Battleangel

Another gem from the Story Box. Or the cereal box perhaps.

For as long as I can remember breakfast has always been a dreary. For all that I know about nutrition, doing the right thing has never been easy. There are always complications to the ideal state.
Well anyway, the long and dark months of crunchy müsli are over and I’m back to oatmeal. Variation is the key to not flipping out I guess. And I thought I should write a little something about my all-time favourite breakfast cereal.
Over the years I have conditioned myself to eat oatmeal porridge. It is, as they say, very much an acquired taste. Personally I grew up eating this stuff, but even so it took a couple of years before I could truly appreciate the qualities of oatmeal.

Strong points:

• Oatmeal is cheap and doesn’t easily expire if kept air tight.
• Oatmeal contains a relatively large amount of protein. It is in fact the most cost effective way to assimilate amino acids. Cheaper than eggs even.
• Oatmeal is (obviously) of vegetable origin. That means unsaturated lipid groups.
• Oatmeal is rich in dietary fibres. Will keep your bowels fit and in working order. As well as bind excess lipids and expel them from the body.
• Oatmeal can be made into a variety of things like porridge (my basis for this post) as well as used in baking or eaten raw as in müsli. A hot breakfast can really lighten up your day.

Especially the last point is interesting to explore further. The possibilities are endless, but nevertheless end with porridge for some reason. Recently I was able to device a recipe for baking bread using 50% oatmeal but that is about it.
I need to expand my horizons. I have this great raw ingredient that I sense is terribly underrated. And I would like to broaden the usage to include other areas as well. Even advanced desserts and smoothies. It’s a challenge but once that I’m certainly up to.

As for the exact brand and type of oatmeal, maybe I should elaborate further. Oatmeal isn’t just oatmeal you know. Thanks to the particular climate and soil composition in Sweden, oat (Avena sativa) is well suited for cultivation here. As well as in other cold-temperate climates such as in Canada, Scotland and the rest of Scandinavia. While oat can be coerced to grow elsewhere, the final product is far from the quality of the cold soils of aforementioned places.
In addition I have completely switched to Fiber Oatmeal these days. I.e. oats that are sprayed with wheat fibres. It gives the product an almost roasted taste. Surely one of those things that will put hair on your ass.