Carrot Cake Oatmeal – Something a little different

[Dicentra OPW]

Carrot Cake Oatmeal
Serves 1

1 packet plain instant oatmeal (the good kind)
1 1/2 tablespoons dried carrots
1 tablespoon raisins
1 tablespoon powdered milk
1 teaspoon brown sugar (or more, to taste)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

At home: combine all of the dry ingredients in a zip locking plastic bag.

In camp: Add 2/3 cup boiling water to oatmeal (or more if you like a thinner cereal.)

[Laurie Ann March]

So, Dicentra, what do you consider the "good kind".

[Linsey Budden]

MMM Scottish Oatmeal…We've cooked it on the trail and it takes forever. Lately our mix is walnuts, peanut butter, unsweetened coconut, and soy milk. It's high time to experiment with dehydrating that breakfast up.

[Dicentra OPW]

Nature's Path Organics is a good brand. No added anything. (except a little salt)
http://www.naturespath.com/products/hot_cereals

Or you can make your own instant oatmeal. I think Sarbar has a recipe for that on her site.

[Laurie Ann March]

Linsey,

I adore Scottish Oatmeal and it is very nutritious…. sad that it takes so long to cook on the trail. I'm doing some overnight soaking experiments when I am on a trip later next week so I will let you know if it actually works.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Di, I do! You can easily whirl quick cook oats in your blender to make 'instant'.

I also would give a shout for the Safeway Organics instant oatmeal. It is very low in sodium as well.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

I know Di won't hate me if I squat on her thread ;-)

I think I posted this one back in the past…..it has coconut in it along with coconut cream powder. If one uses homemade instant oats, use 1/2 cup.

Sarah's Fattening Coconut Berry Oatmeal

In a pint freezer bag put:
2 packets instant plain oatmeal (1/2 cup dry)
2 Tbsp coconut cream powder
2 Tbsp diced dried fruit blend (Whatever you like)
1 Tbsp natural coconut
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Add 1 cup near boiling water and stir well. Let sit for a couple minutes till cool enough to eat.
Serves 1.

~Sarah

[Linsey Budden]

Sarah, Wow, that sounds really good and I have coconut powder so I'll certainly give it a try.

Laurie, Once I tried soaking them, it came out gummy and still needed lots of time to cook. Somehow I'm confident you'll have much better luck.

Dicentra, Let me confess that at first, I thought carrots? The more I thought about it, Carrot Cake Oatmeal sounds like a winning combo.

Years ago (at home, before I hiked), I used to add dried cherries and chocolate chunks and sometimes even ice cream.

[Laurie Ann March]

well Linsey – I thought I'd try it right after I posted (always better to try before a trip) and I just opened the container now… lol… gummy is probably the perfect word.

[Chris Jones]

Errr… the good kind of oatmeal is the non-instant variety…

[Christopher Holden]

What brand is the coconut cream powder? I'd like to find it in powder form. I've only used the cream. That recipe looks like it would be a great source of energy to start the day. The carbs from the oatmeal is a good start. Everything else is a bonus. To top off the tank, the coconut cream I use is about 20g of fat per ounce. Is the powder form any less?
My oatmeal breakfast is basically whatever is in the pack, but I like adding dry milk or coconut cream, dried cherries or blueberries, a pinch of raw brown sugar, and some nuts (pecans, almonds, macadamia or walnuts).

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Christopher, there are a number of brands out there – from Thailand and Indonesia to choose from. The pouches are 1.76 to 2 ounces, each is technically 3 servings. Usually a pouch of powder is 27 grams of fat (based on 1.76 ounces) so yes, it is very high fat! A little goes a long way.

I like the Kara brand as well as Chao Thai. Chaokoh is good also!

[Dicentra OPW]

The Safeway brand is a good one. Fred Meyers has a store brand too. I think most stores do. You just have to read the labels to make sure there is no "junk" in there.

Yes, the non-instant kind is better, but not exactly trail do-able. At least not very quickly. I want my breakfast and I want it NOW! lol.

You'd eat a carrot-cake muffin for breakfast, right? So why not take those ingredients, and reshape them into an instant cereal for the trail! lol.

That coconut berry recipe looks good, Sarah! I think I'd like to try it with couscous. :)

[victoria maki]

they actually have instant scottich oats. i like them better than reg. oats. can't remember brand. you can get them at the health nut store. fiber is the same as reg. oatmeal…

[Laurie Ann March]

thanks for telling me about that – I'll have to keep an eye out for it even though I rarely use oatmeal on the trail

[Kathleen B]

I always thought the only difference among regular, minute, and instant oatmeal was the size of the flakes. Is that true, any of you oatmeal experts? If so, then a slow-cooking oatmeal, such as Scottish Oats, might speed up without getting gummy if the flakes were made smaller, such as in a blender. Anyone know?

[Christopher Holden]

Chaokoh it is! "Coconut milk powder"… Slightly less fat at 19g per 30g serving. Powder will be soooo much less mess and smell than my goopy cream in a cardboard box. I never even knew it came in powder. Yay @ international grocery. I just found some other goodies too. Backcountry cooking is looking up. Thanks for the tip!

