2 Blood Sugar Lowering Breakfasts that Taste Like Apple and Pumpkin Pie

Imagine waking up to the soothing smell of fresh-baked apple or pumpkin pie...only it’s a hot breakfast cereal that helps stabilize your blood sugar and stave off hunger for hours. And all you have to do is scoop some into a bowl, top with some nuts and seeds, a bit of milk and your favorite fruit, and you’re good to go.

Imagine no longer. Instead, try these easy scrumptious steel-cut oat recipes that cook overnight in a crockpot. And please tell me if you like them as much as I do.

Breakfast Apple Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk or milk of your choice
• 1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats
• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
• 2 apples, chopped into ½” pieces
• 1 tablespoons packed brown sugar, or sweetener of your choice
• ½ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Spray the inside of a crockpot well with cooking spray.
2. Add the water and milk.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the steel-cut oats and cinnamon and add to the crockpot.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and mix all together.
5. Set crockpot on low, cover and cook overnight (about 6-7 hours).
6. Stir before serving.
7. Any leftovers keep in the refrigerator for about a week and are easy to reheat by moistening with a little water or milk.

Makes 4 cups • Serving size = 1/2 cup
120 calories • 2g fat • 190mg sodium • 22g carbohydrate • 7g sugar • 3g fiber • 3g protein

 

Breakfast Pumpkin Pie

Yield: 4 ½ cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk or milk of your choice
• 1 cup uncooked steel-cut oats
• ¾ cup canned 100% pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar, or sweetener of your choice
• 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
• 1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Spray the inside of a crockpot well with cooking spray.
2. Add the water to the crockpot.
3. Put milk, steel-cut oats, canned pumpkin, brown sugar and seasonings in a bowl and whisk together well and add to crockpot.
4. Set crockpot on low, cover and cook overnight (about 6-7 hours).
5. Stir before serving.
6. Any leftovers keep in the refrigerator for about a week and are easy to reheat by moistening with a little water or milk.

Makes 4 1/2 cups • Serving size = 1/2 cup
90 calories • 2g fat • 170mg sodium • 16g carbohydrate • 3g sugar • 3g fiber • 3g protein

 

Why steel-cut oats are great for blood sugar control

If you’re one of those people who loves sharing brilliant-sounding nutrition tidbits, even if no else wants to hear them, here’s the information you need…

Oats contain a special kind of fiber called beta-glucan. This fiber is a ninja for lowering blood sugar levels AND cholesterol levels. So regularly eating steel-cut oats helps prevent type 2 diabetes and heart disease if you don’t have them, and helps you reverse them if you do.

A blood-sugar-lowering edge over two of its siblings

Steel-cut oats have a blood-sugar-lowering edge over old-fashioned or quick oats. It has to do with processing and size. Here’s the story…

Old-fashioned oats are the whole oats that have been steamed and rolled so they’re partially cooked. Partial cooking means quicker digestion and quicker delivery of sugar into your bloodstream. Quick oats go through the same process as old-fashioned, but they’re cut into very small pieces before rolling. So they deliver sugar to your bloodstream even faster.

But steel-cut oats are the whole oats just thinly sliced. No steaming. No rolling. So they are bigger uncooked pieces than their siblings. Bigger pieces means slower digestion and slower sugar delivery. Sweet.

By the way, guess what else the ninja fiber does?

Beta-glucan markedly enhances your immune response to bacterial infection. Not only does it help certain immune cells get to the infection site more quickly, but it also boosts their ability to wipe out the bacteria they find.

Who would have ever thought a mild-mannered Clark Kent bowl of steel-cut oats was actually Superman? And it tastes like pie! Can it get any better than this?

Have any yummy recipes using steel-cut oats?

So, look, since steel-cut oats have such amazing super powers, we are looking for all the great recipes we can get. Please share them. You know other readers love them too. And if you don’t happen to have any recipes, try one of these, give it your own twist and report back.