There are so many different, creative ways you can pack a punch of nutrition into all your kids and family favourite meals, and at the same time curb their constant nagging for more food.

Take the humble porridge for example… you can watch me talk about how to pimp up your porridge here or just read on instead…

Why it’s already good?

Oats are rich in the B-complex vitamins which help convert our food into fuel, keeping our bodies energised throughout the day and help us have great hair and skin. Anti-oxidant vitamin E, protects our cells, organs and tissues from free radicals, warding off illness and disease. Oats contain soluble fibre which helps to keep us feeling satisfied as well as help our digestive system along. Soluble fibre also provides a food source for beneficial bacteria in the gut.

How you can make it better.

– Soak oats overnight in a warm water and yoghurt, kefir or buttermilk to neutralise phytic acid. Phytic acid is found in the outer layer of grains and blocks the absorption of essential mineral which can lead to deficiencies. Rinse off the oats in the next morning before cooking if you don’t like a sour tang to your porridge.  If you are dairy-free you can use apple cider vinegar or lemon juice instead. Adding in a small amount of whole wheat spelt flour or rye flour will also help to reduce the high levels of phytic acid as they contain phytase, a natural enzyme which works to break down the phytic acid and release the beneficial nutrients.

– Grind up some linseeds (flaxseeds) and mix through the porridge to provide a good ratio of Omega 3’s which are great for our brain health and behaviour These are relatively tasteless. You could use chia seeds as well.

– Once cooked, mix in some butter or cream, whose fat-soluble activators provide the catalyst for mineral absorption and they make it super tasty!

– Ensure you add a natural sweetener like pure maple syrup, raw honey or a sprinkle of rapadura sugar rather than highly refined, processed sweetener.

– Top with blueberries which are full of anti-oxidants and research suggests that in addition to protecting against heart disease and diabetes and improving brain function, they may also help reduce visceral “toxic” belly fat—a type of fat that has been linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome.

– Add cinnamon to stabilise blood sugar and for extra natural sweetness.

And voila, there you have it, a delicious, satisfying bowl of goodness which makes the perfect way to start the day.

Print

Pimped up Porridge

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 2

Author Brenda Janschek

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 tablespoon whole wheat spelt or rye flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons whey yoghurt, buttermilk, lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 small pinch sea salt
• 1 tablespoon of linseeds flaxseeds
• 1 heaped teaspoon butter ghee or cream
• 1 teaspoon your sweetener of choice - pure maple syrup raw honey, rapadura or coconut sugar, brown rice syrup (optional)
• Slices of banana
• Blueberries or mixed berries
• Cinnamon

Instructions

• Place oats and spelt flour in a small saucepan.
• Mix together the warm water and acid medium in a separate bowl
• Pour over oats and mix through.
• Cover and leave to sit overnight at room temperature or up to 24 hours
• Rinse oats in the morning to remove the sour tang of whey, yoghurt.
• Add oats back into saucepan with 1 cup of filtered water and pinch of salt.
• Simmer porridge until cooked, around 5 minutes.
• While porridge is cooking grind up linseeds.
• Once cooked mix through linseeds and swirl of butter, ghee or cream.
• Serve topped with sweetener ( optional - I find the fruit adds enough sweetness), banana, berries, nuts and seeds and a good shake of cinnamon

Notes

Recipe adapted from Nourishing Traditions

If you’re looking for more recipe inspiration take a look at my 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 and take the guess work out of what delicious, healthy food to pack your kids for lunch!

Other breakfast recipes you might like Date and Walnut Bircher Muesli and Spiced Quinoa Porridge.

Bren x

Once I posted a photo of my healthy breakfast on Facebook, and very promptly received this message from a follower:

“I’m trying extremely hard to lose the baby weight after my fourth bubba. Right now I am 10 days in, eating clean, but I find I’m fighting it everyday. I am feeling better in my body but I always feel starving and that it will only be a matter of time before my mental strength fails me. I was drooling over your eggs and bacon this morning and I basically would love to know how you eat that everyday and look amazing.  Do you eat like a sparrow the rest of the day to counteract this? I’m curious and starving.”

