My marathoning friend Marcia Puryear (into racing big time) recommended I try the
following barley porridge for breakfast. I like barley, so it sounded
interesting. This has rocked my world! Seriously, this stuff is major
good. The best thing about it is that my husband can't wait to get at it in
the morning. I have been trying FOR YEARS to change his breakfast. He
ate things like Fruit Loops and Lucky Charms (if you can believe
it)--any sugary cereal you can find. Now he says he'll never go back.
OK--a few things. You have to used hulled barley. Hulled barley is a very slow-burning carb with one of the lowest Glycemic Indexes (GI) of any grain. Perfect before a long ride or run.The pearled barley has one of the highest GI ratings, so don't use that. Research shows that the low GI effects of barley lasts 10 hours in the human body, which protects from the crash and burn cycle of high insulin spikes.
I eat breakfast around 7:30
am, and for the past month I haven't needed lunch until about 1. It
has that much staying power with a piece of fruit thrown in as snack
mid-morning. It was hard to find, but it would be totally worth
ordering it on line.
.
This is what you do:
1.5 cups hulled barley
6 cups water
Throw it in the crock pot before you go to bed, and turn it on low. When you get up you will have this creamy, wonderful pot of health. You can cook it on the stove too--1 c barley/ 4 c water. To the boil, simmer for about 45-60 minutes. Refrigerate the leftovers and heat up to enjoy in following days.
To your bowl add nuts, fruit, maple syrup, cinnamon (my fave)--whatever you like. I sometimes sweeten it with "Z sweet"--no calories and safe to eat. You can cook it with apple juice if you like, although I've not done that. My Chinese acupuncturist friend says barley is considered very good for removing toxins from the body. That would be a nice bonus!
Hope someone tries it and enjoys it as much as we do!
