Cold, wet, rainy, snowy, stormy day? Some days you just want a nice hot bowl of oatmeal. That was me on a cold rainy day last week; so I put some to soak early in the morning for that night’s dinner. There are a couple of steps to getting the most nutrients and taste out of your oatmeal and I thought I’d share my process with you as I prepared it.
It’s super simple. Here’s the recipe and below I’ll give a quick review of why we’re doing what we’re doing. If you want to go deeper then check out my blog, Back To Basics 101 – Soak Nuts, Seeds, Legumes And Grains.
Oatmeal – Basic Soak Recipe
(This will feed 2 people as a meal itself)
1 cup steel cut (or whatever your favorite cut) oats (do NOT use quick cook)
¼ cup water kefir
3 – 4 cups filtered (non-chlorinated) warm water
Combine ingredients in a large glass bowl with a lid. I just use a plate over the top of a bowl and that works fine. Stir to mix, cover and let sit for 8 – 12 hours. Overnight works well for breakfast and early morning for dinner that day. After elapsed time, drain, rinse and put in a crockpot or heavy bottom pot.
Add the desired liquid (I like to use bone broth instead of water some times and herbs for a more savory meal) and fill to one inch above the top of the oats. Then add salt or whatever seasonings you wish, stir and cook on low slowly for several hours;until the liquid is absorbed and it reaches your desired consistency. I like to add a huge pat of grass-fed butter here too. The easiest is to put it in the crockpot and turn it on low for about 4 hours.
On this occasion though I just did it on the stove since I was home and in the kitchen anyways. I chose to cook it in water and salt, added butter at the end, dished it up and topped it with cinnamon and pure maple syrup.
Why Soak and Ferment
All nuts, seeds, legumes, grains require soaking in a cultured base and most sprouting to break down their enzyme inhibitors and make their nutrients bioavailable. Nutritional inhibitors and toxic substances found in these can be minimized or eliminated by soaking. These inhibitors and toxic substances are enzyme inhibitors, phytates (phytic acid), polyphenols (tannins), and goitrogens. Here’s an easy bullet point list of why for you:
- To remove or reduce phytic acid.
- To remove or reduce tannins.
- To neutralize the enzyme inhibitors.
- To encourage the production of beneficial enzymes.
- To increase the amounts of vitamins, especially B vitamins.
- To break down gluten and make digestion easier.
- To make the proteins more readily available for absorption.
- To prevent mineral deficiencies and bone loss.
- To help neutralize toxins in the colon and keep the colon clean.
- To prevent many health diseases and conditions.
There you have it. Simple, nourishing, delicious oatmeal. I hope you enjoy this oatmeal recipe as much as I and my family does.
Live Vibrantly!
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