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As the title may have given it away, this is our first Nourishing Traditions recipe. “Breakfast Porridge” is really a fancy name for what most of us call oatmeal. NT uses the term porridge because you can use the same method for a few different grains, not just oats.
Didn’t know oatmeal was once a whole grain? Don’t worry, we’ll get there. Baby steps.
We haven’t talked about the why or the how just yet, but I chose this breakfast porridge recipe because it’s really easy to make. Since carbohydrates are such a big topic, I thought starting off with easy was good, yes?
** Note: This recipe requires soaking the grains. Be sure to read the entire recipe before starting and plan your time accordingly.
Nourishing Breakfast Porridge
- 1 cups oats, rolled or cracked (any variety except instant will suffice)
- 1 cup warm filtered water
- 2 Tbsp whey, yogurt, kefir or buttermilk** (whey is the liquid that forms at the top of yogurt or as a by-product of strained kefir)
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup filtered water
- Combine oats, warm water and whey/yogurt/kefir/buttermilk in a container and cover. Leave in a warm place overnight (at least seven hours) or for up to 24 hours.
- In a medium sauce pan, bring 1 cup of additional water and salt to a boil. Add soaked oats, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Oats will thicken upon cooling.
Additional Breakfast Porridge Tips
- I’ve made this recipe using both the above method and soaking directly in the cooking pot (to save on dishes). Personally, I liked the way the above method turned out better. Soaking in the pot is worth testing out – you may like it better!
- So far we’ve used apple cider vinegar and kefir in our oatmeal and prefer the taste of kefir, despite the fact that it was homemade and has a stronger “bite” than the store-bought variety. If you’re new to soaking and not a fan of the tang of kefir, try yogurt or buttermilk first.
Nourishing Traditions suggests serving with butter or cream, and using a natural sweetener if desired. I’m certainly not opposed to butter, but we choose to sweetener our oatmeal by adding toppings that are sweet, instead of a specific sweetener all by itself. Our favorites include chopped apples, sweetened dried cranberries, sliced bananas and homemade fruit butter.
Using fruit to sweeten oatmeal increase the amount of produce (and therefore nutrients) that the kids eat, reduces their overall intake of sweeteners, and also turns breakfast into a special occasion if we do decide to add maple syrup or honey. The kids are really enjoying peanut butter and “jelly” (maple vanilla pear apple butter) oatmeal right now. The currently specialty is bananas and honey, reserved only for Sunday mornings before church.
(Another reason to use fresh or dried fruit to sweeten oatmeal is that seasonal produce typically costs less than natural sweeteners, allowing us to use the sweeteners for desserts instead.)
How do you like your breakfast porridge? Sweetened? With butter? Toppings?
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Hi, I just started to read your postings, and love the info! By a warm place in the above recipe, Just on a container on the kitchen shelf, or in a thermos?
thanks!
Welcome Cathy! My “warm place” in on the kitchen counter, near the stove. Our climate (and thus the house) is 68 degrees year round, so that’s as warm as it’ll get for me. Since I’m either cooking or baking something each day, there’s enough heat generated to warm the general vicinity. I think a kitchen shelf would suffice! ~Tiffany
Thanks! I look forward to more posts!
I like my oatmeal cold. I buy Bob’s Red Mill usually and soak it overnight in almond or coconut milk with dates and walnuts. Do you think that is sufficient soaking? I could add a little water kefir if that would be better. What do you think?
Hi Pat,
Are you including an acid medium? Like yogurt or buttermilk or kefir? That’s what causes the break down of phytic acid. Add a splash of water kefir and you’d be set!
we eat ours with dulse (kids loooove dulse, mine eat it by the spoonful!) and a hardboiled egg broken up into the dish first. top with raw milk. no sweetness. my kids dont even like it with fruit as theyve had it this way since they started eating.
dont add salt when cooking it if ur adding dulse as thats salty–we use 1 1/2 tbsp per bowl (1c oatmeal each bowl).
add a tbsp of freshly ground whole wheat flour to the soak and it will reduce phytates even more.
we soak ours with 2c water tho (and still 2T acid as my kids rly dont like the acid taste, no matter what acid i use) becuz 1c water doesnt give the oats/rolled grain enough water to soak up. how do u get urs to work with just a cup of water?
I haven’t heard of dulse Helene, but that’s wonderful that your kids enjoy oatmeal without added sweet. I’m not sure if there’s a secret to getting the oats to work with one cup of water… but I do have to add more water to cook.
So I just read your linked “oats” post which was very informative – thank you! I have a question for you…. I have cooked steel cut oats in the crockpot before where they sit on low overnight with water, salt & butter. Would that be the same as your 12-24 hrs of soaking on the counter? Also I’m guessing from the linked oats post that steel cut oats would work just fine with this nourishing porridge recipe, is that right? And lastly…. I was under the impression that steel cut oats were vastly higher nutrition than just regular old fashioned oatmeal, is that not the case as far as you know?
Thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge and advice here! Trying to switch my family to more real food slowly but some things are harder to change than others! Hope to sneak in some of your recipes right under their noses! Lol
Hi Tiffany, I love the new look of your site. I came to this page to remind myself what you wrote about soaked oats. I am gradually switching to pancakes made with whole wheat flour. I also have one that calls for flour and oats. I have made it but my son was very aware of the texture of the oats (even though I pulsed them in the processor slightly). I thought maybe soaked oats would make for a smoother pancake mix. Do you think soaked oats would work well in a homemade pancake recipe? He will not eat oatmeal yet so I am trying to put oats in other things. I thank you in advance for your input.
You could blend the oats even more and make oat flour.
I just started following your blog and have really enjoyed it so far. For the past 2 or 3 years, I have been soaking my oatmeal, but I have a particularly “wicked” (I use the term loosely) version. First, after soaking, I put about 1/4 cup of maple syrup with the oats (3 cups), then I begin adding the good stuff: cocoa powder (1T per serving), sucanat (1T per serving), lots of raisins, 1 cup of soaked walnuts (soak overnight in water with about 4 tsp of Himalayan-type sea salt added), enough milk to cover (or until you like the color). My goal with these yummies is for it to taste similarly to Chunky candy bars/squares. Mission accomplished! From time to time, I also add huge spoonfuls of virgin coconut oil and sub the walnuts for almonds – Almond Joy!
My children and I enjoy our soaked oatmeal in other varieties that do not include chocolate, but this is by far the one most craved (we actually call it Loaded Oatmeal! I will have occasions where I will use Stevia instead of sucanat, but I always use the maple syrup since it knocks out the sour taste.
Thanks so much for your blog!
Your wicked oatmeal just might make it to my list of to-make desserts Elizabeth. It sounds AMAZING! Thank you for your kind words, and for taking the time to share your recipe! Now, off to makes some oatmeal. 😉
I was curious, is there a functional need for all of the salt? Most oatmeal recipes call for a pinch and my family and I are generally satisfied with that amount. We tried the recipe as is (1/2 tsp of salt) and had to make a second pot of oatmeal to dilute the saltiness to a level we were comfortable with.
Chuck, this recipe is from Sally Fallon and she typically uses salt in her soaking methods and for flavor. In the end, it should be 1/8 tsp salt per serving, but you are welcome to reduce it to taste!
Can I soak my oats in 1 cup of kefir or yogurt for the same time period, without the water? Would it still bring about the same affect of breaking down the phytic acid as the original recipe suggests?
Thank you.
Yes it will!