The link below will explain the "green scum".

You can shorten your cooking time by doing an over-night soak. Follow the recipe and bring the water to a boil. Add the steel-cut oats, turn the heat off, put the lid on the pan and allow them to sit overnight. I also add a tablespoon of whey, kefir or yogurt to the mixture. The next morning the oats will cook in about 5-minutes.

Don't toss that oatmeal if you don't like it. You can use the cooked oatmeal to make "COOKED OATMEAL SCONES".

http://www.food.com/recipe/cooked-oatmeal-scones-46876

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: The Green Oat Story

Mary, package them up and send them to me, I love oatmeal, with a drizzle of maple syrup.

I used to hate oatmeal, the texture was too "gummy". I kept eating it, usually with copious amounts of brown sugar and raisins.

Then I found steel cut oats and something called "10 grain cereal". The texture is enough different that I can eat it, but I find that milk still makes it too weird, I eat it with only a drizzle of real Grade B maple syrup. However, I did learn to really like oatmeal.

I even occasionally make a big batch on the weekends, portion it out into small bowls with lids and take it to work to warm in the microwave.

Annie

Well I probably didn't cook it at high enough simmer so it turned out a little wet after I added the milk.
But I don't think I screwed it up so much that I don't get the gist.
And I still don't understand the appeal. It wasn't outright offensive. I got some down. But I can't say I enjoyed it.

Everyone has their own likes and dislikes and there is no accounting for taste! No reason to feel bad about it just don't eat oatmeal anymore.
Joann

There are a lot of minerals of some type in the water here for sure. I have to use filters on my kitchen and shower faucets. I still get lots of crystals in the coffe charcoal filter too.

Can I make the scones using steel cut? The recipe doesn't say but normally I'd assume rolled. If so I would assume cooked just with water, no milk....

I'm just worried about health and need easy ways to get more oats in the diet. Easy fast breakfast would be great since I tend to get McDonalds on the way to work but I guess its not to be.

I don't really cook oatmeal. I treat old fashioned thick-cut oats like instant. I pour boiling water over the oats with a pinch of salt, cover with a lid and let it stand for 6 or 7 minutes and steam. They aren't gluey (my objection, too) the way they get with cooking and stirring but taste "cooked."

I also eat mine without milk. Just brown sugar and maybe a bit of butter. Raisins, cinnamon, or honey are also options. If I use raisins or other dried fruit, I add those before I pour the boiling water the oats.

marys1000 -

You can use any type of COOKED oatmeal for the Cooked Oatmeal Scones. It won't matter whether they are cooked in water or milk - your choice.

I stick to whole grains and generally use lightly-roasted whole oat groats for oatmeal, or I'll coarsely chop the grain or flake it in my flaker mill. So I start with the whole grain.

I make enough for 6-12 servings and keep it in the refrigerator for up to a week, and reheat it in serving-size portions by adding some water or milk, and use some in other recipes, like Cooked Oatmeal Scones (which I keep in the freezer for a quick breakfast bread), or add the oatmeal to bread recipes.

I do the overnight soak with yogurt, kefir, or whey because oats contain more phytates than almost any other grain. The phytates are contained in the bran of the oat and can have a chelating or detoxifying effect. When oat bran was all the rage, people who ate copious amounts of oat bran for long periods of time often encountered mineral losses and often irritation of the intestinal tract. So the lacto-soak also makes the oats easier to digest and easier to assimilate the nutrients in it. This is a very traditional method for preparing oatmeal.

In Scotland they would prepare oatmeal in large batches and pour the cooked cereal into a drawer in the kitchen hutch or a dresser. Squares of congealed oatmeal could then be cut out as needed and reheated by adding a little water or milk. This process allowed the oatmeal to ferment a second time, making it easy to digest.

You can also "cook" oatmeal in a Thermos overnight. Google instructions if you'd like to try that method. I'll add some whey to the Thermos, but use the same simple instructions.

-Grainlady

"In Scotland they would prepare oatmeal in large batches and pour the cooked cereal into a drawer in the kitchen hutch or a dresser. Squares of congealed oatmeal could then be cut out as needed and reheated by adding a little water or milk. This process allowed the oatmeal to ferment a second time, making it easy to digest."

Ok I gotta say that sounds disgusting. I'll give the oat scones a try.

Try putting a bit of cinnamon in the oatmeal and top with brown sugar--delicious

Don't forget to add salt to the water before cooking.
Oatmeal needs a good pinch or two (or more) of salt, and when it's done, sprinkle with brown sugar and milk with a little cream.

