Recipe: Healthy Carrot Cake Porridge/Oatmeal

 

Now, I like porridge a lot and my obsession with it has gotten slightly out of control - my Instagram feed is living proof of that. I have it every single morning and I'm yet to be bored of it - I am known to eat it for dinner too... ahem. There are endless ways of how you can serve it and the (lumpy) canvas is a playground for flavour experimentation so I put down my fun-sized banana (yes, a normal banana is too big for me to handle, send in your innuendos now) and decided to transform my favourite breakfast dish to one inspired by (healthy) carrot cake. Dessert for breakfast or breakfast for dessert? I don't know but I'm going to roll (oats) with it. Now you can have your cake and eat it too.

If you don't fancy fruit as a topping, this would be a great healthy alternative. Carrots provide you with a lot of vitamin A and it even have anti-ageing properties: the high level of the antioxidant beta-carotene helps to repair and slow down the ageing of cells.  

You will need:

 (serves one)

40g of rolled oats

150ml water and 50ml almond milk

Two grated medium-sized carrots

Cinnamon powder

Nutmeg powder

Ground ginger

Chopped walnuts
Non-fat greek yogurt

 

1. Over a low to medium heat, throw in your rolled oats and 3/4 of your milk and water.

Note: I normally opt to have more water with a small splash of milk for a slight creamy texture and prefer to thicken my porridge up with chopped bananas. It's purely my personal preference - depending on your favoured consistency, feel free to use 200ml - 300ml of milk instead!

  

2. Grate your carrots over the top of your oats and stir it into the mixture.

I made the mistake of only using one to serve two people. For a more authentic taste, reserve two medium-sized carrots for each person.

 

3. Time to go crazy - manically shake sprinkle in your desired amount of cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger powder into the porridge. I'm a cinnamon fiend so I may have practically emptied the bottle in there. Leave it bubbling away on a low heat until it reaches your desired level of thickness. 

The spices help to enhance the flavour and are the secret ingredients in achieving the carrot cake taste. For those who usually find porridge to be bland, don't reach for the brown sugar and opt for these to season your oats with instead! They're mighty good for you, they strengthen your immune system and will naturally sweeten the porridge whilst providing a kick and a boost in flavour too. 

 

4. Serve with chopped walnuts, (optional) extra cinnamon and enjoy!

If you fancy having it more creamier, you can even 'ice' it with a dollop of greek yogurt for that cream cheese taste. Don't undo all your hard work with the real thing, go for the healthier option instead! It'll give you an extra dose of protein too ;) The walnuts are packed with omega-3 acids and reduce the risk of breast cancer too. 

That's all, folks!
(name the reference)

Of course, feel free to chop and change this to however you'd prefer and if you do try it out, let me know how you get on with it!

I'm off to dream up more porridge recipes - have a lovely rest of the day : )