health4ni Porridge

Breakfast cereals are almost completely useless in my opinion. Totally manufactured unnatural rubbish that on the whole contain too many sugars and too much refined salt.

I have therefore created a recipe for a great tasting and very healthy breakfast cereal using oats and/or quinoa flakes, millet flakes, buckwheat flakes and rice flakes.

I like to soak my porridge oats/flakes overnight in water*, then in the morning add some creamed coconut (instead of milk) to produce a tasty creamy porridge. I also like to add the excellent spice cinnamon to help sweeten it a little.

Porridge Oats Creamed Coconut Cinnamon

* The reason for soaking the oats, and other grains, is to neutralise the enzyme inhibitor phytic acid. The phytates are contained in the outer bran of the grain and can block the absorption of essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and especially zinc. I personally find the porridge tastes better when allowed to soak overnight any way. It also cooks quicker.

health4ni Porridge Recipe
serves 2-3

Night Before:

  • Fill a normal sized breakfast bowl with porridge oats.
  • Tip them into a saucepan.
  • Add cold water and a pinch of Himalayan salt, ensuring that the water covers all the oats. Give it a stir.
  • Place saucepan lid on and leave out overnight.

In the Morning:
you’ll notice that the porridge has soaked all the water up now.

  • Place saucepan with porridge on low heat.
  • Cut off 1/8 (25g) a block of creamed coconut and place into a heat-proof glass.
  • Add 200-400ml of boiling water and stir until all the coconut has melted.
  • Add the coconut milk into the saucepan.
  • Turn up the heat to medium and keep stirring until porridge is hot. It does get thick (more water at night = less thick next day).
  • Once done, serve and add some cinnamon.

Tips:

  • Replace oats with quinoa flakes &/or millet flakes &/or buckwheat flakes &/or brown rice flakes.
  • Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, grapes, chopped apple, raisins and flaked almonds all go well in it. Cold-extracted unfiltered (raw) honey can be added for sweetness if needed, but only a little bit as it adds sugar and is acidic.
  • Add some milled flax seeds, hemp seeds or ground almonds when you start to cook the porridge; a good tablespoon full. Psyllium husks (1 tsp) are excellent for helping digestion and detoxification. Oatbran can also be added (at night).
  • To increase the protein content of the meal simply add 10-40g of a plant based protein powder such as hemp, brown rice or pea.
  • Also, keep any left over porridge. That’s because you can mix in a couple of eggs & a few raisins and create a very tasty pancake. Sprinkle with cinnamon and add grapes / blueberries / raspberries etc with a thin coating of honey. Please note that this is ok for those attempting to gain some lean mass, but for those trying to reduce body fat it’s worth keeping it to a weekly treat.

    • The key is to vary the ingredients and your breakfasts. Make your own mix. Change it everyday; you’re body will appreciate it. And never use a microwave.

    Download a printable pdf version here