Warm Breakfast Duvet Day aka World Porridge Day!

Maple Syrup Porridge with Pecans

Warm Breakfast Duvet Day aka World Porridge Day!

As warm as a duvet and as snugly as a feather bed, today is a day to celebrate my favourite breakfast, Porridge, as it’s World Porridge Day! Organised by The Golden Spurtle, today is day to embrace oats and all that goes with them! The small Scottish Highland village of Carrbridge – home of the annual World Porridge Making Championship – has teamed up with the Scottish-based charity, Mary’s Meals to establish an international World Porridge Day. The charity, which operates its international headquarters from a tin shed in the Argyll area of the Scottish Highlands, has one simple aim: To provide a daily meal in a place of education so chronically poor children are attracted to the classroom where they can gain a basic education that can provide an escape route from poverty. Mary’s Meals works in 16 of the poorest countries in the world, providing daily school meals for over 500,000 hungry children.  World Porridge Day aims to raise awareness of the role that porridge plays at Mary’s Meals projects in Malawi, where a daily mug of maize-based ‘likuni phala’ is an incentive for children to go to school. This provides them with the nutrition they need to grow, play and also learn with the aim that education will help them escape from a life of poverty.

My Mum’s “Teacup Apricot and Honey Porridge”

To celebrate World Porridge Day, I am sharing my favourite porridge recipes and a few enticing photos of porridge to accompany them. I even have some Porridge Pancakes to share with you today too! 

Porridge Pancakes

Hosting your own WORLD PORRIDGE DAY event is fun and easy

The official World Porridge Day is Thursday 10th October  2013 but you can choose whatever date suits you best.

• Decide on a venue. This could be in your own home, at work, at school or maybe you are a professional chef working in a hotel or restaurant or a B&B or guest house proprietor.
• Why not be creative? As well as traditional porridge, there are plenty of delicious recipes to choose from with porridge with all sorts of other ingredients added. Ideas for porridge / oatmeal recipes can be found on the World Porridge Making Championship official website at www.goldenspurtle.com or if you have a good recipe, maybe you would like to share it with other porridge enthusiasts across the world by adding it to the recipe section.
• You might just want to sit down round the kitchen table or works canteen or you may want to turn your WORLD PORRIDGE DAY event into a real Scottish occasion with bunting, kilts and even the sound of the bagpipes!
• You could help raise extra funds by including a raffle, bottle stall, lucky dip, whisky tasting or even a quiz with a Scottish theme.
• You may already support other charitable causes. If so, you could always host a World Porridge Day event and divide the fund-raising with some of the proceeds going towards helping support Mary’s Meals.

Whatever you choose to do, we want to hear about your fund-raising efforts.
Your donation, however small or large, will really help Mary’s Meals in their mission to reach out to the poorest children around the globe.

WORLD PORRIDGE DAY

Here are my favourite porridge recipes, I hope you enjoy them as much as we do……..and if you want to make an award-winning porridge, here’s the link to the Golden Spurtle’s Recipes: Porridge Recipes That’s all for today, I am off to eat my porridge and make sure my chair and bed hasn’t been broken, as I have seen three bears in the vicinity! Karen 

Health Benefits of Porridge:

(www.goldenspurtle.com)

Porridge is made from oats which is one of the most natural and healthiest foods around. Plain porridge oats and oatmeal are 100% natural with no added sugar, salt of additives.

They are naturally low in calories too – an average bowl of porridge made with water is said to be only 171 calories.
Health experts have shown that oats have many health benefits.

Oats have a high content of complex carbohydrates and soluble fibre so they release energy slowly. A bowl of porridge for breakfast should provide the body with all the energy the body needs until lunch time.

Oats can also help in lowering cholesterol which may help reduce the risk of heart disease. Oats act as sponges, soaking up cholesterol and carrying it out of the bloodstream.

Oats contain one of the highest levels of soluble fibre in any cereal – essential for healthy digestion and also said to help maintain a healthy heart when eaten as part of a low-fat diet.

Oats contain a number of necessary vitamins while it is also said that oats can help reduce diabetes.

Porridge oats and oatmeal are as versatile as they are healthy and can be enjoyed in a wide variety of sweet and savoury dishes and healthy bakes as well for cooking up a first class bowl of porridge.

Spiced Fruit and Nut Winter Porridge Recipe:

Spiced Fruit and Nut Winter Porridge

(Serves 2)

INGREDIENTS:

100g porridge oats
50g dried cranberries, such as Craisins
25g whole almonds, chopped into small pieces
1/4 teaspoon mixed spice
2 tablespoons honey, I used Manuka honey
600ml semi-skimmed milk, or milk of your choice

METHOD:

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon until thickened.

Serve piping hot with extra cream or full fat milk, and an extra sprinkling of mixed spice over the top of the porridge.

RECIPES:

Teacup Apricot and Honey Porridge

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Serves	1
Prep time	5 minutes
Cook time	5 minutes
Total time	10 minutes
Allergy	Milk
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Breakfast, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Serve Hot
Region	British
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

A creamy and indulgent porridge with dried apricots and organic honey, perfect for a cold winter's day or when you need some internal central heating for a long day! Use the soft semi-dried apricots, otherwise they will not cook with the porridge in time to eat them. For a special treat, use Gold top Jersey milk or single cream.

Ingredients

• 1 teacup of porridge oats (or 50g in weight)
• 2 teacups of milk (or 300mls)
• 6 to 8 dried apricots, cut into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon organic honey

Note

A creamy and indulgent porridge with dried apricots and organic honey, perfect for a cold winter's day or when you need some internal central heating for a long day! Use the soft semi-dried apricots, otherwise they will not cook with the porridge in time to eat them. For a special treat, use Gold top Jersey milk or single cream.

Directions

Step 1	Put the porridge oats in a saucepan with the chopped dried apricots, and add the milk. Bring to the boil and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring all the time until it is thick and creamy.
Step 2	OR, here is the microwave method. Mix the oats, milk and chopped apricots in a large microwave-proof bowl; microwave on High for 3 to 5 minutes (depends on your heat settings), stirring halfway through. Leave to stand for 2 minutes before eating.
Step 3	To serve. Spoon into a bowl and drizzle with the honey.

Breakfast Porridge with Maple Syrup & Pecans

Print recipe

• Print with main photo
• Print text only

Serves	1
Prep time	5 minutes
Cook time	5 minutes
Total time	10 minutes
Allergy	Milk
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Breakfast, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Serve Hot
Region	British
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

A simple variation on my mum's “Teacup Apricot and Honey Porridge” but using beautiful maple syrup and pecan nuts on place of apricots and honey. For a special treat, use Gold top Jersey milk or single cream.

Ingredients

• 1 teacup of porridge oats (or 50g in weight)
• 2 teacups of milk (or 300mls)
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey)
• 6 to 8 pecan nuts, roughly chopped (or walnuts)

Note

A simple variation on my mum's “Teacup Apricot and Honey Porridge” but using beautiful maple syrup and pecan nuts on place of apricots and honey. For a special treat, use Gold top Jersey milk or single cream.

Directions

Step 1	Put the porridge oats in a saucepan and add the milk. Bring to the boil and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring all the time until it is thick and creamy.
Step 2	OR, here is the microwave method. Mix the oats and milk in a large microwave-proof bowl; microwave on High for 3 to 5 minutes (depends on your heat settings), stirring halfway through. Leave to stand for 2 minutes before eating.
Step 3	To serve. Spoon into a bowl and drizzle with the maple syrup and then scatter the pecan nuts over the top.

My Mum’s “Teacup Apricot and Honey Porridge”