This Chocolate Porridge is made with rolled oats and cacao and is rich, creamy and delicious and guaranteed to hit the spot. Not too sweet, easy and quick to make, great for snack leftovers or breakfast the next day, and full of nutritious ingredients packed full of fibre, magnesium, whole grains, and antioxidants.

I make mine vegan and dairy-free by using almond milk and I just love it with a teaspoon of peanut butter swirled in at the end, then topped with lots of different textures like berries, banana, coconut flakes, nuts and seeds and buckinis ….The options are endless!

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Chocolate Porridge

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Servings 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 cups your choice of milk I used almond milk
• 1/2 cup filtered water
• pinch sea salt
• 2 tbsp raw cacao mixed with 2 tablespoons hot water
• 1.5 tbsp maple syrup or you can use rapadura or coconut sugar
• 1/2 tspn vanilla extract

Instructions

• Pour the milk and 1/2 cup water into a saucepan. Add the oats and sea salt and bring to boil. Reduce to a light simmer and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.
• Whilst this is cooking, add the cacoa powder and 2 tablespoons hot water into a small bowl and mix to create a smooth paste.
• Add the cacoa paste, maple syrup and vanilla extract, to the oats. Mix well to combine and keep simmering for 5 minutes, mixing occasionally so the porridge doesn't stick to the bottom of the saucepan. Take off the heat but leave covered for a few more minutes to achieve more creaminess.

Notes

If the porridge is too thick for you liking just add extra liquid, a little at a time.

Adjust sweetener as necessary to suit your tastebuds.

You can also add in half a mashed banana for extra, natural sweetness in the last 5 minutes.

See my comments above for my favourite healthy topping ideas. 

This porridge is even tastier the next day so be sure to make extra for leftovers! 

If you make this recipe and share on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek.

Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook.

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration, take a look at my recipe ebook getting rave reviews, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes.

It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved!

Other breakfast recipes you might like:

Berry Smoothie Bowl

Strawberry and Coconut Crumble 

Golden Honey and Ricotta Wraps

When we’re rying to cut down on processed and packaged food, this doesn’t just mean just ditching the packets of gummy lollies and  cheezels. It means looking at each meal and finding simple, healthful replacements to ensure we are nourishing our bodies and souls.

When it comes to breakfast, it’s important to #thinkoutsidethecerealbox and replace with quick and delicious real food breakfasts recipes like these…

Banana & Buckwheat Pancakes by Mamacino

Carrot Cake Pancakes by Well Nourished

Sweet Cinnamon Omelette by The Holistic Ingredient

Miso Paste Toast by Wholesome Cook

Lemon and Blueberry Bread by Mummy Made It

Creamy Dairy-Free Porridge by Alternative Chef Kitchen

Spiced Quiona Porridge by Brenda Janschek Health and Lifestyle

Home-made Baked Beans with Ham by Natural New Age Mum

Apple Pie Rice Pudding by A Healthy Mum

Superfood Black Rice Pudding by Nourishing Hub

Mexican Egg Scramble by Eat, Drink, Paleo

Shakshouka with Tomatoes, Feta and Peppers by Yummy Inspirations

Sweet Potato and Apple Hash by Barefoot Kitchens

Baked Eggs by Lisa Corduff

Enjoy!

Bren x

This quinoa porridge is choc-a-block full of goodness with just about all the ingredients containing powerhouse immune-boosting properties such as protein and zinc, iron and fibre, Vitamin C, lauric acid and so much more. And it’s gluten-free!!

The recipe makes enough for breakfast for two days. I just stash leftovers in the fridge and add more water to heat it up the next day. It’s so grounding and filling I can often skip lunch and just settle for an early dinner instead!

Just a little note to please try to buy your quinoa from Australia if you can, as there’s a sustainability problem in Peru, they can no longer afford to buy their own quinoa : (

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

White quinoa
Coconut Oil
Salt
Coconut Milk 
Dried Figs
Medjool dates
Cinnamon Powder
Cardamom Powder
Nuts & Seeds
Coconut flakes

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Spiced Quinoa Porridge

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 2

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• pinch sea salt
• 1 tablespoon yoghurt or whey
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1/2 teaspoon mixed spices like cardamom nutmeg, cloves
• 1.5 cups water
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 - 2.5 cups coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons orange blossom water optional
• 1 teaspoon vanilla powder or extract
• 1/4 cup chopped Turkish figs and Medjool dates
• Sprinkle of cinnamon and cardamom
• 1/2 cup mix of nuts and coconut flakes raw or roasted (I love pistachios with this dish)

Instructions

• Soak the quinoa overnight in warm filtered water, a pinch of sea salt and a tablespoon of yogurt. Rinse very well in the morning. This is to release all the bitter saponins and make the quinoa more nutritious and digestible.
• Warm the coconut oil in the saucepan, add the quinoa and mixed spices and toss for a couple of minutes.
• Add in the water and cinnamon sticks.
• Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer, with lid on for approx 10 minutes.
• Add the coconut milk and orange blossom water, vanilla, dates and figs. Stir through and simmer on a very low heat for 5 minutes.
• Serve with a sprinkling of cinnamon powder and the nut and coconut flake mix.
• Enjoy!

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration, take a look at my new recipe ebook which is getting rave reviews, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes.

It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved!

If you make this recipe please do take photos and send them to me.

If you share them on instagram, remember to tag me @brendajanschek. Otherwise feel free to pm me your photos via Facebook. I get a total kick out of seeing you bring my recipes to life.

Other  recipes you might like are Pimped Up Oat Porridge and Breakfast Rice Porridge.

Happy Mother’s Day everyone! And by everyone, I mean Mums.

