Whew! This past week has been very busy and fruitful! I’ve been so preoccupied with things around the house that I failed to notice that my previous post was my 100th! Nevertheless, I figure I could still have fun and be different by celebrating my 101st post… WOO HOO! Come on everybody… cheer with me! Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!! Woo hoo!! :o)
For this celebration I want to share an easy, make-ahead preparation of soaking & dehydrating rolled oats to use for cookies and such. For those who might not know, Oats are the highest in phytic acid and must be soaked before consumed… so all the wonderful minerals can be absorbed properly. I made large batch of this a few weeks ago and this is great to have on hand whenever you have the sudden urge to make cookies. Don’t you ever have urges like that, but are unable to make cookies right then and there because you have to soak em’ and all? I do!! So, after looking around and thinking what would work… I finally found a solution from a great food blog: Cheeseslave. She had Healthy Soaked Oatmeal Cookies and I saw that she would soak & dry the oats before proceeding on with the rest of the recipe. Believe me, I torpedoed straight to the kitchen to do just that! I didn’t make the cookies because I do not have sprouted flour and haven’t ventured out to try sprouting my own grains… yet.
Anyway. I know, I know… you all are probably thinking I should be celebrating with ice cream or something festive than old, boring oats. BUT it is worth it because I actually made cookies with these ‘Soaked & Ready’ Oats yesterday and they were OH SO GOOD! My family couldn’t stop eating them… we ate it all in 1 day! PLUS, the cookies were vegan… yes, totally veganlious! Anyway, I’ll share those with you another day… right now let’s just focus on soaking and drying those oats so you can make them within minutes after getting the recipe, I promise! Okay, is this good enough now? Alright!!
‘Soaked & Ready’ Oats
- 4 cups rolled oats (NOT instant)
- 4 cups filtered water
- 8 Tbsp. whey, lemon/lime juice, kefir or yohgurt
Warm the 4 cups of water in a saucepan (you don’t need a microwave) till warm to touch. Do not let it boil!Pour the oats, warm water and acid medium (whey, etc..) into a large glass bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover the bowl with a towel or plate & let it sit overnight in your oven or on your counter (wherever you have space).Important: Let it sit for 8 – 24 hours… 12 hours is okay, but I always soak mine for 24 hours to reduce the phytic acid as much as possible.Spread the oats on parchment paper in your tray or cookie pan (for oven drying) and put in dehydrator set on the highest temp (if you have that option… I don’t) until completely dry. It can take anywhere from 6 to 24 hours… depending on your dehydrator. You can dry the oats in your oven set on the lowest temperature.When the oats are dried, you will be able to break them into chunks. Put the chunks in your food processor or blender and pulse until coarsely ground (kinda like oatmeal flakes). Don’t grind it fine unless you want oat flour.Pour the oats in a sealed container and store in your fridge or in a cool, dark place. Ta-daaa! There you go… you have ‘Soaked & Ready’ Oats for satisfying your urge to make cookies! Remember, you can make this however much you want. When I first made these, I used 8 cups of rolled oats. Just make sure you add everything up correctly.Now keep stay in touch for those veganlicious cookies!!!! UPDATE: Check out my step by step videos on making the S&R Oats!
Now, the announcement you’ve all been waiting for! The winner for the beautiful Organic Rockin’ Baby Sling iiisssssssss…..
Kim Ripley a.k.a stOOpidgErL!!
“My baby isn’t here yet but she will be in December. I’m really looking forward to ‘wearing’ her. It looks like a great way to bond and very convenient too!”
Double congratulations on your win and soon-to-arrive baby girl, Kim!! I clicked on your link from the comments area and found your AWESOME blog & etsy store. Gals, you gotta check her creative, excellent photography & fun jewelry! Ooooh, I really want to buy something from her! :o)
Thank you everybody for entering and sharing your reasons why you enjoy babywearing. There were many good, consistent answers about babywearing being great for cuddling, bonding, safety, hand-free, soothing, getting things done, convenient, closeness, moving around uneven terrain, keeping baby happy, security, comfortable and my favorite…“I love babywearing for so many reasons, but none more so than having my baby close to me – just being able to turn my head and put my cheek against theirs or give them a kiss at any moment – ah!”… so TRUE and important! I am actually liking my sling more and more! Now that I am use to it… I find it very comfortable. That’s a good thing!!
Okay, please don’t click off too quickly in disappointment! I’ve got a great deal for the rest of you… a 15% off discount on any sling or pouch at Rockin’ Sling Baby! I think that’s great deal… just make sure you enter “15%” at the checkout box. Now go look around, they’ve got some really beautiful unique styles there!
My life this past week… whew!