Salt makes a lot of difference to the flavour of oatmeal.

I love it!

SharonCb

I do like barnmom...treat old fashioned oats as instant. I pour hot, hot water over them and let them sit while I get the paper. Then I dump a handful of fresh blueberries, strawberries, or raspberries on top. With the fruit I don't even need any sugar. Love the stuff...and I get to feel smugly healthy all day long. ;0)

I must be the only person on earth who eats hot cereal--oatmeal or any other type--with salt and pepper, as if it were a grain for dinner. I just don't like sweet hot cereal.

Laceyvail, sometimes I'll cook up just some grits for breakfast & top them with salt, pepper & butter. I would do it more often but I'm the only one in my household who likes them. (Grits aren't a menu item up here in da nortwoods.) And I'll scarf down any leftover fried rice, savory rice & wild rice dishes for breakfast.

Marys, I wasn't ever an oatmeal lover. Had to choke down the occasional bowl when I was a kid. And, living most of my life in Oklahoma, hot cereal just isn't anything you care to think about for most of the year.

Now, living in Wisconsin, hot cereal definitely has an appeal. A friend came into a bunch of boxes of those instant flavored oatmeal packets and gave us a bunch of it. Sat around for a long time and I decided to give it a go. I actually liked it, esp. the apples & cinnamon one. Started buying it occasionally but it really is pricey for what you get. That, & I started wanting something a bit more 'toothy'. The instant stuff is rather like paste. So, I started trying to make it from scratch last winter. Don't have it 'perfected'--LOL, like oatmeal is subject to being perfect but, hopefully someone will KWIM! Mainest problem is that the apples that I dried don't have much flavor. They were some from a scraggly old tree in the backyard that I dried just because I had them and a dehydrator that I'd purchased from a rummage sale that was gathering dust down in the basement. Late frost in our area got most of the apples so local apples at good prices are just about non-existent this year. :( This discussion has reminded me so I'll hunt down some great tasting grocery store apples & give it another go.

Anyway, it's one story of how one gal learned to really like oatmeal!

Ci_lantro, I can't resist, you have to get apples from the other side of the lake to get the best flavor. I say that jokingly but it is probably true. It's the magic of Lake Michigan.

I agree, Nancy, it's the Lady of The Lake that makes those apples so good in Michigan. (grin)

However, we had a Mother's Day frost here and our apple harvest is about half what it usually is. Still, my secretary bought apples for $3 a half bushel at a local orchard yesterday, now I'm thinking I need to make more apple butter.

I made your Apple Maple Jam yesterday, and I'm having oatmeal with some jam stirred in for breakfast.

Mary, I often toss in a handful of nuts and stir in some jam, it makes it less gummy and gives it a little texture, plus the nuts have lots of good fat.

Annie

Personally I think the best use of oatmeal is in a good cookie!

I'm one of those that don't like cooked oatmeal. I'll eat it on rare occasions, if I cook it in milk instead of water, and if I add all kinds of fruit, cinnamon, etc. to it. However, I'll make granola with oatmeal and love to eat that. I just combine at least 6 cups of rolled oats, assorted chopped nuts such as walnuts, almonds, pecans, and some sunflowers seeds. I'll add some wheat germ, and cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch or 2 of salt, and mix it all together. Then I'll add about 1/4 to 1/3 cup vegetable oil, and the same amount of sweetener. The sweeteners I use are usually a combination of molasses, honey and occasionally maple syrup. I don't like it real sweet, so I don't add more than 1/2 cup total sweetener. I mix it all together and toast in the oven set at 190 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

That's about the only way I'll eat oats. Oh, and I'm sort of learning to like oatmeal cookies. DH's cousin made some that were the best I've ever eaten, to which she added ground flax seed and dried apricots. The were delicious. But unfortunately, I don't have the recipe. I think she used the standard on the box recipe for the cookies, and just added some ground flax and the chopped dried apricots, but I'm not sure exactly how much. Oh, and she used almond extract instead of vanilla. But anyway, I digress. Sorry.

Yes, I'm one of those that love grits, and cook them in milk, also, and only add salt and pepper to them - copious amounts of black pepper. Sometimes I'll add cheese, too, but usually not. I've found when I cook it in milk, I can forgo the butter.

Sally

I want to stand and cheer for grainlady! Now that is an ANSWER!.... "a direct association of this color with the phenolic acid or avenanthramide content of the oat".

