It seems there are many factors to take into account in our
humble porridge breakfast. I understand the importance of the whole grain
perspective with low glycaemic index (GI) keeping our insulin levels at bay.
The new steel cut oats (I chose to buy the Uncle Toby
product) has the lowest GI so I decided to give it a try. I thought that being
cut up would provide a smaller particle at less than 0.5 cm to maybe make it
suitable for a minced and moist diet. Well I missed the toasted label and no
matter how long I cooked it the particles remained “nutty” true to the advert.
The bits would be a nightmare for anyone with dentures and remained around the
mouth to maybe cause problems for swallowing accidents later in the day.
 |
| Steel Cut Oats illustrating the “nutty” texture |
The other consideration of particle size prompted me to try
“steel” cutting in my food processor to create smaller pieces of my traditional
oats (the next lowest GI option). I had no idea whether this would raise the GI
but I guessed it would make it easier to digest. The results were superb! Easy
to eat with no lumps lowered cooking time for 2 serves (3 mins in the microwave
instead of 4-5), and a cheap product from the local brand of supermarket. (99c
for 750g as opposed to over 5 dollars for the steel cut oats).
Now I was on a
mission! How could I improve the protein and fibre of my breakfast to meet the
nutrition requirements for the elderly of at least 20g of protein and 10g of
fibre. This would be a helpful recipe for aged care homes as well as for
modified texture diets at home.
I trialled making the porridge with all milk, adding extra
skim milk powder and oat bran before cooking and a teaspoon of honey with a
heaped tablespoon of Greek Yogurt to serve. The result was very popular, was
suitable for Soft and Minced & Moist diets, and almost met the nutrition
goal. The mixed meal using milk would lower the GI and addition of oat bran
improve fibre and mineral content. The fibre content of the meal can be further
increased by addition of fruit as desired.
Breakfast Porridge
Ingredients Serves
2
60g Rolled Oats
20g Oat Bran
330 ml Skim Milk
25g skim milk powder
2tsp honey
60g Greek Yoghurt
Method
- Process rolled oats in food processor until pieces < 0.5cm.
- Mix skim milk powder into the milk before adding it to the processed oats and oat bran.
- Cook in microwave on high for 2 mins, stir and cook again for 1 further minute.
- Serve with a teaspoon of honey and a heaped tablespoon of yoghurt.
These may need to be mixed in at the table
to minimise mixed texture. The yoghurt will also minimise the slightly cohesive
nature of the porridge.
Nutrition Information per serve: Energy1260kJ,
protein18.6g, fat 4.2g, sat fat 0.8g, carbohydrate 45.7g, sugars 21.8g, fibre
4.0g, calcium 419mg, magnesium 100mg, iron 1.9g, zinc 2.2g.
 |
| Breakfast porridge with small particle size oats |
