Vegan Month of Food – Day 1- Love for Oats

Today begins the first day of VeganMoFo.  This month long vegan writing project is a takeoff from NaNoWriMo for the vegan folks who might be more likely to blog a recipe or their love of seitan than write a novel.  It’s also a great way to get more vegan eating information “out there.”  You can read more about Vegan MoFo at http://veganmofo.wordpress.com/

I’m not sure exactly what I will text about all month.  I suspect some days will be recipes and other days will be vegan cooking and nutrition.  Do you have any special requests, dear readers?

For today, I want to just give a little shout out to the grain wonder that is oats.  People frequently ask me, and once in a while I ask myself, “what do you eat for breakfast?”  Now, truthfully, many breakfast foods either are vegan or can be made vegan, but I understand what they are asking.  They are thinking of the uber filling big hot eggs and bacon and biscuits kind of breakfasts.  And, generally speaking, that stuff isn’t vegan – though I can make a kickass tofu scramble with faux sausage when I’m in the mood.  That having been said, I don’t do that most days, so when I want a filling breakfast that isn’t leftovers from the night before, I tend to go with oatmeal.

Oatmeal – YUM.  It’s some seriously good stuff and there are so many ways to have it.  Instant or quick oats are perfectly good.  Slower cook oats take more time, but are also delicious and have a somewhat chewier texture.  And then there are steel cut oats for the chewiest most filling oat of all (these also have the advantage of being quite reheatable).

Part of the good of oatmeal is that it can be served up with a lot of different flavors.  Maple syrup, brown sugar, agave, raisins, apples, pecans, walnuts, almonds, dried cranberries, peanut butter, cinnamon, faux butter, a little soy milk, vegan chocolate chips, peaches, strawberries – seriously, almost anything sweet goes with oatmeal and a good number of savory things as well (in fact, you certainly can make a more savory bowl of oatmeal).

And (AND!) they keep you full for hours.  I had mine t his morning before 7:00 and I still have a warm full belly 2.5 hours later. 🙂  Plus, they are good for you.  They are full of fiber, magnesium, and vitamin B1 and have a significant amount of protein.  They help lower cholesterol and can contribute to weight loss.  Go oats!

Let me know if there are particular vegan issues or recipes you would like me to cover and happy VeganMoFo.

L