We're delighted to share our Aunt Nettie with you. She's agreed to answer any questions you might ask about food, its preparation, and even clean-up tips. But we have to prepare you. She just might want to come right over to your house and help you fix dinner.
To send any questions to Ask Aunt Nettie an/or get her cooking advice, .
Editor's Note: Instead of Aunt Nettie answering individual questions, she has decided to address a number of requests from people who want to save money on the food budget and still enjoy healthy dining. This is one of a series of money-saving tips and recipes designed to stretch those slim dollars.
As an example of Aunt Nettie's impressive, penny-pinching ability to save, she still has some depression glass dishes and bowls in the cupboard--they're the real thing and she still treasures them.
In future issues of Vegetarians in Paradise, Aunt Nettie and her niece Zel will offer more money-saving recipes for the most extreme skinflints along with suggestions to help bargain-hunter foodies seek out cheap fare that still brings good cheer to the table.
Howdy there darlin's,
My, my, my, time does fly, by golly. I was jes reminiscin' 'bout how my Ask Aunt Nettie column got its start a'way back in 1999. Why, that's a heap o' years ago, but it feels 'most like yesterday.
A'way back then, folks was writin' to me with a heap o' questions. They was jes beginnin' ta learn 'bout good healthy vegan recipes. One o' them questions was 'bout how ta make oatmeal taste mighty good. I knows oatmeal is one o' them foods some folks jes cain't always reckon with--an', darlin's, I understand, I do.
But there's more'n one reason ta make oatmeal a breakfast reg'lar. O'course y'all knows it's got plenty fiber, vitamins, minerals, an' a heap o' antioxidants. But I'm also aimin' ta help ya feed a houseful o' family folk with wholesome fixin's without dryin' up the wallet by the end of the week. Oatmeal is dirt cheap, goes a long way, an' fills the belly with ole-fashioned goodness.
Well, I tell ya true, makin' oatmeal taste speshul is what I does best. I jes love oatmeal fer breakfast 'an there's no worries 'bout makin' it taste deeelicious.
Steel Cut Oats
Easy Steel Cut Oats
Put the water, oats, an' cinnamon in the pot, cover it up, an start it boilin'. Boil fer 'bout 1 minute. Then, turn off the heat an' ferget it till mornin' when all's ya do is warm it up.
Flaxseed Meal
Crunchy Nuts
In Summer here's my fav'rites:
Here's my winter fav'rites:
Dried Fruits
Sweetening
Here's 'nother delicious way ta sweeten up yer oatmeal:
Chop up a few dried figs or dates an' put 'em in the pot with the oatmeal an' water. Cook 'em up together fer the best, sweetest cereal in the whole country.
Well, darlin's, these is some sure-fire fixin's ta make yer mornin' oatmeal mighty special. When I serve up my oatmeal at the table, why it's never jes plain ole oatmeal--it's practically a whoppin' big Sundae an' if'n I must say so myself, it looks so temptin' I kin hardly wait ta set myself down at the table fer breakfast!
Now, don't ferget ta put oatmeal on yer shoppin' list this week, ya hear?
Yer ever lovin' Aunt Nettie
OATMEAL
First, start with the best choices o' oatmeal. If'n y'all have time in yer morning' fer cookin' up steel cut oats, why, them's the very best an' most wholesome. Here's my handy recipe:
3 cups water
1 cup steel cut oats
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
If'n yer a mighty good planner, you kin set up yer fixin's the night before. Here's how:
Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
But, if'n yer time is mighty pinched in the mornin', why jes buy some old fashioned rolled oats --they takes only 5 minutes to cook up an' they's mighty good eatin'. There's easy directions right on the box or package, but here's my recipe:
4 cups water
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Now, fer what ta put on top o' yer cooked cereal, I likes ta start with a heapin' spoonful o' flaxseed meal 'cause then I start my day with a smidge o' them omega 3s that's mighty good fer ya.
Now, darlin's, if'n ya likes some crunch to yer oatmeal, you sprinkle on some raw nuts 'n seeds or you kin toast 'em up an' sprinkle 'em on top:
Raw pumpkin seeds
Raw sunflower seeds
Chia seeds
Chopped walnuts,
Chopped pecans
Chopped almonds
Chopped hazelnuts
Chopped cashews
Pistachios
Roasted peanuts
Uncooked millet 
Fresh Fruits
I prefer fresh fruit on top o' my cooked cereal, so I chop up a bowlful o' whatever fruits is in season. There's a heap o' choices o' nice sweet fresh fruits all year long.
Sliced bananas
Sliced strawberries
Chopped peaches
Chopped plums
Chopped nectarines
Chopped apricots
Chopped kiwis
Grapes (green, black, red flame)
Chopped cantaloupe or honeydew
Chopped papaya or mango
Chopped pineapple
Blueberries
CherriesSliced bananas
Chopped apples (many varieties)
Chopped pears (many varieties)
Chopped tangerines
There's a heap o' dried fruits you kin chop up an' sprinkle over cereal. Jes look carefully at the ingredient label fer them that's unsweetened. Sometimes they's all sugared up an' you kin hardly taste the fruit fer all the sugar coating:
Black raisins
Golden raisins
Dates
Currants
Apples
Peaches
Pears
Pineapple
Blueberries
Strawberries
Cherries
Figs
Non-Dairy Milks
Now fer the icin' on the oatmeal:
Soymilk
Nut milk (Homemade or store bought'n)
Oat milk
Hempseed milk
Well, darlin's, if toppin' yer cereal with fresh or dried fruits is jes not sweet e'nuf to yer likin', a tad o' maple syrup or date sugar oughter do the trick.
Our Aunt Nettie has a head like a hard disk. It's filled with gigabytes of information about food and cooking. And she's just itchin' to share her learnin' with city folk who live in mortal fear of the stovetop.
Aunt Nettie grew up on the farm. She did not eat out of a can or reach into the freezer. There was no microwave to pop her food into. Everything she made was from scratch. All the food she ate was natural, without pesticides. It was grown right there on the family farm, and she had to cook to survive. At eighty-three years young she still leaps and bounds around the kitchen and can shake, rattle, and roll those pots and pans with the best of them.
Nowadays, Aunt Nettie just shakes her head and complains, "Nobody cooks anymore. They have no idea about puttin' a meal together." She's on a mission. She wants to help those younguns eat better so they can grow up healthy like her own eight kids.
