Bonnie: For breakfast, my hot cereal of choice is oatmeal. I eat it plain with nix just a smidgen of salt—which my friend Lyerka calls gruel, equally she often tops hers with dark-brown sugar, fruit and milk. Others I know add beloved, granola or chopped nuts.

I had always made my breakfast bowlful using McCann's Quick Cooking oatmeal in the microwave, having perfected the technique and then that the oatmeal stayed in the bowl and didn't splatter all over the microwave oven. I mixed i/2 c oatmeal, 1 c cold h2o and a pinch of salt in a deep bowl and microwaved that for 2 to three minutes (depending on which of my two microwave ovens I use).

And then, on a ability walk with my friend Delia while at a "Pasta Fights Back" conference in Rome, she sang the praises of McCann's Steel Cut Oats cooked in a dull cooker overnight instead of stovetop, which by the way takes upwardly to 45 minutes. She explained that after cooking she portioned and froze it so microwaved one when she wanted hot cereal.

Her wearisome-cooker method might have fit my lifestyle when I had kids at home and planned ahead. Just non now. I kept status quo until McCann's introduced this Quick & Easy Steel Cut Oatmeal that cooks in 5 minutes stovetop. Its only disadvantage is the pot I must wash later instead of tossing the bowl into the dishwasher.

I can live with that, equally I so like the nutty, slightly crunchy, flavor of the steel cut much better than their quick oats. I still savour my oatmeal with salt but.

For those who might want the Recipe for Slow Cooker Oats: Spray the inside of a 3- to four-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray or line with a Reynolds Boring Cooker Liner. Combine 4 c water, one c steel cut oats, 1/2 c milk or half and half and a pinch of salt in the tiresome cooker and mix well. Cover and turn on LOW setting. Cook overnight or 8 to 9 hours. Stir well before serving. Makes iv servings. Optional additions For those who like information technology sweeter, add 1 c dried fruit (Craisins, raisins, stale figs or dates) and/or 1/iv c brown sugar along with the oats.

I thought yous might be interested in the different types of oats, so hither's a small primer for you lot:

Steel cutting indicates that afterwards the outer husk is removed, the remaining oats are cutting with steel discs, resulting in a firm-textured cereal. For comparing, rolled oats accept been steamed, passed nether a roller and flaked for easier cooking; quick cooking oats are rolled oats that have been chopped into smaller pieces; and "instant" oats are basically powdered oats. To me, the most flavorful are the steel cut ones.

As for diet, oats are good for you. They're low in fatty and loftier in fiber—both soluble and insoluble. According to research, the soluble oat cobweb binds with and helps remove some of the cholesterol that can clog your arteries and lead to heart disease. Oat fiber can help command blood saccharide, too.

Hither'due south an interesting side dish using steel cut oats, one that works merely fine with the Quick & Easy version, too.

Oat Pilaf An optional step is to toast the oats before cooking them. To practice that, toast 1 c steel cut or Quick & Easy oats in a 400-degree oven for 5 minutes or, stirring occasionally, in a x or 12-inch saute pan over high rut. Set aside.

Cook ane sliced onion, one/2 c sliced mushrooms and i minced clove garlic in 3 T olive oil in a 10- or 12-inch sauté pan or skillet over medium heat until vegetables soften, about 10 minutes; stir often. Add the reserved cup oats and stir for i minute. Add one three/iv c chicken, vegetable or beefiness broth. Bring to a boil over high estrus; so simmer, covered, until liquid is captivated, about xv minutes. Stir occasionally; add one/four c minced parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Makes four servings.

Bryan: Waking upwards on a snowy day to a warm breakfast topped with a little brown saccharide was a sublime treat growing up in the North. I at present live in Atlanta; snow never graces my forenoon commute and warm cereal has been noticeably absent from my winter routine. When it comes to cereal in the morning, I unremarkably lean toward cold: Crispix, Cheerios, Chex, Raisin Bran or some other of the diverse salubrious cereals from my supermarket—sugar existence a notable absentee from my childhood choices, a habit that has remained with me. When I practice become "hot," I've usually been a bit more of a Foam of Wheat fan than an oatmeal lover, but things can alter. McCann's Quick & Piece of cake Steel Cut Oatmeal is richer (and heartier) than the microwave products I've encountered and disliked. Though I wouldn't make this a regular feature of my breakfast routine (I don't cook in the morning), I have already added it to my snack repertoire. I similar the fact that oats are good for me and I really like that they tin be flavored to arrange my mood, whatever information technology might be, from fresh yogurt to fresh berries to cinnamon and carbohydrate. Oats aren't for me everyday, though they might be for you… but even if you consume them but occasionally, you lot'll add a healthy twist to your diet. This quick, piece of cake and surprisingly tasty stovetop production from McCann's passes with me.

Eric: I am not an oatmeal eater and, having grown upward in the Northeast of the states, especially with two "hot" cereal family members (plus—on occasion—my father), I was constantly confronted with the tasteless, gooeyness of Foam of Wheat or McCann's Oatmeal. I have too never been a big breakfast eater and, bated from the occasional Sunday mornings when I would devour a plateful of buttermilk pancakes, it was seldom that I would sit down for a meal, fifty-fifty but a small-scale bowl of "cold" cereal. To this day, like my brother, I practice not eat sugary cereals and adopt to snack on Raisin Bran, Cheerios, Chex and—more than recently—muesli or granola. The event of growing upwards in a household watched over past the steady eye of a nutritionist is realizing what nutrients—or foods—are good for your body each solar day. This isn't to say that I don't dabble in the junk food aisle but I practise realize the products I should exist consuming. I would rarely swallow oatmeal considering to me it tastes like sh*t, but I exercise recognize the nutritious value and ease of preparing McCann's. My mother has tested them all, and the reason I know she truly enjoys this production is the fact that it is always on her supermarket shopping list.