Thrifty Thursday: An Ode to Oatmeal and other cheap & healthy foods

Does your family eat oatmeal?  I'm not talking about the instant kind, but plain and simple oats, in all their cholesterol-lowering glory. 

I admit it, I was a nut for instant oatmeal back in my working days.  It's hard to beat a packet of apple cinnamon oatmeal on a winter day, especially if you want a low cal breakfast that'll actually hold you.  I always used two packets because I don't believe 110 calories is a sufficient breakfast.  And trust me, a good breakfast is a must if you're going to face a classroom full of teenagers at 8:00 in the morning.

But what's in these 110 calorie packets of oatmeal?  Oats and junk.  Junk = sugar and preservatives.  It takes about two minutes to cook instant oatmeal in the microwave.  Guess how long it takes to cook classic oats on the stove?  Once you get the water boiling, they're ready in a minute.  So start to finish, it usually takes me less than five minutes, but it can take longer if you're cooking a bigger pot.   Isabelle and I frequently eat hot oatmeal for breakfast (or even lunch).  I love putting cinnamon, sugar, and raisins in mine, just the way my mom always made it.  Isabelle spits the raisins out on her bib, so we skip the raisins for her! 

My husband watches his cholesterol, so I tried to get him to eat oatmeal with us, but he can't stand the mushiness of it.  If you're the same way, give steel cut oats a try.  It's still much cheaper than boxed cereal, but it's so much better for you, and it makes a great hot breakfast.  It's got a nicer texture than regular oatmeal. 

Here's a site with instructions for cooking steel cut oats.  I really wanted my husband to love them, so I followed those instructions to make sure they were extra yummy.  Toasting them definitely added more flavor to the oats.  However, I felt that by toasting them in butter beforehand, you're adding extra fat, which is definitely not going to help us when we're both watching our fat intake.  So now I toast them on a cookie sheet in the oven (at 300) for about 20 minutes.  I store them pre-toasted so that they're ready to cook when we want to use them.  After they're toasted, boil 4 cups of water and add 1 cup of oats to the boiling water.  This makes four servings (or 2 husband-sized servings).  They'll probably take about 20 minutes to cook if you've pre-toasted them, but you'll know when they're ready because all the water will be absorbed.  Follow the directions in the above link if you want more detailed instructions. 

Since they do take so long to cook, you probably want to make it in large quantities.  When I'm on top of my game, which isn't often, I make a large pot on Sunday night and then portion it out for my husband's breakfast for the next four days.  All he has to do is heat it up and then add milk and brown sugar.   

Another reason oatmeal is a staple at our house is for cooking purposes.  A friend of mine, Janet, taught me this little cooking secret:  You can add about 1/4 cup of oats (quick oats) to any ground beef dish.  Once you've cooked the meat, just sprinkle in the oats.  No one in your family will know the difference.  It makes any meal just a little bit more heart-healthy.  I always put oats in my lasagna.  It's the perfect disguise for oats because they're camouflaged by all the sauce, cheese, and noodles.

Check out this list of The Ten Cheapest, Healthiest Foods Money Can Buy over on Cheap, Healthy, Good.   Oatmeal definitely makes an appearance, as do many of the things we eat on a weekly or daily basis, although I have to admit that the only time I cook dry beans is in red beans and rice.  How does your pantry measure up? 

After reading this, I decided we need to eat more lentils and frozen spinach.  Anyone have a recipe for a yummy spinach dish?  How about lentils?