hot cereal

In my search for healthier, lower fat/cholesterol, non-animal based and still tasty food, I continue to come across new items which have proven quite good. For those of you who also want to eat healthier, I figured I’d share some of my recent finds.

Vegenaise – giving up mayonnaise is pretty difficult. I don’t eat or need it all the time, but it sure does make something even as simple as a fresh tomato sandwich sing. So I was very happy to find that the Vegenaise, from Follow Your Heart, I bought was, as the label states, “better than mayonnaise.” I say this as a Hellman’s fan, although for years I’ve been buying the “light” version. Well, Vegenaise actually tastes better than Hellman’s, in my opinion, and without the suffering of egg-laying chickens and without the animal-based fat, (a major source of cholesterol.) This product is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and non-gmo. But while it avoids the animal products and is cholesterol-free, it’s not completely fat-free. One tablespoon of Vegenaise equals about the same fat as Hellman’s light, so be aware if you’re looking to cut fat as well as for a vegan product. And, of course, coming from a smaller manufacturer, it is pricier than something from a conglomerate producer. Follow Your Heart also has a wonderful line of salad dressings, cheeses that are not animal-derived and more.

Better than Bouillon is an organic vegetarian/vegan base to use in soups and stews. It was called for in a recent recipe I made, and worked great. I just whisked the base up with the stated amount of water and voila! Perfect. Made by a company called Superior Touch, who also makes a variety of other soup bases, many organic, gravy bases, also many organic, and a variety of crockpot season mixes.

Bob’s Red Mill makes a variety of grain products, many organic, but all non-GMO. I’ve bought flour and rolled oats from him before, but recently tried granola – very good – and this package of Organic High Fiber Cereal, a hot cereal made with a blend of stone ground oatmeal, nutrient rich flaxseed, wheat germ, high fiber oat bran, and wheat bran. There are plenty of vitamins, minerals, fiber and … 1000 mg. of Omega-3! I would much prefer to get my Omega 3 from a non-animal based source, and now I’m seeing how I could switch over. Check out Bob’s Red Mill website – he has a really vast array of natural grain products, from oats to cereal to flour to baking mixes, including gluten-free.

And last but not least … a snack …. from Food Should Taste Good. I agree! My local supermarket is now carrying a full line of these non-GMO, mostly vegan, some organic, etc. snacks – crackers, kettle-cooked chips, and tortilla chips. I bought the lime tortilla chips and they are truly tasty – not too heavy on the lime. FSTG has a great line of products in really good flavors.

So there you have it – some delicious, wholesome, non-animal derived foods to try out. Enjoy!

Are you an oatmeal fan? I actually love almost any good hot cereal, but McCann’s Irish Oatmeal is my favorite. It’s warm, nourishing and while delicious with the simplest of accompaniments – a touch of brown sugar and a small dab of butter – there are so many ways you can dress it up to make it even more yummy. Plus McCann’s is non-GMO, an extra bonus.

I found an excellent idea in a past issue of Prevention magazine which suggests you crumble a gingersnap, (or two or three), into the bowl of oatmeal, and toss with some chopped pecans. Yum! They also suggest having the liquid be 1/2 cup apple juice and 1/4 cup water, but I haven’t tried that yet. In the bowl pictured, I threw in a bunch of organic raisins to a mix of half 2% milk and half water, and when just shy of boiling, added the McCann’s Oatmeal, (which is what Prevention also used), and when done, crumbled in the gingersnaps. In the bowl, you can see some raisins and the gingersnaps which get deliciously soft and chewy.

Other tasty combos are raisins with walnuts and a dash of cinnamon, dried cranberries with some chopped pecans, or chopped apples with a tad of brown sugar and cinnamon. Oatmeal is such an inviting food and good oatmeal doesn’t lose its flavor with additions stirred in. Plus it’s heart healthy! Here’s something else I read along the way – oatmeal will stick to your ribs longer the more whole the grain. So eating instant oatmeal will leave you hungry soon after because the oats are chopped extremely fine to speed up cooking, but they are also digested much more quickly. I use McCann’s Quick-Cooking, steel cut oatmeal for more heft, but the regular steel cut, while still longer to cook, will stave off hunger the longest.

I also found, in looking for gingersnaps for a cheesecake crust, that they are practically a specialty nowadays and may take a little hunting to find. The mainstream cookie manufacturers don’t seem to make them anymore, so look carefully.

Have any hot oatmeal suggestions you’d like to share? Let us know!