Have you read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon? Well, I have decided that Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Steel Cut Oats is not your mother's oatmeal...it is Jamie Fraser's Parritch! It has been a long time since I have been this enthusiastic over a whole grain! This oatmeal won the Golden Spurtle World Porridge Making Championship held every year in Scotland. It is the only 'non-scottish' oatmeal to have taken the grand prize. With good reason! To my taste, it is creamy, hearty, warming, filling and just the right combination of sweet and savory (when you make it according to my recipe). Even though you have to wait 20 minutes for it to cook- trust me, it is worth the wait.
I live alone, and thus had to divide the recipe on the package by 4 to create a reasonable portion size for 1.
3/4 C filtered water
A bit of good salt in the water
Boil the water
Add 1/4 C of Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats
Bring to a boil, stirring
Reduce the heat to a slow simmer
Put the lid on and set the timer for 20 minutes
Every 5 minutes or so, take off the lid and stir the porridge
When there is about 4 minutes to go on the timer, drop in a small handful of organic, raw walnuts and a small handful of raisins, a bit of milk (or non-dairy milk substitute) and a squirt of organic blue agave nectar to taste.
When the timer goes off, stir again until creamy and serve. I drop a few frozen organic boreal blueberries on top and let them thaw in the oatmeal, I don't stir anymore or it will turn purple.
This makes for a heavenly breakfast. It is gluten free, the walnuts offer a little extra protein (the parritch alone contains 7 gm of protein) and very satisfying. Honestly, much more so than a bagel. And I get a little thrill out of imagining myself on the Scottish Highlands with Jamie and Claire enjoying 'parritch' by an open fire.
Portlanders will know that Bob's Red Mill factory and store are in the Portland suburb of Milwaukie. I probably spelled that wrong, but you know what I mean. If you make it, let me know how you like it.
The other product I tried was frozen brown rice bread. This bread is pretty much what one imagines gluten-free bread to taste like. Dry, powdery, bland, tough. But it does make one feel like one is eating an actual sandwich. And because the 'bread' takes so long to chew, one fills up on it pretty easily. It looks a little like whole wheat bread, which is psychologically comforting. Since I LIKE having sandwiches for lunch, this works well for me. And I guess NOT loving the bread works well for me too, as I am not too keen to binge on it.
It has been 5 days gluten-free (with small cheats) and I am feeling better. I notice that my hands are not as swollen. The eczema on my eyelids has decreased and I just generally feel better. I am still quite fatigued but my face isn't grey any longer and that is a relief to me to see some color coming back into my skin.
I have had some thoughts about various things- again, simply by paying attention. This healing path has brought quite a few things to my attention and eventually I will write about some of them as I process them further. In the meanwhile, I am grateful for the kind words- both here in the comments section and the words people have said to me personally through phone calls and email. My sister had some very interesting and insightful thoughts, but was unable to get them onto the comment section. I am sorry for that. And Beth, I have been on a D-3 supplement along with others for some time now. My new DO has got me taking quite a bit of it and I also notice that it is helpful. Especially for those of us who live in low-light climates.
So, I hope that you enjoy your Parritch and let me know what you think!
Love,
Terra
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