I occasionally have oatmeal for breakfast in really cold weather, and when I want something that is sweeter to eat. I cut up an apple, add some raisins, cinnamon, and clove, and cook the oatmeal in a little dab of water until it is all done and smelling like cinnamon. By the time that the oatmeal is cooked, the apple is also cooked and soft, and the raisins add a natural sweetener. I just add a little milk or cream, and have an enjoyable , healthy meal that also makes me feel like I have had a treat, too. Sometimes, I have that for an evening meal because we do not always have a regular set mealtime anymore.
The Japanese rice is not it, the glutinous rice is more sticky. But any rice will do for the porridge. With the chocolate porridge, it is for breakfast in the olden days although sometimes we still have that here. But we just buy the champorado pack, that's the name of the brand. Pour the contents of the packet in the pot with water and let it boil until the glutinous rice become soft. You can also add evaporated milk and sugar while cooking so it is ready to eat. And to complement, we have the dried fish that we fry. There, the fried dried fish goes well with the chocolate porridge.
I know the rice kind of porridge and the oatmeal kind of porridge and we eat both. In Japanese we call the rice porridge okai or rice gruel. It is made the same way from sticky rice. We eat okai or rice porridge when we are not feeling well too. We add salt or tea for flavoring. We eat oatmeal at our home too. Oatmeal comes to our table from the quick minute kind. We add sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, raisins, cranberries, wheat germ, colon cleanse that's exactly like Meta and I add Stevia & Mom adds milk to her oatmeal. This is rice gruel with ume or preserved plum another home remedy for colds and sore throats and sore teeth. At the site you can get the recipe too. image is from http://slism.com/diet/7-healthy-midnight-snacks-that-you-can-eat-worry-free-without-getting-fat.html.
Stevia is NOT available up where I live.. I once asked the grocery store for it and they looked at me with a wonder in their face and then asked me "what is stevia"????? What is the real difference between Splenda and Stevia ??? Are they almost the same?? Are they not made from real sugar to begin with?? so far, Splenda wins up here because we can get it...... Also Splenda brown sugar is available up here which I buy....
Stevia is a plant, and the leaves are very sweet. The actual plant looks somewhat like a mint plant. You can actually use the leaves to sweeten your tea, just add some fresh or dried stevia leaf in with the tea leaves. I am not sure what all they do to stevia when they proces it; but I am sure that like most any food they process down to a white powder, there is not much of anything real that is left when they are done. I have tried some of the powdered stevia that comes in packets, and it leaves a weird taste in your mouth, and I didn't like it. I tried growing my own stevia; but I didn't do very well with it, and it just never got very big; but the leaves were sweet, and it worked okay in the tea. My plan was to grow it and then dry the leave in the fall like you would do with actual mint leaves. Once they were dry and crumbled, you could probably use the leaves to flavor other things. I think that it is still better for you than Splenda though. I am pretty sure that Splenda is the sweetener that breaks down to formaldehyde in your body. I try to avoid the artificial sweeteners and also regular processed white sugar. When I do use a sweetener, I like coconut sugar , raw sugar, sorghum, or plain old honey. As long as you are not using a lot of it, at least the natural sweeteners also have vitamins and minerals that are healthy for a person. https://bonnieplants.com/growing/growing-stevia/
Steve, look next to the sugar in the grocery for the brand name Truvia. Walmart now has their own great value brand called .... Stevia. You can get it in individual packets or as a loose powder. Like Yvonne, I prefer to use natural sweeteners and we also use white and brown sugar but we don't have sweets too often.
Sheldon.. Thanks for the advice but there is only one problem.. I live in a village of just under 1000 people.. Where will I find a Walmart?? There is one in Sudbury but we don't get there often enough.. Whenever we do go to Sudbury, we are in such s hurry that we just go to our medical appointment, grab something to eat, take gas, and most likely head back home.. It is a good 3 hour drive.. I should be glad that I can at least get Splenda both white and brown in my area.. We have been on Splenda for the past 12 years if not longer.. No problems so far.. Much better than Equal or Sweet & low.. My dear wife is a diabetic and that is why we use Splenda instead of real sugar.. Next time we are in a Walmart, I will definitely check it out..
The difference in a nutshell... Splenda is artificial... it's Sucralose. Stevia is a plant and natural.
@Steve North ... check out Amazon... I just checked and they sell Stevia. Of course you'll want to ask your wife's doc to make sure it would be a good choice for her, though.
Thanks Mari...... Please tell me where I will be able to buy the Stevia on a regular basis??? Through the computer is frightfully expensive ..... Splenda has been in our house for at least the past 12 years if not more.. We are NOT sick or having any side effects from it.. I go through a LARGE bag about every 3 weeks or so.. I am not saying stevia wouldn't be better, but I am saying there isn't anything wrong with Splenda and it is available to me at a reasonable price.. Remember I live in a small village of just under 1000 people ....
I really don't know what kind of stores are available to you in that area, @Steve North . I'm glad to hear that the artificial sweetener hasn't caused your family any health issues.
@Steve North , you can get stevia at Walmart and most grocery stores. A popular brand is called"Truvia".
Truvia, Stevia, or any sweetener is NOT available in our village grocery store..... Walmart is a 3 hour drive from our house.. Splenda is the only sweetener available to us up here.. We have been on Splenda for at least 12 years if not more and we are still alive and kicking and feeling well.. If I had an option, I would try something else but I don't have any choice at all..... I buy a LARGE bag of Splenda about every month or so....
I have read about the dangers of using artificial sweeteners, and I have pretty much eliminated them from my diet, as a common food. I do enjoy having pop along with pizza, or when we go out for a cheeseburger; and I do not like sugar-sweetened pop, it tastes like syrup to me; so I have Diet Coke or another diet pop. I have not had any problems from using the artificial sweeteners that I know of, and have also used different ones over the last 50 years. Still, it seems like it is safer to avoid everything that has a mostly chemical makeup, and eat as close to what the good Lord created as possible. Trying to factor that in with keeping carbs in check, and still being able to have a sweet-tasting dessert now and again, it is kind of like balancing on a tightrope. So I am not totally consistent on any one thing, and usually try (first) to avoid the sweets altogether, and to limit my consumption of either natural sweeteners or artificial ones. The coconut sugar is supposed to be very low on the glycemic index, and is fairly unprocessed, so that is my favorite choice for a sweetener. Here is a list of the chemicals used in making Splenda, and apparently, the chlorine is one of the worst problems with using it. http://www.janethull.com/askdrhull/article.php?id=046
Well, Stevia North, I guess the best thing for you to do would be to wait until your next 3 hour drive to Walmart and pick up a huge supply! e