So. I am always questing for better health and more energy and happier days. I can’t help myself. I am an improvement junkie. I need things to be getting better every day. It is just my way. I read a lot of books about happiness and health. I pop in to blogs like Zen Habits, The Happiness Project and Sarah Wilson in my quest to make sense of life and health. I plan for good times. I try to take care of myself, make sure that I am not too tired or eating rubbish or forgetting to drink water. I take lots of vitamins and supplements. Ya know, that kinda thing.
A couple of days ago I picked up a book by a scarily buff guy called The Perfect Day Plan. It’s a book about approaching your day with a yin/yang point of view, drawing on Chinese medicine and age old principles for best health. It talks about using different parts of the day to do different kinds of tasks, to benefit your overall feeling good-ness. I’m finding it really interesting and am going to adapt some of the things I do, according to the advice in this book. I like to see what kinds of things make a difference to my health and happiness. I’m totally up for change.
One of the things this book says is that the first thing you put into your body should not be tea or coffee. Rather it should be something warm, nourishing (and preferably wheat free). AND you should have a warm lunch too. This keeps your chi happy, apparently. I don’t really KNOW if my chi is happy, but I often skip breakfast or just have a crumpet or something. This does not make me feel particularly good, so perhaps my chi is grumpy too. I don’t even KNOW why I skip breakfast sometimes… I think I just get distracted by the day ahead and sort of gloss over it in an unimpressed way. I am going to try not to do that. It’s kinda dopey to say I am trying to look after my health and happiness and then NOT EAT BREAKFAST. Doh.
There’s a recipe in the book for Porridge with protein powder. OMG. Is protein powder good? I do not know, but I know that I don’t eat much protein so I am giving it a try. I made my porridge with some warmed apple and honey and cinnamon and soy. It was NICE! I don’t even LIKE porridge. I do not understand its shape shifting, gluggy ways. But I am trying. I am.
As I ate my porridge yesterday (with TOO MUCH HONEY! ACK!) I thought that Chai Porridge would be a good invention. I figured someone else had probably already thought of it, googled away and sure enough, heaps of recipes for Chai Porridge. Like this one at the most amazingly great foodie blog, Food52.
So tell me. Do you like porridge? Or do you have to talk yourself into its baby food like texture? If you are a porridge nut, can you please tell me how to make it YOUR way? Is your chi happy?
xx Pip
i've been making chai oatmeal all week. one day i'll get it right. haha.
Hey Pip
I LOVE porridge. I have mine with honey and sliced banana. π
Cheers, Lisa.
Hey Pip, a friend of mine used to make the MOST gorgeous porridge using an ayurvedic recipe. It had cinnamon and ginger in it and it was totally yummalicious. In fact I am going to have to look it up and make some myself now that my taste buds are tingling! If I find the recipe I'll send it through π
Ye gads! Look at all the porridge people! I am REALLY starting to LIKE porridge! After HATING it for 42 years! OMG. People CAN change, can't they?!
Also : re the cup of tea bit. Of course you DO have tea in the morning… but just don't have it as the VERY FIRST THING. That is what the book says. Have something nourishing FIRST and then move on to stimulating! x
I like to share porridge with by baby girl. We usually have it with some Jalna vanilla yoghurt mixed in. Or for a treat I like it with peanut butter and blueberries. Really I am a TOAST girl but porridge is good too.
Hi Pip, I'm readig your blog for ages, but never left a comment.. I just started blogging myself, and think I'm prepared for everything now.. Thank you! Thank you also for all the inspiration, good links and ideas.
Now the porridge. I think I live in porridge country, and a lot of people around me are crazy about it.. I actually dont really like it that much and have to convince me first. I would love to love it too. It would be soo good for me, but coming from bread country, I need something to chew on in the morning. I hope I can change that one day, as I want to eat and be as healthy as I can, I just need to get rid of a few old habits. I'll keep on trying!
I just had the idea to put some granola on top of it afterwards, that would make it more chewy and chrispy, yes, I think I try that for my next breakfast..
I also saw you reed a good few books about happiness and health. Could you suggest one for "beginners"?
Yep porridge rocks!! It's great with berries and some yoghurt (try the organic vanilla and maple syrup), or with chopped up medjool dates and a few sultanas. YUM!
This is a bit knit-your-own sandals, but when I have the time I love quinoa porridge, made from the flakes. You heat up a cup of milk on the stove, then add 1/3 cup quinoa flakes and stir for a couple of minutes, making sure it doesn't boil over (usually gets pretty close!). It thickens a bit when you pour it into your bowl. I stir in some malt extract (consistency like honey, not too sweet – bought it by accident!!) and then top with LSA and chia seeds (black-and-white hundreds-and-thousands). Always feel fabulous after a bowl of that! ps – NEVER make up quinoa porridge with water; it's FOUL! π
I love porridge – I found a recipe which I am going to dare to try – oats, peanut butter and banana.