I’m never quite sure where the apostrophe goes in ‘Mother’s Day’. That’s true of most apostrophes, bothersome little things that they are, but is that the right place? Or is it ‘Mothers’ Day’, as in the collective noun that describes a hotbed/brilliance/sparkle of Mothers? Whatever the case, in this house it will be ‘Mother’s Day’ (there being only one, as far as I know), where my agenda will include lots of things that make life very simple … for me.

Specifically, I’m expecting:

– no responsibilites (I’m not here, I’m not here … unless you’re spoiling me)

– no decisions (which, granted, could go pear-shaped if history is a guide)

– a general smattering of spoiling by my family (so I hope you’re reading!)

– no apostrophes

– palm leaves and grapes (soaring too close to the sun?…)

– breakfast in bed (no, hubby, you’re not invited – get your apron on)

When I thought about brekky, it dawned on me (get it? get it?) that I had so many breakfast ideas on this little blog of mine, and I had quite forgotten how many. So, strap yourself in for a short compilation of some of my favourite brekkies. ‘Get your orders in early’ is my advice!

My latest and favourite is the Date and Walnut Muesli. It’s so totally simple that it can be prepared the night before in 5 minutes flat, even by males (well, 25 minutes and four days for them). It’s so full of goodness and it’s great to know that some of the ingredients are boosting my immune system. This is a great one for the kids if they want to do it themselves and serve to Mama with some extra yoghurt and fresh fruit.

I haven’t made my famous ‘Notella’ for a while, so bring it on so I can lather it onto some Spelt and Buckwheat pancakes, or some Sonoma Spelt Sourdough bread. It’s so simple to make in the food procerssor or Thermomix, I think the kids could handle this one on their own. Dad could help them out with a warming cup of chai tea to accompany. Mmmmmm!

But what if I’m feeling in more of a savoury mood? Well, cue my tasty Egg Muffins, which never let me down. I just hope the kids remember that I particularly love them wrapped in a piece of organic bacon, or they could ‘surprise. Perhaps a variation like spinach and ricotta! Just as long as they remember the cheese please (love the stuff!)

Any recipe that includes the words ‘coconut cream’ or ‘ginger ‘ automatically gets my vote. So a steaming bowl of my Coconut and Ginger Infused Rice Porridge would be a welcome breakfast in bed. So nourishing and grounding and made out of only properly prepared natural ingredients. Yum!

These Date and Cinnamon muffins are a cracker! With the gorgeous richness of dates and the warming sweetness of the cinnamon, it’s a match made in heaven! Plus with all the added benefits of vitamins and minerals and the cinnamons’s blood-stabilizing effects. These would be complemented beautifully with a steaming mug of hot chocolate made from my ‘Notella’ stirred into some hot milk. So indulgent, but still so healthy!

What’s your favourite Mother’s Day breakfast? I’d love to hear from you!

If you are interested in finding out my families top 10 breakfast recipes then sign up for a copy of my free breakfast ebook here.

Bren x

So when I found some “need to be used” coconut cream and ginger in the fridge, I decided to throw it into the batch of rice I was cooking that night. The end result was a delicious and subtley infused rice.

This rice was perfect with a simple red kidney bean, sweet potato and kale casserole for dinner and with the leftovers I made a winter-warming rice porridge for breakfast.

So keep in mind this recipe made enough rice for 1 dinner and 2 breakfasts for a family of 4 (or 2 dinners & 1 breakfast).

If you decided to cook only 1 cup of rice, then add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of coconut cream.

Many of the ingredients in this recipe can be sourced from my one-stop-favourite, organic wholefoods online store, The Wholefood Collective. They go to great lengths to ensure everything they source is amazing quality, they stock all my favorite products and I don’t even have to leave the house! Oh and the cherry on the cake is they donate profits to improve food security for vulnerable Aussies.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need:

Basmati rice
Coconut cream
Chia seeds
Sunflower seeds
Cinnamon
Vanilla powder
Raw honey or maple syrup or coconut sugar
Cashews
Coconut flakes
Brown rice syrup

Here’s what I did…

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Coconut & Ginger Infused Rice Porridge

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 2 cups basmati rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 3 big slices of ginger
• 1 cup of chia seeds
• A good handful of sunflower seeds
• Both are quite neutral tasting for difficult for the kids to detect, otherwise you could grind them up
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla powder
• 1 tablespoon of raw hone pure maple syrup or coconut sugar for serving
• ½ cup almond flakes
• ½ cup cashews
• ½ cup coconut flakes
• 1 tablespoon brown rice syrup honey or maple syrup

Instructions

• Put the rice, water, coconut cream and ginger into a saucepan and stir.
• Bring to the boil and then turn down to low & cook for approximately 20 minutes until rice is ready.
• Discard the slices of ginger.
• You can now serve for dinner and/or save some or all for breakfast.
• In the morning put desired amount of cooked rice into a saucepan with double the amount of milk.
• Add chia seeds, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, vanilla powder.
• Put on low heat for 10 minutes to heat and absorb some of milk.
• While this is warming up heat a small to medium frying pan and toast up the almond flakes, cashews and coconut flakes in the dry pan.
• Just before the nuts were lightly toasted, added a tablespoon of brown rice syrup and stir the mixture around for a further minute.
• Serve the rice porridge in bowls, topped with the nut mixture and some slices of banana or your favourite fruit.

If you’re looking for some lunch inspiration, take a look at my recipe ebook, Easy Wholefood Lunchboxes. It’s packed with 40 delicious nut-free, refined sugar free sweet and savoury recipes which have all been kid-tested and approved! 

Stay warm.

Bren x