Oatmeal Prospect Theory

I’ve obviously spent too much time around physicists; I had to reread your second sentence four or five times before I realized what you were actually saying.

I think this can make sense. (I eat this oatmeal a lot myself and have found this to work.) If you have to do a lot of things other than just make the oatmeal for your breakfast you can add the water/milk to the oatmeal first and let it sit while doing the other things. Then you don’t have to have the oatmeal on the stove for as long. (So- I like to let my French press coffee sit for 5 minutes before drinking. Normally the oatmeal takes 5 minutes to cook, so it would seem that I should start cooking it just as I pour the water in to the french press. But, my wife likes her oatmeal over-cooked. So, if I want the oatmeal and coffee done at the same time I pour the the milk in first, then get the kettle going, grind the coffee, etc. By the time I’m ready pour the water into the french press the oatmeal only has to cook for 5 minutes instead of 8 or so. I like to stir the oatmeal most of the time while I’ve got it on the stove and so can’t do other things (like make coffee) if I’m cooking it. But, if it’s sitting but not on the stove I can do other things. So, I save a few minutes and get everything done at the same time.

If you have to do a lot of things other than just make the oatmeal for your breakfast you can add the water/milk to the oatmeal first and let it sit while doing the other things.

But you could do these things while your porridge is cooking too, couldn’t you?

Yeah, and you can bet McCann’s not going to even talk about it until after the Republican primaries when he feels an obligation to pivot to the center. Will he solve it if elected? Hahahahaha.

“Tip: Add liquid to oatmeal a few minutes before cooking. It will cook faster.” Now, I can see the benefits of doing this in terms of energy conservation. But the fact is, I’m not going to get my oatmeal any faster, am I?

Well, it depends. Note that it doesn’t say “Add liquid, let stand for a few minutes, then cook.”

If the time at which you start cooking is fixed and you think of adding the liquid the appropriate few minutes earlier, then you’ll get it faster.

Tip: Let a farmer raise your vegetables and have them delivered to your local market or store. You can pick them up there and save preparation time.

Is this Irish Oatmeal you’re talking about? If so, first of all you should buy steel cut oats from the local bulk-foods place, instead, at less than half the price. Then you should make a whole week’s worth in a large pot on Sunday, and just take as much as you want out of that pot every day. Add a little milk, put on a low heat and stir for a couple of minutes. During the main cooking on Sunday, cook on a very very low heat, and stir every 10 minutes or so, to avoid barry’s problem.

If its not Irish Oatmeal, why are you eating it?

barry — get yourself a better (thicker-bottomed) pot

BTW we do call it porridge when we eat it.

Antti is right that porridge is one of only two things that microwaving does not ruin (christmas pudding being the other). But cooking it is still better. Good god, we’ve reached a point in history when many of us we can eat really good food pretty much whenever we want, and people destroy the stuff to save time.

…christmas pudding being the other…

Are you sure? I stopped trying after two or three goes because I found that all the volatiles got driven out and took the flavour with them. Maybe I had the microwave set too high.

The answers is to use “instant” oatmeal. Nuke water two minutes in the microwave. Pour over oatmeal. Nuke oatmeal on high 30 seconds. Done.

Apply evenly to wallpaper. Attach to wall. Done.

Let me add to those saying that microwave oatmeal isn’t that great, either. It’s not awful- not like most microwaved foods- but it’s clearly worse than stuff cooked on the stove. partly this is because it’s easier (if you take the care to stir!) to make the stuff on the stove the right consistancy. But even for the stove-top stuff, the goodness is related to the amount of cooking time. The kind you have to cook for 20 minutes or a half hour is better than the 5 minute kind I use, but I can’t devote that much time to it. But the 5 minute kind is a lot better than the microwave kind, and I do usually have 5 minutes or a bit more that I can devote to making better oatmeal when I want it.

Hi Nick,

>Apply evenly to wallpaper. Attach to wall. Done.

Yah, I eat it every morning. That way I know nothing worse will happen to me all day. As paste it probably has nothing at all to recommend it though.

Have a nice one,
Antti

to make the stuff on the stove the right consistancy

Surely the hardest part is getting two people who grew up in different households to agree on what “right” means in this sentence.

kcindc — really treat yourself, and top them with a dollop of sugar cane (golden) syrup (sold under the Lyles brand, in the syrup section of upmarket grocery stores, and places like Whole Foods — expensive, but not more expensive than real maple syrup, and a real treat on porridge).

I’ll look for it, Harry, but for now I’m sticking with raisins (and cooking with half milk). I don’t want it too sweet.

Get out of bed. Pull on trousers, shirt and boots. Go to stable and grab a handful of oats from a feedbag. Chew thoroughly while doing chores. Or, when in town, buy a bag of Luxury Muesli from any supermarket. Tear it open and proceed as above. Saves loads of time!