It’s definitely feeling autumnal! As the temperatures drop and the leaves turn crunchy orange brown, what could be more comforting but a bowl of nourishing oats?

Porridge is a great way to start the day with the oats being a terrific source of slow release good carbs and the soluble fibre, beta-glucan. This beta-glucan helps lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels (food is medicine!) and also increases satiety, so good for weight control.

Some people say they think porridge is boring. No way! There is so much you can do to jazz up your oatmeal; after all, you wouldn’t eat a bowl of plain rice and expect it to be interesting would you?! I love to add colour, flavour, texture with my add-ins, making a bowl of oats even more nutritious; hence the term power oats!

So how do you power up your oats? Power-boosting additions to the oat base include: chia seeds, flaxseed, hemp seeds, protein powder, and cacao powder (see more ideas below). Fabulous power-boosting toppings include crunchy nuts and seeds, a drizzle of your favourite nut butter, fresh and dried berries, goji berries, dried goldenberries, dark chocolate goldenberries and dark chocolate bananas. I am sure there are many other additions I have not thought about too. Do write in to tell me how you like to eat your oats!

While for autumn and winter, I usually prefer hot porridge, in the summer and spring (and sometimes as a post-work out snack!) I tend to prefer overnight oats cold from the fridge or warmed up quickly in the microwave. I have therefore included here a recipe for both hot power porridge and also for overnight power oats.

Makes: 1 jar

Overnight Power oats

Preparation time: 3 mins

Ingredients:

• 40g rolled oats (gluten-free if required)
• 100g Yoghurt (vegan if required)
• 130ml milk of choice. I have recently experimented with kefir too (vegan if required)
• 1 tbsp. chia seeds

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a jar and pop in the fridge overnight (or at least 3 hrs). You can eat cold or warm up in a microwave.

Power Porridge

Makes: 1 bowl

Preparation time: 8 mins (about 25 mins if using steel cut oats)

Ingredients:

• 40g rolled oats
• 150-170ml milk or water (or a mixture of both). Add more liquid if you like a runnier porridge
• Pinch of salt

Method:

Place all ingredients in a saucepan over a low-medium heat.  Bring to a simmer for about 5 mins stirring. Serve.

Optional add ins to the porridge:

• 1 tbsp. flaxseed, hemp seeds instead of the chia seeds
• 1-2 tbsp. protein powder
• 1 tbsp. cacao powder,
• 1 tsp. beetroot or pittaya or green tea powder
• ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon or nutmeg
• 1/3 of a whole courgette, grated
• ½ mashed banana
• 3 tbsp. pumpkin puree,
• 2 tbsp. applesauce, nut butter and dried goldenberries.
• 1-2 dates, destined and chopped
• ½ carrot, grated (with nutmeg and cinnamon for carrot cake oats!)
• Lemon zest (with blueberries, for a lemony pudding twist)
• Dried goldenberries, dried cranberries, dried barberries

Topping ideas:

• A sprinkle of the following:
• Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds
• Nuts of choice
• A drizzle of your favourite nut butter
• Coconut chips
• Fresh fruit (stewed cinnamon apples or pears is a favourite of ours)
• Fresh and dried berries
• Half a banana sliced into coins
• Goji berries
• Dried goldenberries, dried cranberries, dried barberries
• Dark chocolate goldenberries
• Dark chocolate bananas
• Dark chocolate squares
• Cacao nibs
• Trail mix bags like Tropical Mix or Pineapple & Chilli Cashews

Don’t forget you can find my favourite recipes in my FREE eBook here.