I know exactly where this mum is at. What’s more, I receive similar messages like this regularly. As a health coach, I offered her a complimentary half hour chat to find out more. During that conversation, I learned that what she really wanted was to be able to lose weight, but not to starve herself in doing so. The thing is, most people think that deprivation is the only way to make this happen (possibly because that’s how diets are designed) and because they have set up goals based on an archaic goal-setting method, and not in a way that gives them purpose and joy (but that’s a story for another time).

But how long can this be sustained for? Sure, you will most likely lose weight on any diet you try, but only over a specific period (usually very short!). It’s unnatural, and hardly sustainable. The research shows that you will end up putting the weight back on , and then some.

During dieting we are often depriving the body of wholesome and nutritious food (your body’s fuel), which it then craves, causing binging post-diet. It’s madness, and it’s unhealthy. Placing stress on the body is the route to immune-system dysfunction and susceptibility to disease. Although in jest , this mum said herself, the hunger was making her feel a little aggressive.

What she needed was permission to let go of her clean-eating superfood diet and feed her hunger by enjoying the type of breakfast our ancestors would have eaten. Yes, the very same type of breakfast she was droolng over on my Facebook page. A delicious breakfast full of wonderful fats and protein sourced from healthy animals and farms, with carbohydrates in the form of lots of vegetables.

The point is that our diets need to be natural, nutritious and sustainable for our health to respond similarly.

The next morning after we spoke she messaged me,  and sent me these photographs:

And after less than an hour of coaching this is how she is feeling today…

“Happy, content, satisfied, calm, nourished, relaxed and peace. These are all the feelings I have this week, which are total opposites to last week. I had to share with you what life changing tools you have given me. I’m a very satisfied Mumma. I haven’t weighed myself all week and part of me is still a little scared too. But I haven’t had any cravings for 2 days and can’t believe how amazing I already feel. So thank you”

If you are struggling to lose weight, or reverse your  health issues, or simply want to know how to feed yourself in the most nutritious manner, then please take a look at my 28 day cleanse program, Break Through! To Feeling Fantastic in a Body You Love and learn which foods enrich and which foods to ditch, understand how your thinking plays a big role in your success, learn how to forgive yourself when you don’t make the best choice, stay motivated to keep on track, set yourself up for success, love yourself and your body, enjoy eating delicious, healthy foods and find all the support in the world with with this new amazing lifestyle.

Please share this blog post with anyone who you know who may be struggling with dieting and is ready to move to achieving their weight and health goals through a natural diet or are interested in moving their family to a nutritious and delicious real food way of life.

Bren x

It’s easy to procrastinate when faced with such endeavours, but it might surprise most to learn that meal planning is quick, it’s easy, and not only will it save you bundles of time, it has a long list of benefits for you and your family. And that’s what’s important, right?

So what are some of these benefits?

Preparation

Very few do a family shop without a list, so take the stress out of your food preparation too. ‘Winging it’ is the road to eating meals that aren’t even meals, but just food thrown together without any love or nutritional consideration. Healthy meals that ooze taste need a little more thought.

Construction & Nutrition

A meal plan naturally forces you to think about your meal construction, highlighting exactly what you are putting into your body in a way last minute decisions can’t. Chances are, if you are planning a week of meals, you will at the very least be dotting your eye fillets and crossing your tahinis!

Proteins, carbohydrates, fluids and fats are the building blocks of a healthy diet, so avoid the Sunday night revelation that you’ve just had a week of one with hardly any of the others. It’s easy to do.

Variety & Creativity

Strange things happen when you prepare! Ideas are born with every meal, and your meal plan can incorporate notes on artistic flourish that your unconscious mind can then stew on for days. Who knows what simple garnish or extravagant marinade will result. Knowing what you want to do actually makes achieving it so much quicker.

Save Time & Money

Time is precious, and we seem to have less of it these days. It therefore makes sense to prepare your pantry and fridge for the week ahead. In one fell swoop you can avoid those extra, last minute (mostly expensive) trips to the local shops. Preparation saves time and money (on petrol, by buying in bulk, and avoiding impulse purchases).