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Yay! Glad you found it :-) I use it in lots of stuff – curries, rice dishes, pasta, breakfast, hot drinks…well, you get the idea!

[Linsey Budden]

Kathleen, While I'm not sure I can express this correctly; I've read that the thicker the oat, the lower the glycemic index and the longer it will stay with you.

In the food chapter (page 182) of "Beyond Backpacking", Ray Jardine states that, "To make oats "instant," the bran and germ are removed and the endosperm is pre-cooked and rolled thin."

So many of our grains are rendered nearly useless by the removal of bran and germ to extend shelf life, that I try hard to eat only whole grains, brown rice.

Laurie, Since I've got Ray's book out, I see his solution to slow cooking breakfast grains was to cook them right after cooking the evening meal and eat them cold the next day.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

I grew listening to my Grandma's horror stories of the Great Depression. One was that for a long time all they ate was oats 3 times day. Cooked in the morning, cold the rest of the time. Wall paste. Lets just say that to eat cold cooked cereal 8-12 hours later takes a stomach that can handle anything.
I'd take the cold cereal with a careful practice first ;-)

[Kathleen B]

Linsey – your answer got my curiosity going so I did a google search on the difference between regular and instant oatmeal. I found this from the Ohio State Extension Service:

I heard that old-fashioned oats are more nutritious than the instant kind. Is that true?

On the whole, no: Any kind of oatmeal will give you oat-related benefits you’re looking for.

The biggest difference between instant and old-fashioned (also called “regular rolled”) oats are the way they’re cut and flattened. During processing, oats are steamed lightly to deactivate enzymes and prevent the product from going rancid during storage. Then they’re dried down, and instant oats are cut into smaller pieces for quicker cooking. After that, the oats are “rolled,” or flattened. Instant oats are rolled flatter than old-fashioned oats — again, for quicker cooking.

“Quick cooking” oatmeal is rolled and cut finer than regular, but larger than instant. It isn’t packaged with the extra flavorings that instant often has, but cooks more quickly than old-fashioned.

The fallacy that old-fashioned oats are more nutritious might have arisen from a casual comparison of the Nutrition Facts information. You might notice the old-fashioned label lists more fiber (4 grams) compared with instant oats (3 grams). But that’s mainly because of a difference in serving size: a serving of regular oats, a half-cup dry, contains 40 grams of oats; a serving of regular, non-flavored instant oats contains only 28 grams.

Instant oats often contain additional sugar and flavorings, which increase carbs and empty calories per serving. But still, old-fashioned, quick and instant oats all have the same health benefits.

[Tad Englund]

Sarah, my folks went through the depression also and I remember one day when I was a kid, Mom made some "wheat hearts" cereal (we had some kind of cooked cereal everyday) and we kids didn't eat any of it. So for dinner she fried up the cereal in patties- she said that that is what they did when she was a kid so if we were going to waste it for breakfast we would have it for dinner. Not real appetizing especially fried! Enough about that-
One way to make Muesli is to put the ingredients together and let it sit overnight. I have done this backpacking with some oats, trail mix (Trader Joe's, "Go Raw", I don't like salted nuts), dried apples, etc. add water (I do boil it, but you could just add it cold). It makes a quick, healthy, nutritious meal that stays with you. I like my oatmeal hot (I make steal cut oats at home), but with the right mix it can be very tasty!

[Brian UL]

Try making Scottish oatcakes.
I used the recipe on the bag of Red mills Scottish oatmeal.
I they are meant to be eaten with a topping like jam or with some tea ect. because they are a little dry -but very good!

[Linsey Budden]

Sarah wrote, "I'd take the cold cereal with a careful practice first ;-)"

This made me laugh because I'm eating 4 hour old cold oatmeal right now.

Brian, Your oatcake recipe idea is genius.

Kathleen, As far as instant oatmeal goes, I'm going to have to take Jack Lalanne's advice… "If man made it, don't eat it."

[Laurie Ann March]

My Mom is originally from Ayrshire so I grew up on Scottish Oatmeal, Oatcakes, Potato Scones and Bannock.

Scottish Oatmeal was a ground type of oatmeal and not the flakes or rolled variety that is common in North America. It was cooked in a pot on the stove, seasoned with salt and served with milk. No sugar. Mom still eats it that way… but I like brown sugar or some Maple flakes.

Oatcakes were made from ground oats and then pan fried in bacon fat (no wonder I had a weight problem as a child). Once they cooled they were served with butter and marmalade.

Potato Scones are wonderful and very thin potato "pancakes" (about 1/8 inch thick) that are fried on a griddle. You butter them and roll them up like a tortilla.

Bannock. People in North America think this came from the Natives but it is actually a Scottish thing and perfect for the trail. Bannock can be baked, pan-fried or cooked on a stick over the fire.

PS I make a mean Shortbread from a recipe that can be traced back over 300 years in my maternal family.

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