Mornings have been making a come back in the last few years. Many of us now wake up every day to a little morning inspiration courtesy of bloggers like Madeleine Shaw or Deliciously Ella. Whether it’s a mouth watering picture of porridge containing seemingly impossible ingredients, (bee pollen, anyone?), or a daily quote, lifestyle bloggers and social media make sure we don’t sleep through them.
With mornings firmly back on the list, this column is here to help get you through them with delicious breakfast suggestions, both naughty and nice, and tips to get you out of bed and on with your day. Now 8:30am lectures are an all too familiar part of our timetables, there couldn’t be a better time to crack your morning routine!
How many times have you been told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? With claims that it boosts concentration levels, makes you more productive and even helps with weight control, breakfast certainly has a lot to cheer about. But in a lot of today’s busy lifestyles, that’s not enough to make breakfast a non-negotiable in the morning.
Growing up, we always had a sit-down breakfast before we went off to school or work, which I loved, but so many of my friends thought was crazy! I’m sure it’s what I have to thank for being a morning person though, and breakfast is a meal I struggle to go without.
With that in mind, I thought I’d start off by sharing my go-to porridge recipe, perfect for the student budget with 1kg of oats costing roughly 50p and nice and warm for the winter too! If eating so early in the morning is a struggle, why not take an oaty cereal bar to tuck into later on? The good news is as long as you consume your breakfast within the first few hours of waking you should still reap the health and lifestyle benefits!
Apple and Cinnamon Porridge
Ingredients
- 50g oats
- 250ml of water or milk, or a combination
- A few spoons of easy stewed apple
- Cinnamon to taste
Method
- Pop your oats and water/milk into a microwave proof bowl. Sprinkle the cinnamon across the top and stir in your stewed apples if you’d like them to be warm too. You can cook it on the hob but a microwave means less washing up and is a little faster, which is win-win for your early morning routine.
- Microwave for 2-3 minutes on high until the porridge begins to rise up and is cooked to your liking. Check the packet in case their cooking instructions vary, but this is fairly typical for porridge. Munch away!
- To stew apples, simply chop them up into small pieces and cook over a low heat for a few minutes with about a tablespoon of water. They’ll turn mushy quickly and then they’re perfect for adding to your porridge. You can also add sugar if you’d like them a little sweeter – brown sugar makes for yummy flavour if you’ve got it!
TIP: I’m also a big fan of adding Nutella and some chopped nuts or banana and blueberries to my porridge in the mornings so I don’t end up bored of one flavour.
Next week I’ll be helping you with sweet and savoury ideas for breakfast on the go, perfect for busy days and for those of you who can’t quite face eating first thing.
Good morning until next time!
