Porridge from Scratch

Porridge is one of those things that I really look forward to when the weather starts getting colder. It's a perfect winter warmer! But when was the last time you actually cooked porridge yourself (I mean from scratch on the stove, not microwaving a sachet of quick cook oats)? There's something about the homemade version which is just so much better than the packet oats. And it really doesn't take as long as you might think- I can have this brekky ready to go in under 10 minutes!

I've written the recipe for one but just double or triple the ingredient quantities if you're cooking for others too. Fibre-rich, low GI, sweet and simple, the combination of raspberries, honey and LSA puts a tangy twist on this old-fashioned favourite.

Porridge

1/2 C rolled oats

1/2 C reduced fat or skim milk

1/2 C water

1 Tbsp LSA (ground linseeds, sunflower seeds and almonds)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

To serve:

1/2 C fresh or frozen raspberries (thawed if frozen)

1/2 tsp honey

1. Combine oats in a small saucepan with water and milk.

2. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to low, add LSA and cinnamon and simmer, stirring constantly until thick.

3. Place porridge in a bowl and top with raspberries and honey. Serve.

This recipe is perfect for a lazy Sunday morning so why not try it tomorrow! If you love porridge but can't spare the cooking time, don't worry. You can still get the health benefits of porridge from a lot of quick cook sachets- try Goodness Superfoods Quick Barley & Oats 1st, Be Natural 3 Grain Porridge or Uncle Toby's Quick Oats plain.

Dietitian Eats Series: Georgie Child

Today my good friend and fellow Dietitian Georgie lets us peek into her food diary with a look at what she eats in a day. If you've missed any of the Dietitian Eats Series posts then click here, here, here, here, here and here (yep there's already been quite a few- where have you been?!).

Georgie Child, Accredited Practising Dietitian

Currently working at a fresh healthy meal delivery company and keeping busy with her blog where she looks at different diets and ways of eating, and road tests them herself.

Website: www.foodchild.com.au

Facebook: www.facebook.com/georgiechildfood

Twitter: @foodchild

Instagram: www.instagram.com/foodchild

Email: g.child@outlook.com

Food Philosophy: Food should be eaten with enjoyment and without guilt, in a balanced way that emphasises eating a variety of fresh and healthy foods for the most part, but with a few indulgences here and there.

7.30am Rolled oats cooked in milk and a dash of vanilla, with frozen berries and yoghurt in an almost-empty tahini jar. I think there’s nothing better than oats out of an almost empty nut or seed butter jar, getting some nutty seedy goodness in every bite. My favourite is tahini, so  it’s my lucky day finding a waning jar this morning. I find that without some sort of fat in my breakfast, it won’t tide me over very long.

8am Coffee follows breakfast. And lunch. I like coffee. I have a teaspoon of instant with a dash of skim milk ‘cos I’m all class.

12.30pm Tuna salad with avocado, pumpkin, Danish feta, dressed with balsamic vinegar and balsamic glaze. I think I’ve had a variation of this salad most days for the past 5 years of my life. I know, I know, variety is key; however I just love this combo.

3pm Yoghurt with berries, nuts, seeds and wheat puffs. I love breakfast foods, and find most of my snacks resemble a mini-breakfast.

7.30pm I was going over to my boyfriend’s place, and he doesn’t have a fridge yet (I KNOW, right!??). I brought over a chicken stir-fry for the both of us that I’d made at home. It was packed with veggies and was pretty tasty, if I do say so myself. I usually use reduced-salt soy or tamari as the sodium can rack up in stir-fries.

8.30pm We were out and about and decided we could really go a slurpy. I hadn’t had one in years! This is one of those Zilched 1% Added Sugar varieties, and I shared it with my boyfriend. Usually I’ll have something like yoghurt and fruit for dessert, but this really hit the spot tonight.

Dietitian Eats Series: Morgan Brown

After a very brief hiatus, Dietitian Eats is back! Showing you what Dietitians really eat and giving you some ideas for your own healthy eating. Make sure you go back and read all the ones you may have missed too! (Or click on the links below). There has been:
- Me
- Caitlin
- Laura
- Kate
- Cath

And today, for number 6 is Morgan!

Morgan Brown, Accredited Practising Dietitian

Currently working as a Community Dietitian in Queensland. She's also about to launch her own food and health blog (so watch this space!).

 

Email: mlbrown855@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/morgan.brown.986227

Food Philosophy: Like all my fellow dietitians who have been featured in this series, I love food and everything about it – cooking with it, eating it and discovering new and exciting things about it. My food philosophy is simple- eat healthy, delicious, nutrient-dense foods (preferably from the 5 core food groups which make up the Australian Dietary Guidelines) 80% of the time. That way you can treat yourself 20% of the time. 

 

 

 

7am At the moment I am training for a half marathon which is due to take place in Brisbane during August. In preparation for this, I am doing loads of aerobic and interval training. This morning was no exception- I had just completed a 16km run and was starving by time I returned home. So I decided to have 2 eggs on toast (soy and linseed) with 1/2 a smashed avocado, some rocket and fetta drizzled with balsamic vinegar. I’ve always been a big breakfast person, and if I’m not having eggs of some sort I’ll have oats with fruit and soy milk.



