Artisana Coconut Oil and Instant Oats = Yummy!

HAPPY 2012 EVERYONE!

Hope you all enjoyed the end of year festivities. It's resolution time once again and I'm going for the typical "it's time to lose a few pounds". However I'm not going to go crazy and record every last calorie as that hasn't worked too well in the past for me.  What I am going to do is just try to focus on eating less and less processed foods and see how it goes.  Today I have a pot of simple red lentil soup simmering on the burner and have just finished a bowl of instant oatmeal. I know - I should be eating steel cut oats right?  I tried them once and wasn't too impressed but perhaps in the future.  In the meantime I'm using President's Choice Instant Oatmeal (Organic) right now because of the good taste and reasonable price. Can't remember exactly but it was just under $3.

I do like the Organic O brand (Safeway) as well but the President's Choice (Real Canadian Superstore) brand has less sugar than the Organics O brand even if you take into account that the O brand has 8-43gm packets and the President's Choice has 10-38gm packets. The PC maple brown sugar oatmeal has 6 gm sugar and the Organic O maple brown sugar has 12 gm sugar. I should just buy a bag of quick rolled oats and call it a day but I really love the convenience of the individual packets and the individual flavors for variety. Organic O brand is more expensive and has less total weight.  PC=380gm for about $3 and the Organic O=344gm for about $5. If you're looking to reduce your food budget (who isn't) and/or if you have a larger family it really pays to compare similar products especially since Canada doesn't have any creative couponing opportunities like the USA.

   
Tip to Reduce Sugar in Instant Oatmeal: I have bought the Organic O brand and I'll tell you an easy way to reduce the sugar and salt is to pour the contents of the packet through a sieve and then you can toss out 1 or 2 teaspoons and you now have a much lower sugar/salt content. You'll be surprised at how much sugar/salt is in each little packet  - I was!

#1 - Start off with directions on the packet which tells you to add boiling water to the oats and let stand - I do this but make sure to put a plate on top of your bowl to keep the steam inside.
#2 - Get a small stainless steel pot - add your steamed oatmeal along with 1/2 cup of your favorite non-dairy beverage (I used Natura Vanilla Soy Milk) and simmer on low for about 15-20 minutes - make sure to stir once or twice and keep a lid on it.
#3 - Add 1/2 teaspoon of Artisana Coconut Oil - this fat is good for you and 1/2 teaspoon is minimal and totally adds a significant boost in flavor to a simple bowl of oatmeal.

I would highly recommend purchasing Artisana Coconut Oil -- we've tried out quite a few different brands and this one is by far the best I've come across so far.  This one has a few pluses going for it right off the bat -- it's in a glass jar, it's raw and the company is devoted to supporting small organic farmers.  And the taste is tops! It's expensive (about $15.00) but this is a product worth splurging on! I love their slogan:

   Raw life-energy from sun, to plant to body!

If recipes such as coconut curry, kickin almond pesto, thai noodles and the like appeal to you I suggest you go check out their website.  Yummy!