Grandma taught me to enjoy a big gob of raspberry jam stirred into the old-fashioned oatmeal.

I like oaty oat meal rather then the creamy instant paste type for breakfasting. As a kid my mother bought the packages of instant for me with dinosaurs featured on the package. It was a big deal to me what kind of dinosaur I was going to be that day. What a world of trouble I had... triceratops or tyranosaur? They didn't even have a velociraptor back then... so primative! Sometimes a box of the fruit and cream variety of instant falls in my shopping cart.. usually eaten as a late night snack rather then breakfast food. Nothing like sweet oat paste after a night of drinking beers.

No milk... icky because it can make it cold... hate cold oatmeal.

: )
lyra

I make a yogurt cup with oatmeal, plain fat free yogurt, fresh or frozen fruit and Splenda.
Depending on the fruit, I may add vanilla or almond extract, or easier yet, a little sugar free vanilla or the vanilla/caramel powdered coffee creamer. Maybe some cinnamon or nutmeg.
Mix up a big batch and portion into 1 cup containers.
The oatmeal isn't cooked at all, it just absorbs liquid from the fruit and yogurt while it sits in the fridge.
Delicious and still maintains its texture.

But I love it hot too with any number of toppings. I just don't have time to make it in the mornings. I'll have to try cooking ahead to reheat.

And you're right, Barnmom..........cookies are a good choice! :-)

Deanna

Totally off subj, but the best parsnips I ever had were some that I bought at a farmer's mkt in Michigan. Peeled & roasted them. Like candy! It's just so hard to get there from here, though. That darn lake is in the way.

Last year, our new Honey Crisp tree had a dozen or so apples, huge ones. Ohh, so good. We were looking forward to more this year only to get disappointed w/ that late freeze. And old scraggly has produced good apples in the past but it's not looking so good. We're a little scared to cut it down though because it may be a pollinator for the HC.

Back to oatmeal--I have an Oatmeal Cake recipe that I love. It's an old recipe w/ a broiled coconut topping. Someone here on the forum has posted the recipe in the past so you all probably have it in your files. Nice & moist & it's one of those recipes where you have everything you need to make it on hand. Inexpensive ingredients, no special trip to the grocery store. I love having those kinds of recipes for the impulse, 'I gotta' have something sweet, now' times.

cilantro, I love parsnips, and Grandpa always told me that they had to stay in the ground until they had a hard frost or they weren't sweet. We left them in the ground all winter, covered with a layer of straw, and dug them in the spring (or in winter, if we could get a shovel in the ground). I don't know if that's true or not, but I've had some lovely sweet parsnips and some not so much, maybe it's in the curing...

I've found that apples run in a two year cycle for me. I'll get a good crop one year, not so good the next. I'm hoping next year is a bumper crop for the HC.

And just to keep it related, apple crisp with an oatmeal topping is pretty nice too.

Annie

As a road trip gift for a friend I made oatmeal drop cookies last night from a recipe in an ancient cookbook that uses buttermilk. It called for 1-1/2 cups of oatmeal. I found I had a scant cup of old-fashioned rolled oats. I remembered some instant (not my fave but Alice likes instant at times) packs in the cupboard. They were maple brown sugar. I used them but reduced the sugar in the recipe. Apparently oatmeal cookies are very forgiving. I added walnuts, cranberries, and white chocolate chips. They have a little maple flavor, too.

I've noticed that two year cycle, too, Annie, and was thinking about the HC being very good to us, esp. since it got to rest all summer. DH loves the HC so much that I'm not sure that I got even a whole one of those dozen or so from last year. Did get a taste though and they were about as good as it can get with fresh eating apples. And he's been buying them from the grocery store this fall. We also like Ambrosia apples a lot; buy 'em at Quik Trip. Can't buy the trees, though. :(

Apple crisp is one of my oatmeal favorites. So easy to sling together plus it 'bakes' nicely in the microwave if you don't feel like cranking up the oven and waiting for it to preheat. For a change-up sometimes I'll toss some dried cranberries in w/ the apples. That esp. works if your apples are a little flat in the flavor dept.

Another good use for oatmeal is to toss some in the food processor and grind it up a bit to substitute for some of the flour when you're making bread. Probably could skip the grinding step if you have instant oatmeal. I always buy 'old fashioned' whole rolled oats or some of the toothy kinds like from Bob's Red Mill.