Bonnie: For breakfast, my hot cereal of choice is oatmeal. I eat it plain with nothing but a smidgen of salt—which my friend Lyerka calls gruel, as she often tops hers with brown sugar, fruit and milk. Others I know add honey, granola or chopped nuts.

I had always made my breakfast bowlful using McCann’s Quick Cooking oatmeal in the microwave, having perfected the technique so that the oatmeal stayed in the bowl and didn’t splatter all over the microwave oven. I mixed 1/2 c oatmeal, 1 c cold water and a pinch of salt in a deep bowl and microwaved that for 2 to 3 minutes (depending on which of my two microwave ovens I use).

Then, on a power walk with my friend Delia while at a “Pasta Fights Back” conference in Rome, she sang the praises of McCann’s Steel Cut Oats cooked in a slow cooker overnight instead of stovetop, which by the way takes up to 45 minutes. She explained that after cooking she portioned and froze it and then microwaved one when she wanted hot cereal.

Her slow-cooker method might have fit my lifestyle when I had kids at home and planned ahead. But not now. I kept status quo until McCann’s introduced this Quick & Easy Steel Cut Oatmeal that cooks in 5 minutes stovetop. Its only disadvantage is the pot I must wash afterward instead of tossing the bowl into the dishwasher.

I can live with that, as I so like the nutty, slightly crunchy, flavor of the steel cut much better than their quick oats. I still enjoy my oatmeal with salt only.

For those who might want the Recipe for Slow Cooker Oats: Spray the inside of a 3- to 4-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray or line with a Reynolds Slow Cooker Liner. Combine 4 c water, 1 c steel cut oats, 1/2 c milk or half and half and a pinch of salt in the slow cooker and mix well. Cover and turn on LOW setting. Cook overnight or 8 to 9 hours. Stir well before serving. Makes 4 servings. Optional additions For those who like it sweeter, add 1 c dried fruit (Craisins, raisins, dried figs or dates) and/or 1/4 c brown sugar along with the oats.

I thought you might be interested in the different types of oats, so here’s a small primer for you:

Steel cut indicates that after the outer husk is removed, the remaining oats are cut with steel discs, resulting in a firm-textured cereal. For comparison, rolled oats have been steamed, passed under a roller and flaked for easier cooking; quick cooking oats are rolled oats that have been chopped into smaller pieces; and “instant” oats are basically powdered oats. To me, the most flavorful are the steel cut ones.

As for nutrition, oats are good for you. They’re low in fat and high in fiber—both soluble and insoluble. According to research, the soluble oat fiber binds with and helps remove some of the cholesterol that can clog your arteries and lead to heart disease. Oat fiber can help control blood sugar, too.

Here’s an interesting side dish using steel cut oats, one that works just fine with the Quick & Easy version, too.

Oat Pilaf An optional step is to toast the oats before cooking them. To do that, toast 1 c steel cut or Quick & Easy oats in a 400-degree oven for 5 minutes or, stirring occasionally, in a 10 or 12-inch saute pan over high heat. Set aside.

Cook 1 sliced onion, 1/2 c sliced mushrooms and 1 minced clove garlic in 3 T olive oil in a 10- or 12-inch sauté pan or skillet over medium heat until vegetables soften, about 10 minutes; stir often. Add the reserved cup oats and stir for 1 minute. Add 1 3/4 c chicken, vegetable or beef broth. Bring to a boil over high heat; then simmer, covered, until liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally; add 1/4 c minced parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Makes 4 servings.

Bryan: Waking up on a snowy day to a warm breakfast topped with a little brown sugar was a sublime treat growing up in the North. I now live in Atlanta; snow never graces my morning commute and warm cereal has been noticeably absent from my winter routine. When it comes to cereal in the morning, I usually lean toward cold: Crispix, Cheerios, Chex, Raisin Bran or another of the various healthy cereals from my supermarket—sugar being a notable absentee from my childhood choices, a habit that has remained with me. When I do go “hot,” I’ve usually been a bit more of a Cream of Wheat fan than an oatmeal lover, but things can change. McCann’s Quick & Easy Steel Cut Oatmeal is richer (and heartier) than the microwave products I’ve encountered and disliked. Though I wouldn’t make this a regular feature of my breakfast routine (I don’t cook in the morning), I have already added it to my snack repertoire. I like the fact that oats are good for me and I really like that they can be flavored to suit my mood, whatever it might be, from fresh yogurt to fresh berries to cinnamon and sugar. Oats aren’t for me everyday, though they might be for you… but even if you eat them only occasionally, you’ll add a healthy twist to your diet. This quick, easy and surprisingly tasty stovetop product from McCann’s passes with me.

Eric: I am not an oatmeal eater and, having grown up in the Northeast of the states, especially with two “hot” cereal family members (plus—on occasion—my father), I was constantly confronted with the tasteless, gooeyness of Cream of Wheat or McCann’s Oatmeal. I have also never been a big breakfast eater and, aside from the occasional Sunday mornings when I would devour a plateful of buttermilk pancakes, it was seldom that I would sit down for a meal, even just a small bowl of “cold” cereal. To this day, like my brother, I do not eat sugary cereals and prefer to snack on Raisin Bran, Cheerios, Chex and—more recently—muesli or granola. The effect of growing up in a household watched over by the steady eye of a nutritionist is realizing what nutrients—or foods—are good for your body each day. This isn’t to say that I don’t dabble in the junk food aisle but I do realize the products I should be consuming. I would rarely eat oatmeal because to me it tastes like sh*t, but I do recognize the nutritious value and ease of preparing McCann’s. My mother has tested them all, and the reason I know she truly enjoys this product is the fact that it is always on her supermarket shopping list.