 

10.30am This is one of my favourite snacks and it’s simple to prepare- 1 small handful of natural almonds and ½ cup of frozen blue berries.

1pm Today I had leftovers for lunch, which I love doing! Homemade vegetarian curry with pumpkin, chickpeas, cauliflower and kale. I like to include as many different coloured vegetables as I can at lunch as they help to bulk out my meals and make sure I am meeting my veggie serves. If I’m not having leftovers, I’ll usually have a mixed salad with brown rice and canned tuna or salmon, or a toasted sandwich with a side salad.

 

 

3pm I don’t always have an afternoon snack - it usually depends on what I am doing and if I’m feeling hungry or not. Today I walked up to my local café and brought a small soy latte. I usually have 1 coffee per day and 1-2 cups of green tea.

 

7pm Like breakfast, dinner is one of my favourite meals. I really enjoy cooking with fresh ingredients and love experimenting with new recipes. Tonight was beef stir fry, cooked with pumpkin, carrots, broccoli and silver beet. I also crushed up a few unsalted peanuts for garnishing. I made the marinade from scratch using salt reduced soy sauce, fish sauce, chilli, lime juice, tamarind paste and a small squeeze of natural honey.  Dinner usually includes 1 serve of meat or meat alternative, ½ plate of veggies and 1-2 serves of low GI carbohydrates. Tonight I’m having some brown rice as this is a great source of fibre which helps to keep me feeling fuller for longer.



8pm I always have yoghurt after dinner, usually with different fruits, seeds and nuts. Tonight I had low fat Greek yoghurt with 1 small plum and pumpkin seeds. With all my main meals and snacks I drink water.  

 

Dietitian Eats Series: Catherine Lucas

The Dietitian Eats Series is quite simply a series of posts on what Dietitians eat! I think there's something really satisfying about the guilty pleasure we get from being let in to a very personal part of someone's life- their food! This is the 5th instalment so if you missed any be sure to go back and check them out! (And if you're lazy like me, just click here, here, here and here).

Today's food diary is that of Cath...

 

 

Catherine Lucas, Accredited Practising Dietitian and PhD Candidate

 



Currently researching nutrition in pregnancy and lactation for her PhD, tutoring at university and working in private practice.

Twitter: @_cathlucas

Email: cjl623@uowmail.edu.au

Food Philosophy: Like most dietitians I love food! I feel like Michael Pollen sums up the best dietary advice perfectly, “Eat food, mostly plants, not too much”.

 

 

 

6am Rolled oats made with low fat soy milk and topped with stewed pear and cinnamon. Oats are definitely my favourite thing for breakfast, they keep me feeling full longer than anything else and I love the sweetness of stewed fruit and cinnamon. I usually top this with LSA but didn’t have any left in the pantry today!

 

 

 

10.30am 1 banana

 

 

12pm Salad made with locally grown lettuce, grated carrot, ½ can kidney beans and fetta. Topped with a splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

 

 

3pm 1 small skim milk hot chocolate. This is a treat I have once or twice a week when I have had a stressful morning and need something to get me through the afternoon. I think that it’s the walk from my office to the café that actually does the most to clear my head.

 

 

6pm Smoked salmon and avocado rice paper rolls. I was leaving straight after work to drive down the coast for the weekend. Usually I would prepare a sandwich to take for the trip, but I didn’t have time this week. Instead I opted to grab some rice paper rolls on my way home which saved me from getting stuck on the road with Macdonalds or KFC as my only options. I follow this with 1 white chocolate and berry scone from Bakers Delight. A sweet treat for the long car trip down the coast.

 

 



Dietitian Eats Series: Kate Callaghan

For the past couple of weeks I've been bringing you the food diaries of Dietitians to show YOU what healthy eating looks like and to prove to you that we love food just as much as you (and are only human when it comes to chocolate!).

If you've missed any in the series click here, here and here!

But for now? Meet Kate...

Kate Callaghan, Accredited Practising Dietitian and Personal Trainer

Currently working in New Zealand, Kate is particularly passionate about women’s health and recovery from eating disorders, as well as digestive problems such as coeliac disease, IBS and IBD.  

Website: www.theholisticnutritionist.com  

Blog: www.againstthegrainnutrition.blogspot.com.au

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AgainstTheGrainNutrition

Twitter: @ATGnutrition

Instagram: kate_callaghan

Email: kate.theholisticnutritionist@gmail.com

Food Philosophy: “Fresh is best”. I believe we should choose real, whole, unprocessed, nutrient-dense foods and eat the way nature intended, rather than filling up on packaged and processed foods.

I have coeliac disease and an intolerance to milk, so all of my meals are gluten-free and dairy-free (but definitely not taste-free!), other than a little yoghurt. I try to include as many colourful vegetables in my day as possible, and I encourage my clients to do the same as they have an abundance of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants, which provide amazing health benefits. Animal-based protein and healthy fats provide the icing on the cake!

