My partner grew up on porridge (or oatmeal) but I never did as we were more a weat-bix family. He’d cook it most mornings and slowly I become a fan too, at the mere age of 27! Traditional porridge is a cooked mixture of oats and milk or water. You can use steel cut oats, rolled (or traditional) oats or quick oats.

We asked our Foost audience about how they enjoy making their porridge and 45% said they make it all milk, 12% liked it made with all water and 43% enjoyed a mix! We love to see variety in food and remember there is no right or wrong when it comes to eating! Porridge made with milk is higher in calcium and energy, but made with water it is dairy free and super cheap. Porridge works with any milk or milk alternative.

Oats are cheap and filling! They are high in fibre and are a prebiotic, which keeps our guts happy! Steel cut oats take the longest to cook (and are much more pricey) but are the most filling (lowest GI). Quick oats are simply rolled oats, cut up more. Quick and rolled oats are the same price wise, but rolled are a little more filling (as our bodies have to do the cutting). You can also make porridge with other grains including quinoa, buckwheat, rice, even barley! You can also used leftover cooked buckwheat, quinoa or rice to make porridge in a flash!

Note: if you have coeliac disease, there is much controversy around oats. Whilst oats are technically  gluten free, many oats are contaminated in processing. But some people with coeliac disease cannot tolerate oats (due to a gluten like substance in them) and there is no simple test to find out tolerance. Therefore currently oats are not recommended on a gluten free diet as treatment for coeliac disease. Instead of oats you can use quinoa (longer cooking time) or quinoa flakes.

You can also get oats in sachets, these do cost a little more and do check the ingredients (as they have flavours usually added) but they can be convenient, I often eat these when travelling for work. At home though we buy oats in larger packages and have fun making our own porridge combos (see below).

In our house, I am making porridge for 6 people (2 adults and children 15, 12, 10 and 8 and my kids love breakfast!). Here’s what I do (except I do more than this and eye ball it):

• 1½ cups of oats
• 2 ½ to 3 cup of milk  (or water or mix). Note: more liquid gives creamer texture but takes a little longer to cook

Now for the fun part!  To flavour your porridge, you can cook different fruits or veggies or nuts and seeds or flavours into it, or you can use toppings to create flavour or a combination of both! Here are some of our personal favourites, plus some great inspiration gathered from the Foost community.

Flavoured porridge (add-ins whilst cooking)

For adding flavour whilst cooking, I first mix the oats and liquid. I then cook it for about 2 minutes and add the add-ins and then continue to cook until thick.

Perhaps spend the next week giving these a try (amounts of add-ins given per serve):

• apple pie: a lovely mix of apples, cinnamon, sultanas and cashews (full recipe here)
• mashed banana and frozen raspberries (full recipe here)
• 3 dried diced dates or one fresh diced date in your porridge mix
• 4 diced dried apricots
• 1 teaspoon of peanut butter
•  ¼ cup frozen berries and 1 teaspoon of nut butter
• 1 teaspoon of chia seeds and 2 teaspoons of sultanas

Porridge with toppings

You might choose to make your porridge with just oats and liquid and add toppings to create flavour. My children like it when we create a design your own porridge with a porridge bar! You can have options like nuts, seeds, sultanas, cinnamon, shredded coconut and fresh fruit. Keep nuts and seeds in easy to open containers in the cupboard making the porridge bar easy to set and pack up.

Other of our favourite toppings include:

• warmed pears (click for recipe)
• sliced bananas and pecans fried in a little olive oil and a drizzle of maple syrup
• thinly sliced apple wedges fried in a little olive oil and lots of cinnamon
• cinnamon, steamed apples and almonds
• grated apple, maple syrup and chia seeds
• stewed apples or berries
• fresh or frozen (defrosted) blueberries and maple syrup
• fresh banana and cinnamon
• banana and almond butter
• strawberries and greek yoghurt
• cinnamon, blueberries and honey
• tahini and pear
• banana and honey