This past Friday and Saturday I soaked & dehydrated almonds and dehydrated pineapple & papaya. I love the smells that wafted through our house! Especially through the night! My favorite is when we are dehydrating chamomile for tea… ahhh, smells soooo good! By the way, I am on the look out for a good dehydrator with a price tag that won’t bite our budget. Mine is definitely heading its way out to the dehydrator heaven :o(
Saturday morning, we had Kid’s Club in the neighborhood next to us and it was very simple, but GREAT. It was just me and my hubby along with the girls. Usually my mom and a friend would be there to help, but they weren’t available. We had a great time playing games, read a Bible story, sang songs and just hanging out till past noon.
Sunday, had a GREAT day with the girls and my hubby! What more could I want?!
Monday, between taking care of the girls, washing diapers, letting the chickens out & feeding them, playing with the girls, hanging diapers, washing clothes, reading to the girls, hanging clothes, preparing lunch, bringing in the still wet clothes in before it rained, feeding all of us and more… I made about a pound of cultured butter! This is my second round and I feel much more confident! I finally found a great source of fresh organic milk AND cream. The other farmer I was buying our milk from couldn’t (wouldn’t, really) give me just cream so I could make butter. Anyway, I am happy with our new milk connection. I could not believe how much butter and buttermilk I got out of 1 liter of cream… Woo hoo! I want to do another post and this time… use our flip camera and video the process. Really, it is so easy if you have a good food processor or blender. OR you can put some in quart jars and have your kids shake it all over the place! My girls aren’t quite ready for that, but when they are… I will make sure video it and share it with y’all :o)
Tuesday, my parents finally arrived home safely from Panama. They did a seminar and had a great time… they brought with them some seriously RAW honey and RAW coconut oil produced by a Tico in Dominical, Costa Rica. The honey is extremely different from anything I’ve had and DELICIOUS! It has such a heavy, darkly sweet flavor… hard to describe. The bees are wild from the mountains… oh yummy! The coconut oil has an interesting toasty, nutty flavor and very intense. I am really happy to finally find a local source of coconut oil that actually tastes good, but it is a bit pricey for the 3 small bottles. We’ve been bringing down coconut oil from the States because I’ve had no luck finding good tasting coconut oil around here (they all tasted either like gasoline or tar, ugh!). Below, you are seeing my little Tabi playing with the bottles… she just wouldn’t leave them alone long enough for me to take pictures. So, I thought it would actually be even better to include her in… is she ADORABLE?! :o)
Yesterday, I spent a good part of the morning writing up my comments on the Foodie Fights Battle 14 entries and choosing the winner. Honestly, I was excited to do this and enjoyed being one of the judges… but very disappointed that only 3 actually submit their entries. Oh well, it is what it is! Please head on over there and see who won this round!
Also, did I tell you that I made some seriously veganlicious cookies?! I haven’t made cookies in a while and it was so great to have my ‘Soaked & Ready’ Oats in hand. I had that urge and realized it has been toooooo loooong since I’ve smelled cookies wafting outta my oven! LOL! Don’t worry, I’ll share them with you ASAP!
Well, this was a long post! Not sorry about that :o) I hope you enjoyed reading and celebrating with me! I really can’t believe that this is my 101st post and that I’ve had over 19,000 views since I first started this blog back in March of 2009. I have learned so much, seen so many awesome blogs & met many great people out there! Thank you everybody for your support and looking forward to sharing more recipes and my life in Costa Rica :o)
Have a great weekend and remember to take a moment to enjoy your surroundings!
The ‘Soaked & Ready’ Oats is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday.
Divina Pe says
Wow, you’ve been productive. There’s so many things I want to do from your blog. I want to make the cultured butter although I don’t have a good resource of cream yet. And I love coconut oil.
You are a hands-on mom and you’re a good role model for all the mother’s out there. i feel kind of sad for some mothers here where they hire a babysitter even if the kids are already 6 or 7 years old. And 1 child has 1 babysitter if they’re rich.
I actually want to baby sling even if I don’t have a baby yet. 🙂
JennDZ - The Leftover Queen says
Happy 101th post, Mare! 🙂
I hope (for my sake because I love your posts) that there will be many many more posts!!!
I am impressed with how productive your last couple of days were. I wish mine were as productive. But like you, I always prepare my grains and legumes ahead of time and then freeze them for later use. That way they are available whenever I need them!
Amiguita says
Congratulations!!!!. Your blog is very very nice. I come by every time you post something. I always find somethin new and interesting. Thank you for sharing with us.
God bless you and your adorable family!! and keep going….
Tasty Eats At Home says
Congratulations on 101 posts! So, about this soaking of the oats thing…does this apply to when you’re making oatmeal too? Should I be soaking my gluten-free rolled oats for 12 hours at least before cooking them? Will they be easier to digest?
Marillyn Beard says
Divina – Thank you! It is hard, but rewarding raising my own girls, make home meals, taking care of everything else and more… I am grateful. I do have to be careful with my time on the internet because that can be so consuming and addicting!
