives.

There you have it – 17 different options (even more if you combine some.) That should spice up your breakfast for a while!

(Yes, you can buy pre-mixed oatmeal packets that are already flavored, but those don’t amount to much more than large sugar packets.)

Photo credit: thebittenword.com

With today’s health-conscious athletes, there are many debates over which food is healthier. The arguments even break down as far as, “which oat is healthier?”

What I have seen recently is a trend towards steel cut oats instead of the more common rolled oats. Just look for debates about oats on any blog or forum and you’re bound to find some people harping about how rolled oats suck and steel cut oats are the healthy option.

So today I’m here to dispel the myth that somehow one oat is healthier than the other! Let’s start by looking at these different types of oats…

There are three basic types of oats. There are old-fashioned rolled oats, which are whole oats rolled flat. Then there are quick oats, which are rolled oats that have been ground up a little bit more to make them cook faster. Finally, there are the steel cut oats, where the whole raw oat was cut into smaller chunks.

They all start from the same grains, but they are cut differently. Rolled oats are steamed slightly to make them cook faster, but otherwise, they aren’t any different from steel cut oats.

The extra processing isn’t that big a deal, because you have to remember this process called digestion where you break down food to absorb it. So these oats are all the same once they get past your mouth.

So you see, rolled oats and steel cut oats are the same food, just cut differently. Saying they’re vastly different in nutritional value is like saying a sandwich cut straight down the middle is healthier than a sandwich sliced diagonally into triangles!

But let’s compare the oats to see what all the differences are…

Oats Comparison

While the oats are virtually the same thing, there are a few key differences.

Look – Rolled oats look like a big flake, like the oat was rolled flat lengthwise. Steel cut oats look like a whole oat cut in half. So the steel cut oats definitely look like a freshly picked oat from the farm.

If you’ve even been in a field with oats growing there, or bought whole oats in a feed store for farm animals, you’ll recognize the steel cut oats.

Steel cut oats look a little like wild rice once cooked.

Taste – Steel cut oats have a sort of “nutty” flavor that rolled oats lack. You’ll know it when you try them. But the big difference is with texture…

Texture – Steel cut oats are definitely chewier – it takes a while to chew each bite. “Chewy” sums up the steel cut oat texture quite well.

Whether the texture of steel cut is “better” is a matter of personal opinion. But I definitely do enjoy the heartier texture of steel cut or rolled oats over instant oats.

Amount of Processing – If there is one area where steel cut oats have a real health edge, it’s the lack of processing. Both types of oats are cut, but the rolled oats are steamed (which cuts down cooking time later.)

So there is a chance steel cut oats contain more vitamins and minerals, but don’t fret – even rolled oats contain a whole oat grain. You’re not losing valuable parts of the grain (bran and germ) like you would with white bread, which is composed of “enriched white flour” where the real nutrients are bleached out and then the bread is “fortified” to make it appear nutritious on paper.

And don’t forget – steel cut oats need cooked for quite a while, while rolled oats are pre-cooked and ready to eat right out of the canister. So whatever advantage steel cut oats have is lost, unless you can somehow eat them uncooked.

Except if you were to eat them uncooked, you probably wouldn’t digest them, meaning you’d get more nutrients from the rolled oats!

(The uncooked oats will maintain their nutrients longer than the steamed oats, though.)

Serving Size – Typically, a serving is 1/4 cup for steel cut oats, which are more dense than rolled oats, which have a 1/2 cup serving size. It’s the same amount of oats in weight, but not volume, since a rolled oat takes up more space.

The steel cut oats will also expand more when cooked, since they will absorb more water than the rolled oats. So that 1/4 cup looks pretty big once it’s cooked!

Cooking Time – Quick oats are quick; whole rolled oats take a bit longer; then a lot longer for steel cut oats. For one serving, we’re talking 1 minute, 2-3 minutes, and 4-6 minutes, respectively.

Usually I cook a whole pan of steel cut oats at once, and that takes 15-20 minutes.

Nutrients – Let’s compare the Quaker Steel Cut Oats to Quaker Rolled Oats.

1/4 cup of Quaker steel cut oats:
Calories – 150
Fat – 2.5g
Carbs – 27g
Fiber – 4g
Sugar – 1g
Protein – 5g

1/2 cup of Quaker old fashioned oats and quick oats:
Calories – 150
Fat – 3g
Carbs – 27g
Fiber – 4g
Sugar – 1g

Protein – 5g

The label is virtually identical for all three types; the only difference is half a gram of fat.

Glycemic Index – I have seen steel cut oats rated at 42 and rolled oats rated at 50 on the Glycemic Index. Both would be considered “low” and therefore neither is a huge threat to spiking your blood sugar.

Pricing and Availability – The only real downfall with steel cut oats is the price. Sticking with the Quaker brand: 18oz rolled oats are about $1.89, while 24oz of their steel cut oats are $4.99. I prefer the Arrowhead Mills steel cut oats, which are around $3.59 for 24oz.

Due to the hefty price tag, steel cut oats are harder to find. You’ll need to look at smaller retailers and specialty health stores.

The good news is, you can save money by purchasing steel cut oats in bulk, if that’s an option at your local store. If you have a local Amish store or some sort of farmer’s market, you might find steel cut oats extremely cheap!

The Results

The main differences between the oats are texture and cooking time. The nutrition facts are virtually identical.

While I do like the lack of processing in steel cut oats for health reasons, my advice is to eat whichever oats you like the best!

Personally, I like both. If I want a chewy bowl of oats with a nutty flavor, I’ll have steel cut oats. But if I’m making a bowl of cinnamon raisin oatmeal, I’ll stick with rolled oats or even quick oats.

In most circumstances, I’ll actually stick with regular rolled oats instead of steel cut oats. I like the taste just as much, and they’re quicker to cook.

The two types are noticeably different in taste, so you’ll have to try both. It’s quite possible you’ll gravitate toward one or the other.

But remember: whether you’re eating steel cut oats, old fashioned rolled oats, or quick oats, they’re all good compared to any other breakfast cereal. Just avoid “instant oatmeal,” which is the kind that comes in the little pouches, already mixed with sugar, salt, and artificial flavors.