My Porrage - Not So Quick Oatmeal!

I'm a little picky about porridge, or oatmeal as it's called in the US.  I have a pretty good excuse, during the winter months my dad used to make me and my brother porridge for breakfast almost everyday before we walked to school. We lived 15 miles from Glasgow on the very wet West of Scotland.  The short walk to school could be wet, freezing, snowy or all three, but we were fueled by oats and never felt cold!...well that's how my melancholy memory remembers it.

I didn't experience instant oatmeal until I moved to the US in my 20s. I was so underwhelmed and shocked at the sweetness.  I have now lived in the states for long enough to have got used to the sweetness of everything, but I just can't bring myself to eat instant oatmeal.

Twenty plus years later I am almost dairy-free and a mild health freak, so I don't make my porridge the same way as my dad it, but I'm sure he would approve of this version.

This recipe is enough for 2 people and takes about 25-30 minutes.  Don't make this if you're in a hurry, make it at the weekend when you have time to just zone-out and just enjoy stirring the pot!

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 cups unsweetened almond milk plus an additional cup
• pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp rough cut flax seeds
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup coconut milk

Optional toppings

• squirt of honey or sprinkle of palm sap sugar on the top
• small square of 70% cocoa chocolate or 1/2 tspn chocolate hazelnut butter

Add oats, salt and 2 cups of almond milk to a saucepan and bring to the boil while stirring moderately.

After 5-7 minutes you will see the oats starting to get thicker
After 10-12 minutes the oats should have swollen and the porridge should start to look lumpy and thick.
Add a third cup of milk (or you can add water to reduce the calories) and continue stirring - the thicker the porridge gets the more chance it will stick to the bottom.

After another 5-7 minutes the pot should look like a creamy bubbling witches cauldron (above right).
keep stirring for another 5 minutes until the rolled oats are almost indistinguishable and integrated into the creamy sauce.
Add the flax and raisins and heat through.

Pour porridge into two bowls and leave to set for a few minutes (don't leave in the pot as it will set there)
The porridge should pour freely into the bowls, if you need to spoon it out, it's too thick so add some milk or water.
You can add a topping at this time, but it doesn't really need a sweetener.


Before serving pour 1/8 cup of coconut milk over the top of each bowl of porridge and enjoy!

With no toppings this is about 440 calories per serving - enough to keep you going from 6am to noon!

You can make this with regular milk, rice milk or just almond milk, but I love the almond flavor in the porridge and cool coconut milk on top.