The Low Down on Oats

Before I started working at Honeyville Farms I thought oats just came in the rolled form that I used to make cookies and eat in my morning hot cereal.  I thought they grew in flat pieces--boy was I wrong!  Oats come in a variety of forms: groats, rolled, chopped, flour, bran (just like wheat)

Oat Groats are oats before they are rolled.
Regular Rolled Oats are groats that have been rolled into flakes.
Steel-Cut Oats are groats that have been chopped.
Quick Oats are Steel-Cut Oats that have been rolled into flakes.

Each form of oats can be used in a variety of ways.  My mother-in-law uses Oat Groats to replace rice as a side dish for my father-in-law. You can make a yummy Oat Groat and Apricot bread with Oat Groats as well.  My husband prefers Regular Oats over Quick Oats for hot cereal but I am just the opposite.   It's a texture thing to me.  In a pinch, I've used Quick Oats as a replacement to cracker crumbs in a meatball recipe.  One of my co-workers from the E-Commerce department had this to say about Steel-Cut Oats:

"I'm always looking for new and different ways to get a healthy breakfast that I can prepare and eat quickly.  I think I have a winner with my latest breakfast creation.  I take a packet or two of instant oatmeal (wait, it gets much better), and add it to my coffee cup.  I then add three tablespoons of Steel Cut Oats and two tablespoons of Freeze Dried Blueberries.  I add water and microwave for a minute.  The result is a chewy variation on oatmeal that has the great flavor of blueberries and sticks with me for hours.  I get the benefits of a whole grain in the Steel Cut Oats along with all of the anti-oxidants in the Freeze Dried Blueberries.  It tastes great and starts my day off right." 

I love that Oats are so healthy for you AND they taste good.  How often does that happen?  What are your favorite uses for Oats?

Happy Eating!