7am Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. I change it up every couple of days, but this one really makes me smile. It is such a great start to the day and really easy to make – 2 eggs mixed with mashed banana and cinnamon, cooked in a pan as you would an omelette and served with yoghurt, berries, flaxseeds and coconut flakes. Yum!

10am It was a sunny, warm day, so I felt like a smoothie, which I enjoyed while sitting out on my verandah (I work from home a lot). I posted this on Instagram and had some very envious comments. I simply threw in a blender: frozen mixed berries, natural yoghurt, cinnamon, vanilla and water, topped with goji berries and cacao nibs.

1pm As we head into winter, I usually have warm foods for lunch, but it was hot the day I had this. I tend to get carried away with my salads – a little bit of everything ends up being quite a massive pile of vegetables! This Super Salmon Salad was made with as many veggies as I could find, avocado, seeds, lemon juice and olive oil. I used canned salmon here, with bones, as they are a great source of calcium and omega 3 fatty acids.

4pm As odd as it sounds, I had a craving for broccoli on this day. I know, sounds weird right? So I roasted up some broccoli florets and topped with a little olive oil and pine nuts. It was actually pretty delicious and really hit the spot. Some (most) days I will probably have a couple of squares of dark chocolate, too. I am human, after all.

7pm I LOVE roast veggies, so they will always be part of dinner. This meal is another easy one (I generally am quite a lazy cook) - Yellow chicken curry served with steamed broccoli (just in case I hadn’t had enough in the afternoon) cabbage and roasted pumpkin.

 

Dietitian Eats Series: Laura Appel

If you missed the first two in the series (myself and Caitlin's), click here and here. A quick run-down? The Dietitian Eats Series is a series of food diaries or 'days on a plate' from Dietitians, so you can check out what the people who've made a career out of food and health eat!

Today? Meet Laura…

Laura Appel, Accredited Practising Dietitian

Currently working as a casual consultant for Nutrition Australia, this was her first job as a new graduate and she has found the work a great deal of fun and an excellent learning experience as she entered the workforce. Laura is also looking for work in a hospital as she loves the challenge of therapeutic dietetics in complex cases. She has also decided to do some work as a private dietitian. Laura sees people in their own homes for individual consults, menu planning assistance and a range of exciting nutrition education services. 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lauraappeldietetics 

Email: lauraappel@outlook.com 

Food Philosophy: I am a dietitian that believes that life is to be lived and food is to be enjoyed.  Aim to eat foods that are beneficial for your health the majority of the time, but it is ok to have those things that aren’t so good in moderation. A few ‘unhealthy’ items are not going to ruin your health but rather will be much better for your mental health in the long run. So enjoy a piece of birthday cake at a party, an Easter egg at Easter, eat a little too much at Christmas and have a cookie your grandmother baked, just make sure the majority of the food you put in will give your body all the good nutrients it need to fuel you for life.

7am I usually eat a pretty standard breakfast of cereal, oats, yoghurt or toast. Today I opted for a mix of oats, 1 weetbix and some Uncle Toby’s Plus Omega-3 cereal. I also had a cup of instant coffee. I used Coles light milk on my cereal and in my coffee. I am a big fan of using smaller bowls for my cereal as I know, being a cereal lover, if I have a bigger bowl I will fill it!

10.30am I wasn’t too hungry this morning so I just had a lemon and ginger tea. I often will have some nuts and/or some fruit to keep me going until lunch if I am feeling peckish mid-morning, the protein in the nuts and fibre in the fruit allows me to not eat too much at lunch.

12.30pm As I said previously, I usually eat pretty standard meals; lunch is usually a sandwich, salad or maybe some leftovers. Today was salmon and cucumber on sourdough bread. I always have to have something a little bit sweet to finish off lunch, studies have found that this does help you to register that the meal has now finished. Today I had some Greek yoghurt with a couple of marinated figs to bring some of sweetness to the table. I washed it all down with a glass of water.

3.30pm As dietitians we are not exempt from the 3:30itis. This macaron needed to be consumed as I had portioned out my birthday box of 6 from my favourite dessert king Adriano Zumbo. This one was red velvet, one of my favourite flavours. I made sure that I sat away from the computer and enjoyed this treat with a cup of green tea. I don’t usually have an afternoon snack but I just couldn’t leave the last macaron another day. 

7pm Today was Pad Thai. This one contained turkey mince, carrots, beans, spring onions and rice noodles with a soy and lime sauce. I wilted a heap of bok choy to bump up the vegetable content and prevent myself consuming too much of the delicious noodles. Each of my dinners aim to have a serve of protein, serve or 2 of carbohydrates and up to 3 serves of vegetables and this idea seems to work well with most recipes.

8.30pm I am thinking I am hungry now because of walking the dog and doing my housework in the afternoon rather than the morning. I decided to make a mini smoothie. I blended up a frozen banana with a dash of light milk and spoon of Greek Yoghurt, I also added about a teaspoon of cocoa powder to give it a chocolate taste. I usually have an herbal tea and a piece of fruit or maybe some dark chocolate but tonight I knew that I needed something a bit more satisfying.