I am the first person in the world to have steel cut oats!!

Woke up from a good night sleep a little stuffy, but in a good mood. Determined to start the eating day off right, I downed some green tea then proceeded to make myself some pinhead oats (aka steel cut) for breakfast. It ended up taking over 15 minutes in the microwave, so I had to package it and take it to work. It was quite delicious, but I think I may have to make it in larger batches in a slow-cooked style, then reheat as needed over a week.

AM SNACK: 8:30am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 10am, steelcut oatmeal with a little brown sugar, salt and vanilla, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
To be honest, I was inspired by Alton Brown's Good Eats episodes on oats, which he proclaims as one of the most healthy things you can have for breakfast. It definitely fits in well with his lose-weight scheme, as a whole grain.

Oddly enough, I think this may be the first time I've eaten/paid attention to steel cut, as opposed to old fashioned rolled outs. The technical difference is steel-cut are whole oats that are chopped up into large grit, so that's why it's called "pinhead". Rolled oats are rolled between huge metal rollers at high pressure to press then flat. Rolling makes them faster to cook, but also lowers the amount of the mucous-like starch that is produced when cooked, which makes them very slow going through the digestive system (and therefore more nutritionally rich and more filling.) (Instant are rolled oats that are chopped up and par-cooked, greatly reducing nutritional value and flavor.) While rolled oats are good for baking in granola, I don't think I'll ever use them again for oatmeal.

Steel-cut has a nicer, fuller mouth feel, both firmer in the grain and thicker in the starch released. I cooked them in water, but for my bigger quantities, I see milk, cream, buttermilk or a combination. Throw in a small amount of brown sugar, salt and pie spices, and it's going to be a crazy-health party in mah mouf.

NOON SNACK: 3 pieces of freshly baked bread, handful of olives, a few slices of cucumber, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1:45pm, large green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
LUNCH: 3:15pm, 2 slices of pizza, a small sprite, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5:45pm, 4 misc. home baked cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
A coworker has been consulting with me about baking, so I had to try them.

DINNER: 7pm, 3 small slices of pizza, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


EVENING SNACK: 10:15pm, 3/4 of a waffle, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5