Thursday, January 15, 2009

Simple Survival Foods - Oatmeal

January is National Oatmeal Month. There is usually more oatmeal consumed in January than in any other month of the year. Recently, there has been a large amount of interest in oatmeal in recent years. This is due mainly to its beneficial health effects. Daily consumption of a bowl of oatmeal has been shown to help in lowering blood cholesterol because of its high content of soluble fiber. This is an excellent item for your food storage program.

Most oatmeal cereals are made from rolled oats. Rolled oats are cleaned, graded and pearled. This is a process that removes the husk from the oat grain, steam is then used to soften it, and then it is rolled flat between heavy metal rollers. While this process causes the oats to lose some of its protein and vitamins, they have a much longer shelf life than natural oatmeal due to the heat of steaming and rolling. Rolled oats are usually sold in cardboard or paper packaging, while unprocessed oatmeal is usually sold in air-tight, vacuum-packed containers.

Quick or old fashioned oats can be used in baking as a substitute for a portion of the flour called for in various recipes for muffins, biscuits, pancakes, and cookies.

And in case you are wondering about the shelf life of rolled oats, a 2005 study at Brigham Young University found that the quick cooking type rolled oats that had been stored for 28 years in sealed containers were rated "acceptable in an emergency" in taste and quality by 75 % of people involved in a taste test of the rolled oats.

Got oats?

Staying above the water line!

Riverwalker

14 comments:

Annoymous said...

Oats are the best for breakfast and for everything just to keep you full.

riverwalker said...

To: Harmony

They also are good as an extra ingredient in many other baked items. They will fill you up real quick when you're hugry! Thanks.

RW

Anonymous said...

Yep, I got oats.

scoutinlife said...

Brown Sugar & MAple are my favorite oats..........

Anonymous said...

Oats are one of my favorites too - a bit of honey, butter and a smidge of salt and I'm happy. Quaker Oat dude on big round drum is my preference, though the envelopes sure are convenient.

riverwalker said...

To: Jennersen

Me too!

RW

To: scoutinlie

Like the brown sugar myself!

RW

To: anonymous

Mrs. RW likes the instant packs for a quick breakfast. The Quaker dude is great also!

RW

Anonymous said...

This might sound a little strange,so bear with me.. I used to work in a taco shop in high school,we used to add outmeal to the meat when done cooking. It mopped up the grease,made a couple more serving's,and didn't affect the flavor at all. It actually made the meat hold together better too. I know my ex used to add breadcrumb's into her meatloaf,so why not?
Dean

riverwalker said...

To: Dean

Use oatmeal in meatloaf all the time! Makes a good filler.

RW

BigBear said...

I have 4 five gallon bucket full of the stuff. Love it for breakfast.

riverwalker said...

To: Big Bear

Wow! You REALLY like oatmeal!

It's great stuff.

RW

The Scavenger said...

Good info as always RW, I have some and will be getting more now thanks to this post.

Chris

riverwalker said...

To: the Scavenger

It's got a great shelf life and it's good for you. Can't get much better than that! Thanks.

RW

azurevirus said...

a hot bowl ofOatmeal ..altho I know is good for a person..is one of the few foods I just cant eat..dont know why..I can eat "mush" and other hot breakfast cerals and enjoy them.but something about the sight of a bowl of oats just turns my hunger pains off

riverwalker said...

To: azurevirus

There are some things which people can't eat. From my expierience this usually has to do with what is called a "gag" reflex which is stronger in some than in others. The mere sight of some food is enough to turn people off. Thanks.

RW

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