Jenn – Whew, yeah! Freezing your grains and legumes? Please tell me about that! Why you do that and how?
Amiguita – Thank you!!
Tasty – Thanks!! YES! is it so important to soak your oatmeal because the high phytic acid can lead to tooth decay, oesoporosio (sp?), digestive distress and more. It really make a huge difference soaking the oats. The longer the better….
stephchows says
ooo those cookies sound amazing! can’t wait to see!
Marillyn Beard says
Thanks Steph! Can’t wait to share them :o)
WizzyTheStick says
Sweet blog. Very beautiful. You know you can make your own coconut oil. It’s not hard
Marillyn Beard says
Thanks for stopping by Wizzy! Will come over to your blog and chat with you about the coconut oil.. I’ve tried, but it was a flop. Would love to try again :o)
My Little Space says
Woo..hoo..Congratulations on your 101st post! Very happy for you. Yes indeed, you’ve a very long posting today. You’re a busy mom just like me! he he…I’m always on the run, and there’s still so much more waiting ahead for me…I guess no ending story for us! And very limited time to spend on the site. However, I’ll try all my best to make all the replies. Happy Halloween to you & your family. Have fun & Cheers.
penny aka jeroxie says
Congras on 101st post. What an achievement. Kids, family,cooking, cleaning, blogging! Kudos!
JennDZ - The Leftover Queen says
I just soak them, the same way you do, and then cook them in water (and skim) and once they are just about al dente, I freeze them for later use. That way when I need a quick meal, I pull them out of the freezer and use them just like frozen veggies. A quick sautee or boil and they are all set!
Brie: Le Grand Fromage says
congrats on your 101st post! i look forward to the next 101!
i’ve got a bag of oats calling my name in the pantry, so thanks for the soaking tips! i’m sure a batch of cookies will need to come out of them. 😉
Kimi @ The Nourishing Gourmet says
I love the soaked oats idea from Cheeseslave. Thanks for being part of Pennywise! If you could just link back to the carnival, that would be great! Thanks. 😉
Marillyn Beard says
Little Space & Penny – Thank you so much! Yes, it is a lot of work… but so worth it :o)
Brie – Good to see you again! Where have you been?
Kimi – Yes… I forgot to do that… sorry! Thanks for the reminder :o)
Jamie K says
Hello Maryillyn!! I have been following your blog for a month now and have really enjoyed your posts! I am new to the healthy food world (really healthy)so I might have a few questions from time to time. Thank you so much for educating many!!
Trish says
Very interesting post, about soaking of grains! I’ve just started my baby on solids, and I’m making her brown basmati rice cereal (as in the Super Baby Food book). I’ll have to research this grain soaking idea – this is the first I’ve heard of it. I’m always interested in learning new ways to be healthier!
Marillyn Beard says
Trish – Good to see you around :o) Here’s a post you should read about starting solids: http://just-making-noise.blogspot.com/2009/09/food-introduction-birth-story-happy.html I’ve seen many benefits of going this direction and it makes a lot more sense to me. My girls did great!
Soaking grains will help your baby digest better and lessen the chances of developing wheat & gluten intolerance. Also, some people say that it isn’t necessary, but if you look back in the pilgrim days… they soaked all their grains and for a good reason! Since our society fell away from that practice… wheat and gluten intolerance has risen and is on the rise each year because we are eating more grains than ever before.
Anonymous says
Hi my name is Ashley,
I was wondering if it is possible to use steel cut oats for this?
I will hopefully see your response soon! I go in on Monday for a C-section. Not the way I wanted to go but baby had plans of her own and it would be virtually impossible to have her naturally.
I am so happy I found your website!!!
I want to eat healthy for myself and my little girl.
Marillyn Beard says
Hello Ashley! I’m sure steet cut oats could work! It will be more crunchy then regular, but I think that might be yummy! Hope everything went well and that you are recovering quickly! Sorry I did not get back to you sooner.
Cayla Pruett says
Hey Marillyn!
I found your blog a month or so ago and have loved the things I’ve had a chance to try 🙂 I was curious though, in regards to the soaked oats, what if I don’t want to add any dairy to the mixture, is there another way around the whey &/or yogurt? I haven’t tried your recipe for this yet, but I’m dying to make my own cereal! Let me know your thoughts… thanks!
Cayla
AnotherNight82 says
Hello ! i was just inspired to make this thanks to you 🙂 I wondered if it was okay that when I warmed up the water and added the ingredients.. I put them in a glass jar.. the ones with a hinge/buckle type lid like this :
I wasn’t sure if it needed to “breath” while it soaked or if what I did was okay.
http://www.containerstore.com/shop/kitchen/foodStorage/jarsTerrines?productId=10011037&N=74177
I can’t wait to try it as the cereal you’ve mentioned on another post !! Thank you for sharing !!
~Erika