Posh plastic porridge pot
I occasionally have to travel for work, and one of the highlights of my trip is always these little individual pots of porridge I have for breakfast.
I know, I know, it's a single use disposable plastic pot, and it's terrible for the environment. But when I'm travelling, the options are rather limited if I fancy something other than fruit. I like to eat both porridge and a piece of fruit, since I tend to find that neither one is particularly filling on its own.
These little plastic pots of porridge come in all sorts of different flavours and varieties: there's cinnamon, caramelised biscuit, caramel, chocolate, and of course, good old plain porridge. In an effort to cut down on my sugar intake and to save a few pennies, I tend to go for the supermarket's own brand plain porridge. But recently, I decided to splash the cash and buy a porridge pot from M&S, which, if you haven't heard of it, is basically half clothing and homeware shop and half food hall / posh supermarket. It was honestly the best instant porridge I've ever had, with little seeds mixed in to give it texture. I wished I could eat it every day.
For the last six months to a year, I've been eating Weetabix for breakfast every day. If you're not familiar, Weetabix are wheat biscuits which you usually serve with milk. If you let them go soggy and mix them around, it kind of turns into a sloppy mess, like a cold, wheat version of porridge (Weetabix chowder, anyone?). I really enjoy Weetabix, but I find that two biscuits isn't filling enough and three makes me feel bloated. These days, Weetabix costs an absolute fortune and, despite being what many would consider a very British breakfast option, ultimately the Weetabix company is owned by Post Holdings, an American company. Right now, I'm making an effort not only to keep more of my money in the UK, but to actively avoid sending extra money to the US where possible.
I was browsing in my local health food store the other day, partly to stock up on so-called "healthy" snacks, and partly just for something to do while I got back outside for the first time after weeks of illness kept me trapped inside the house. I noticed that not only do they sell porridge oats, but they also sell premixed bags of seeds, just like the ones in my posh plastic porridge pot. On a whim, I purchased the porridge and the seeds.
On most weekdays, when I'm not at the office, I work from home. I usually roll out of bed thirty minutes before my first meeting of the day and scramble to get ready in time. Weetabix, like any cereal, is a great option here as it's pretty much an instant breakfast. I still find I don't get time to eat it until after my first meeting of the day comes to an end.
Porridge, on the other hand, may be quick to make, but it's still not exactly instant when every second counts. But so far, what I've found is that I look forward to the porridge so much that I've actually started getting up considerably earlier in the hopes that I'll have time to make and eat it before work. I've been trying for years to get up earlier and I just couldn't make it happen. It ended up taking a bowl of porridge to coax me out of bed in the mornings.
I still have Weetabix on occasion, as I'm not perfect. But when I feel up to making it, I find porridge really sets me up for the day.
So, how do I make it, I hear you ask? What do you mean you didn't ask? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway since you've read this far into a mundane blog post about porridge.
I like to make it in the microwave, where I measure out 40g of porridge oats into a bowl, add roughly 200ml of soya milk, give it a stir, and then shove it in the microwave for 1 min. Then, I give it another stir and it's back in the meecrowavé for another minute, before leaving it to stand for a further minute. If it's too thick, I might add more soya milk at this point. Then I sprinkle some of the seed mix over the top!
It's a cheap and delicious meal, and very filling too! Plus, the porridge oats come in a paper bag, are made in the UK by a British company and sold by a British company, so it's a win-win all around (I even pay in cash to avoid the debit card fees going to Mastercard/Visa)!
Thanks for reading my ramblings about porridge. Hopefully I've inspired you to give it a try too!