And since you already know what you are going to eat beforehand, and the ingredients required to prepare the meal, the whole process is certain to take less time, every time.

Further, what is the best thing about a hearty, tasty meal? If you said leftovers! then high 5’s all round. Not only can food taste mesmerising the next day, but you can budget for this several times in your meal plan. Or, you can make enough to freeze for later.

Reduce Waste

Knowing your weekly food requirements in advance means that you will have very specific goals when shopping for your ingredients. Buying exactly what you need eliminates waste because every ingredient has a purpose.

Ain’t it amazing how a little thought can be so rewarding?!

How to Meal Plan

The goods news is that meal planning is simple:

1. Decide what you want to eat – mains, snacks and desserts included – and when
2. Cover the essential food groups to deliver a diverse and healthy diet, full of the nutrients the body and immune system need
3. Add a touch of flair and creativity to the plan (hard to resist!)
4. Include ‘off days’ for refrigerated or frozen leftovers
5. Sort out your shopping list
6. Designate a day for batch cooking
7. Relax!

Bren x

Believe me, I know what it’s like in this time-poor existence, rushing to get the kids to school so that we can get to work on time, and we reach for what is convenient (or what we’re told by marketing is convenient). But with a bit of preparation and the right ingredients in your kitchen, the family could be enjoying highly nutritious morning meals, and still get out the door on time.

So many breakfast cereals are marketed as health foods. Little wonder it’s the main form of breakfast for most families. We’re far too trusting, assuming it must be good because that is what the advertisements say. According to NY Times best selling author, Dr Mercola, “The unfortunate reality is that the cereals aggressively marketed to kids have the worst nutritional quality of all cereals. An analysis, published in the Journal of American Dietetic Association found that children’s cereals have more sugar, sodium, carbohydrates, and calories per gram than cereals not marketed to kids. They also have less protein and fiber.”

Here are 5 things to think about before you reach for the boxed cereal in the supermarket. Cereal is:

1. Highly processed – to make the flakes, shapes and puffs, the grains have  to be heated up to very high temperatures and extruded at high pressures. The shapes are then sprayed with synthetic vitamins and food colours

2. Nutrient deficient – the processing destroys many valuable nutrients in grains, causes the oils to become rancid and renders certain proteins toxic

3. Difficult to digest – cereal grains contain phytic acid, a substance that binds up nutrients and makes it difficult for you body to absorb and therefore difficult to digest

4. High in sugar and carbohydrates – most of the cereals marketed to kids have 30-50% sugar content which raises blood sugar levels very quickly

5. Health issues –  all of the above points can cause bloating, constipation, IBS, allergies, infections, concentration issues and contribute to weight gain, obesity and more

Breakfast is important fuel after fasting during sleep so that our bodies can rejuvenate each night. So it’s a prime time to feed our bodies real foods, whole unprocessed foods that contain protein, fat and carbohydrates, and come from plants and animals, to give us the best start to the day.

If you want to achieve vibrant health for your whole family, try these 5 quick healthy breakfast ideas instead of boxed cereal:-

1. Bircher muesli – rolled oats mixed with nuts, seeds, coconut, soaked in milk or coconut water and yoghurt overnight. It can be made and stored in the fridge for several days

2. Smoothies – simple combinations include milk, raspberries, bananas, raw honey and yoghurt, can be whizzed up in 5 minutes

3. Eggs – scrambled/poached/fried eggs on sourdough or sprouted toast with a spread of avocado

4. French toast – sourdough bread soaked in a mix of eggs, milk and cinnamon, lightly fried in butter, served with a drizzle of Canadian maple syrup and topped with fresh fruit

5. Fruit and yoghurt parfait – create layers of yoghurt, nuts, seeds, fruit, coconut or homemade granola for a delectable breakfast treat

So why not prepare your fridge and pantry with some of these staples, to make preparing a nutritious and delicious breakfast a breeze? Download my FREE BREAKFAST EBOOK with 10 delicious recipes to make your morning’s shine. 

If you need some guidance and inspiration to change your kitchen into a real food haven, check out my programs here

Bren x