A hearty breakfast

nutritional, warming, filling… and necessary !

I’m usually a coffee in the morning gal normally, and if I’m really hungry I have some almonds. So by chance then it means I do intermittent fasting regularly which keeps the weight under somewhat control.

But I have to take a hearty breakfast during my sicky time, and I’m not used to that ! Why, because if I don’t then the meds make me feel nauseous, and it’s also not good for my tummy the doc says.

So this is my yummy scrummy breakfast for lining the stomach to protect it, so a great food to take with medications, and to set me up for the day (especially in the winter)… It’s so filling !

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Nutritious and delicious

My sweet and spicy flavoured porridge. Don’t you love the 70’s crockery we’ve been left here… well maybe not !

Food to set you up for a great day

The trouble with having to take at least 10 different medications several times a day is that it takes up most of the day doing the routine! Also you have to take different ones so many mins before eating, after eating, and or so many hours between each other so they don’t interact!! Paul has a chart

Timing

So I have 30mins after taking the first medication of the day before I can eat, to get through some more meds and make breakfast. It doesn’t take 30 mins to make this but I enjoy the prep. Exciting times when you can’t manage doing much else, ahaha !!!

So I’m loving creating a good hearty porridge based meal to protect my stomach from any side effects of the meds. I soak 3 or 4 tablespoons of oats in water the night before.

P.S update…Am on the mend now and starting to reduce the meds but they say pneumonia takes a while so I’m having a checkup every 2 weeks. ) thanks for your lovely messages. Xx 

 Ingredients

1. Oats I just use 1/2 cup traditional rolled porridge oats because I/m adding a banana in. You might want up to 1 cup if you’re a hungry caterpillar !

2. Spices use the ones you like… I love my spices so use 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, and maybe a good pinch or nutmeg or mixed spices like pumpkin spice mix

3. Banana – 1/2 to 1 mashed 

4. Nuts – a handful for topping crushed / diced walnuts, pre-roasted in a frying pan or oven

5. Syrup or honey – for drizzling Agave or maple syrup, or a good local honey

6. Water or milk  same quantity as the oats ( 1/2 cup for me) or pre-soaking, and cooking. I soak in water and cook in coconut milk ! You could use soy, or almond, or dairy milk. Then same quantity again (1/2 cup for me) for cooking.

Why soak the oats overnight ?

Easier to digest

Apparently it allows the starches to break down so it makes them easier to digest.

What should you soak the oats in ?

Sometimes I use water, sometimes milk ( nut milk for me) . I’ve since read that you need to soak them in an acidic liquid to really get rid of any ‘anti-nutrient’ elements and release the good minerals ! So that means simply add something acidic to the liquid. I use the same quantity of liquid to oats ( e.g. 1/2 cup) then add a tablespoon of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar). This is what makes thme the most digestible.

You can also add a few pinches of good sea-salt at the pre-soak stage too.

If you find all this affects the taste of your porridge then just rinse the oats before you cook them in the morning.

Why mash the banana?

Easier to digest

A browner, and more mashed banana will be sweeter. On the upside though it means that it will be much easier to digest – so go for riper and mashed if you need help in that area ! On the downside that also means its more sugar so not so good if you’re trying to keep your blood sugar from spiking. If this is the case then use a less ripe banana and just slice it into your porridge rather than mashing it.

My method

1. pre-soak 1/2 cup oats overnight ( 12 hrs ) in 1/2 cup water ( or just enough to cover them).

2. In the morning add 1/2 cup coconut milk and cook in a pan.

3.Stir in a mashed banana 

4. Turn the heat down or off and stir in  1/2 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, and a good few pinches nutmeg. Stir well.

4. Pour into a serving dish, and top with the chopped, roasted walnuts

6. Drizzle with bio Agave syrup.

I just happened to have these ingredients all in the cupboard but you can vary it.

Normally I would have almonds at breakfast if I’m hungry so the next day I tried them … But the roasted walnuts were much more tasty with the porridge and syrup.

 Preparation and Cooking Tips

Mashing the banana: First squeeze it  / massage it in its skin to loosen it up. Then open it up and if it still needs mashing, use a fork and mash on the chopping board. 

Roasting the nuts: Either set the oven to high ( 200℃ ) or a frying pan on high heat. Then lay the walnuts out in the oven /  on the pan. They will roast in about 5mins. If you are using the pan method, keep shaking them around to brown them on all sides. If you are using the oven method, try to turn once but it’s not essential. Set the timer and keep an eye on them !!! It’s easy to go too far and burn them.

Chopping the nuts:  I find using the heel of a really large knife the easiest for chopping them ( see my favourite below)

TIP:  Add the banana to the hot porridge whilst it’s on simmer. If you add it at the end it will cool the porridge down too much.

TIP:  It’s good to add the spices after the banana, and you can turn the heat off whilst you stir them in so that they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

Serving suggestion:  Drizzle your syrup or honey from high up (like a chef ) so that you evenly and it stops you pouring too much. Remember agave syrup is the sweetest and runniest so go easy.