Oatmeal has always been one of my favourite breakfast foods. As a child, I ate it everyday. Back then, I think it was the brown sugar I loved, not the cooked cereal.

Fast forward 30 years, and I am still eating oats for breakfast, only now, it’s granola. I made the switch after trying a friend’s homemade granola, and have been eating it ever since.

Studies have proven that eating oats for breakfast is not only good for me, it might actually save my life. Here are some of the health benefits derived from eating oats/oatmeal daily:

• Lowers your cholesterol
• Reduces risk of cardiovascular disease
• Enhances your immune response to infection
• Stabilizes your blood sugars
• Substantially lowers the risk of Type 2 Diabetes
• Helps protect against break cancer

If you would like more detailed information on the studies conducted, please visit The World’s Healthiest Foods website.

If you, or your children, are not a fan of cooked oatmeal and would like something with more crunch, below are two great recipes, Horne Lake Granola and Cranberry Oat Bars (Sourced from Epicurious.com).

Here’s to good eating and healthy living.

Cheers,

Julie

Cranberry Oat Bars

• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

• 1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar

• 2 large eggs

• 2 tablespoons whole milk

• 2 teaspoons vanilla

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 cups pecans (6 oz), chopped

• 1 1/3 cups dried cranberries, chopped

Directions

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Generously butter a 9-inch square baking pan.

Toast oats in another baking pan, stirring occasionally, until pale golden, about 12 minutes.

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, milk, and vanilla. Whisk together flour, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda, then beat into butter mixture until incorporated. Stir in oats, pecans, and cranberries. Spread in buttered pan.

Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted comes out clean, 25 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then cut into bars.

Horne Lake Granola

• 3 cups of large flake oatmeal

• 1 cup of slivered almonds
  

• 1 cup wheat bran

• 1 cup unsweetened coconut

• 1/3 cup pecan halves

• ½ cup pumpkin seeds

• ½ cup sunflower seeds

• ¾ cup unsalted cashew nuts

• ½ tsp salt

• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon

• 1 cup maple syrup

• ¼ cup sunflower oil

• 2 tsp pure vanilla

• 1 cup dried sweetened cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the first 10 ingredients. Mix well. In a separate bowl combine oil, maple syrup and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Divide the granola between the two baking sheets and pack down over the entire sheet. Back for about 11/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. The granola should be golden brown and crunchy when it’s done. Once it has cooled, add the cranberries. Store in an airtight container.

This makes a great breakfast or snack, and goes great with yogurt.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 19th, 2007 at 3:29 pm and is filed under Food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.