And what a meal it was! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... GREEDY COOGIES APPLE AND CINNAMON PORRIDGE!
Now dont stop reading yet, I know what your thinking, porridge is pretty boring and basic anyone can make that. Zzzzzzzzz next blog!
Am I right?
Well bare with me, yes anyone can make porridge and yes it is easy, but heres just a quick idea to make it not boring, delicous, healthy and MASSIVE!
One thing you need to know about me is I like big portions! And generaly speaking I dont get full. I must be missing that part of my brain or something. Even though I'm quite small, i can easily eat as much as my boyfriend Andy who's 6'2" and weighs about 15 stone. I usually try not to match his portion sizes (unless I'm feeling really greedy) as I know i dont need as much food as him but basically if theres food on my plate and its nice food, I will finish it. The only thing that will stop me is the sensible part of my brain telling me I've had more than enough and its time to put down the fork. I very rarely feel actually physically full. Lucky me!!!
If I'm eating something nice, I usually dont want it to end as well! I get really dissapointed when I'm nearing my last few mouthfuls and quite often go in for seconds or dessert (dont get me started on dessert!) even though I dont really need it. The reason? I just love to eat!
With this in mind, eating a hearty breakfast like porridge can be tough on me because for most people, its a very filling food and a small bowlful is usualy enough to see them through till lunch. For me?
No way Jose!
I usually get to the end of a small or medium sized portion and crave more of the yummy, starchy, carby, comforting goodness. The only problem with this of course is that if I gave in to these cravings all the time I'd be eating far more calories per day than my 5'2", small framed body needs.
As porridge is a yummy and healthy food packed with slow release carbs and fibre, I didnt want to give it up. So heres what I make when I'm on my own on a lazy weekend morning and want that comforting stodgy warm bowl of breakfasty goodness thats not gone in 2 minutes flat and wont make me go up a jeans size:
You will need:
1 large apple
40-50g porridge oats
200-300mls skimmed milk (or the equivelant amount of water with 2 tspns skimmed milk powder)
1tspn cinnamon
Optional (raisons or sultanas)
Honey or Agarve nectar to taste
Serves 1 if your greedy and like big portions like me or can serve 2 if you have a more modest appetite or are eating it as just a part of your breakfast.
Directions:
Grate the apple, taking out the core and leaving the skin on. Add to a small pan with the oats, cinnamon, milk and dried fruit if using. Simmer all the ingredients together on a low heat for about 10 minutes adding water if it gets too dry. Pour into a bowl and add a sqeeze of honey or agarve nectar to your own taste.
Note: The apple in this realy bulks it out and makes the 50g of oats go a LOT further without adding much extra in calories. If you dont believe me, try making porridge with the same amount of oats but withut the apple and see the difference in portion size (I may do this another time and post the pics as proof). The oats are packed with fibre anyway but by adding the apple with its skin on you are adding even more fibre, plus one of your 5 a day! If you used the dried fruit, then it may be sweet enough for you without adding honey or agarve. I have a really sweet tooth so i usually add a generous squeeze of agarve nectar either way. Both honey and agarve are both good natural sweetners and the recipe uses no refined sugar. However Agarve Nectar is low in GI and doesn't make the insulin levels spike which can cause fatigue and cravings for more sugary naughtiness soon after you've eaten. Its also lower in calories than honey so is a good choice if your trying to lose a few pounds or if you're like me and always trying to satisfy a really sweet tooth in the healthiest way possible. You can get it in most health food shops and even in some supermarkets now. If you havn't got any agarve nectar though, dont worry, a squeeze of natural honey is still better than lots of refined sugar and wont do you or your diet any harm. Or if your feeling really naughty, a sprinkling of dark brown muscavado sugar is delish!
Nutrition wise, I'm no expert but i will usually try to give you an estimate of how many cals are in my recipes. In this I would guess at around 250-300 cals depending on the size of the apple the amount of milk used, and the amount of honey/agarve added. I would count slightly more if you used the dried fruit.
I'm not really into counting calories religiously but its good to have an awareness of the amount of energy different foods provide you with. If you feel you need to count calories more strictly than me a great website that can calculate the calories in a recipe can be found at 'spark recipes' click here to try it out.
Well I hope you enjoyed my first recipe post even if it is an easy one and are getting a bit of a feel for what my blog will be about. Please message me with any tips/ suggestions for a newbie blogger like me!
PS: if your wondering why my porridge is named after 'greedy Coogie', Coogie is my nickname, I will explain why in another post.
Ciao for now! xx
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