I made a mix of various seeds and goji berries and that mixes well with porridge too.
Haha! I showed my husband your porridge pic and he nearly puked on the spot! He loathes porridge and couldn't believe that anyone would willingly eat this stuff WITH protein powder on it (what the heck is protein powder anyway?). No tea? What kind of a morning is that? I don't mind porridge but am a muesli girl really – love unsweetened muesli with milk, yoghurt and some berries. Yu-um! Thanks for the pic, I knew it was good for a reaction from hub as soon as I saw it π
I pop 1/4 cup rolled oats in 3/4 cup of water just before I go to bed to soak overnight.When I'm out of the shower in the morning I put it on to boil and then simmer for a minute or three while I am getting dressed, Then I grate some apple and hopefully have remembered to put in some cinnamon while it was simmering and sprinkle some walnuts & brown sugar and eat it all up with some soy milk. Dang if I don't feel full and wholesome until lunch!
I love porridge but only done MY way LOL. Half and half water and milk, some saltanas and cinnamon and brown sugar on top (plus a little cream if I happen to have it, so it's almost like butterscotch sauce on top… mmmm…).
i love porridge especially in cold weather, and after yoga. i hate milk, so i have porridge with a tablespoon of honey, which melts nicely to wet the porridge, then raspberries and banana and chia seeds if we have them.
yuuuuuuuummmm
I love, love, love porridge. I eat it every morning with milk and blueberries, and sometimes maple syrup. I started one winter, and thought I would not want a hot breaky in summer – but I do. I don't ever feel quite right if eat something else at the start of the day. It keeps you happy 'til lunch!
Been eating porridge most days for breakfast since we moved to Berlin. The main attraction was that it is 35cents a bag and cereal is so g damned expensive. But now like all of you above I'm hooked.
I love porridge, especially in the cooler months. Recently went to a great deal of effort (compared to usual 5 mins) to make a quinoa/amaranth/oats porridge with dates, banana, almonds, loads of spices & some maple syrup – v v good. Got the recipe from a slightly daggy but very good-hearted NZ magazine my mother-in-law gets.
I like Chinese medicine very much and have been using it for several months to improve my health…. It's working π
Enjoy and I believe it's fun to be learning all the time π
Porridge is a big favorite at our house. My fussy daughter (6) is terrible at eating breakfast but lately she will have porridge with cinnamon sugar and maple syrup. (I say hooray to anything in her tummy for breakie!) We have also been trying rice porridge which is yummy too.
Yummm
Porridge with Golden Syrup
Porridge with stewed apple and cinnamon
Porridge with honey and sultanas
So many options!
My suggestion is if you use the quick oats, just put your milk in for at least 15min before you cook it so that it all has a good long milk bath before you cook it so it all cooks properly
Yay porridge! Not so much now that the weather is warming up, but man, I've been crazy for it all winter. I make it the Trotski & Ash way, which is the way my nana used to make it too, only she soaked the oats the night before. Awesome. The simmering would be no good if you had a 9-5 job to go to, but with a bebe in the house, it's just the thing. Put it on, feed the kid, do a couple of things, and then breakfast in peace once the napping starts! Delicious. With cinnamon, apple, slivered almonds, sultanas, berries… any or all of these things are excellent.
http://www.trotski-ash.com/2011/04/recipes/perfect-porridge/
When I was about 13 I used to make porridge for everyone when we were at mum's every second weekend. I had a secret ingredient and everything! But since buying microwavable oats I kinda forget how to make it. I want to re-learn how to make it and actually do it.
I've been making my own toasted muesli recently and it's such a satisfying breakfast.
I used to hassle my friend for being a Nana when she made porridge every day at work… but one winter I tried it and found it a great way to start the day. I have it with plain greek yogurt on top and fruit (either cooked or fresh) so even if I don't eat well the rest of the day, I have covered lots of food groups straight away! It is really filling so I could make it through to lunchtime without snacking.
It is a real winter thing for me though, doesn't appeal at all at the moment or through summer so I do yogurt and fruit on muesli instead.
Let the oats soak into the milk for at least 5 minutes before you cook it. This is really important for taste, texture and for releasing the thing in porridge that does you good. I forgot what its called. Hmmm. Anyway, after cooking add more milk to make it runny and stir it heaps before you eat it. I find this makes it quite sweet tasting so it doesn't need anything adding, and runny porridge is yum compared to the lumpy, gluggy stuff x
I am one big porridge lover, eat it every morning with some creamy vanilla yoghurt and skim milk. Needs to be not to thick and not too runny (twice as much liquid to oats plus a fraction more) then it's just right in a Goldilocks kind of way!
Porridge! Don't tell me about porridge! I adore it! I always cook mine with either banana, apple or pear, no need to add honey then. Sometimes I sprinkle cinnamon and sometimes I break up some walnuts or slivered almonds over the top! Very yum! To me I feel like I'm cheating having it every morning as its kind of like a dessert to me…weird hey. I get really hungery before lunch if I don't have it too!
I never liked porridge until this year. I wanted to eat it because it helped lower cholesterol (or so I'm told). Somi made some & tried it again and discovered that I liked the taste but not the texture so I tried different ways of cooking it and added milk & different toppings until I found a texture I liked. Now I love it every morning with skim milk, strawberries and a drizzle of honey. It fills me up beautifully until lunch!
I do not like porridge. At all. My teenage daughter eats it so we always have it but the smell is enough to put me off. I do love muesli. I make my own, according to a friend's wonderful recipe, and it always puts a spring in my step!
Hi Pip
Thanks for this, there was some new links to blogs I think I'll enjoy! As for porridge – I've just got back into it again, nutritious, yum and always different π
I think you may also enjoy this blog below, Kathryn is a nutritionist and has wonderful things to say http://kathrynelliott.com.au/blog
Bestest
I love porridge – and agree, it's a bit addictive! Real whole oats (esp. because the Lowan ones are from Victoria), equal amount (plus a wee bit more) of milk, on the stove until cooked. Then I add some thawed frozen blueberries (I just zap them in the microwave for 30 seconds or so) and a bit of golden syrup. Yum, yum, yum! It's extra nice with flaked almonds too.
I love porridge, but only when the weather is cold. I am lazy so I use quick cooking oats and my microwave. I also get bored easily so I add different flavours of dried fruit depending on my mood. A chopped up dried apricot with a sprinkle of ground ginger is my current favourite. Sometimes I add a bit of coconut, too. 1/3 cup oats (plus tasty additions) with 2/3 cup soy, into the microwave for 2 minutes (watch it to make sure it doesn't overflow). Sometimes I add a little more milk at the end.
I had changed my diet and stopped eating all grains back in May. I eat 2 meals a day because I am not hungry at all until around 11am and I eat a choice of eggs, meat, poultry, fish and fresh vegetables. I was heading towards diabetes – which is common in my family – but I am avoiding insulin spikes by not taking in the high carbs and I feel great, am 13kgs lighter and getting some exercise. I did use to like porridge – but funny enough since I changed my diet I don't have a yen for any bread/cake/grainy-type processed food.
Yep I am a lover of porridge, in the winter anyways.
… however my makey method is not very fancy in the least… kinda embarressing really. I just get half a cup of oats and half a cup of water + a bit more for good measure and whack it in the microwave for around a minute. Remove. Toss on sultanas. Poor on milk. Digest.
Totally eat porridge for breakfast every day in winter – I'm a bircher girl in summer (I always think of it as cold porridge!).
My failsafe recipe for 1 person:
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup milk or soy
1/2 cup water
Cook over the stove but make sure it is still creamy and quite gloopy, and then you never need to add extra milk.
Favourite ways to have it:
– poached fruit and yoghurt on top
– chopped up banana and coconut cooked into it
– dates, pistachios and maple syrup
– dollop of strawberry jam stirred through
Welcome to the porridge clan!
I love porridge and eat it most days in the cooler months. I'm not allowed to eat the whole bowl though and have to leave a little bit of it for one of my cats Tori. She waits impatiently until I finish and if I get distracted and start doing soemthing else before doing so I am told off. I like strawberries, tinned fruit on top but if I am feeling indulgent, I will put maple syrup on top.
I started eating porridge for breakfast after I had my first child and I was told the oats would keep my milk supply going. Seven years (and two more well fed babies) later and it has become a habit I can't break – not even in the middle of an Adelaide summer heatwave. I mix in sliced banana or stewed apples or stewed pears, or even some crushed up nuts and seeds. Just to mix things up a little I occasionally do the Bircher thing and soak my oats in grated apple and yoghurt overnight.
Can't eat porridge because of the gluten content, but apparently quinoa porridge( using the quinoa flakes) is becoming an alternate healthy choice. It is quite nutty and not really my choice for breaky, but great in baking.
I feed my bubba porridge every morning, he's only 10mths old & he loves it – he gobbles it up so fast! It only takes 1.30 in the microwave – so that's super awesome. I don't mix milk with it, just add hot water, sometimes I add frozen raspberries before I zap it into the microwave, sometimes I add stewed apples – all are his favs. Sometimes, I mix yoghurt into the oats at night & leave it in the fridge, in the morning, I do nothing to it, just stir it up with a little water if it is too thick – and he gobbles this up so fast, you'd think he was in an eating competition!!!
Every morning for the last 18 months or so I have cooked half a cup of proper rolled oats in a cup of skim milk, boiled it for few minutes, and slice a banana, cooked apple or something on it. No sugar, honey, any sweetener.
I don't make it too soft – there is a little bit of bite in it.
I am an addict for it. And I'm not hungry for lunch til 1-1.30.
I'd never eaten porridge in my entire life before stating this, and can't go without it ( and I'm in my 40s). Apart from today ( bit of a cold) I am really well nearly all the time.