You canât imagine how excited I was when Lauren asked me to be the next Oatmeal Enthusiast. Thousands of ideas for porridge appeared in my mind. I could not wait to start experimenting and eating!
I have to admit that I donât like bananas or peanut butter :O Iâm not vegan or vegetarian but I avoid sugar. Iâm sorry Lauren, but I add sweetener to my porridge. I have a huge sweet tooth and I havenât found any other way to satisfy me âŠ
Thatâs enough from me… now comes the oatmeal, or how I call it, porridge part.
In Switzerland, cooked oats are very unpopular, almost not existing. The only oats that are eaten here are mueslis. The first time I discovered porridge was about 2 years ago. I went shopping and in an English bookshop there was a food corner with tea, marmite, and porridge pots. I have a crush on British/ American food so I grabbed one of those and went straight home. I put the kettle on and added the boiling water. The first spoon full of the golden goodness was like heaven in my mouth! But those porridge pots were really expensive, about 5 Swiss franks / $5 for 40g oats!
I had to find another way to have porridge in my life. I found at the same shop those instant sachets and a 1 kg box of plain oats. Yep, I was a happy girl.
First I just had plain porridge then I became braver and tried various flavors like blueberries or chocolate. My love with porridge has gone way too far but in a good way, maybe a little obsessive đ
I often wish I could eat breakfast all day longâŠ
I was trying to choose which porridge Iâd make for my post but I couldnât decide. There were just too many delicious recipes and flavors. No way I could fit them all in just one week. But then I had a moment of enlightenment, maybe it was just madness, I thought why shouldnât I go a little over the top and finally give in to my craving for porridge? Thereâs no reason I canât have porridge 3 times a day! And thatâs what I did! One week full of porridge!
Now I can tell you this was one of the best decisions Iâve ever made!
I usually use steel cut oats because they give you a creamier porridge, but I appreciate biting on a whole oat. I often add egg whites to my porridge for some extra volume and protein.
Monday Breakfast: Mango Porridge
I always wondered how fresh mango and oats would work together. Now I know they are made for each other! If you like mango youâll love mango porridge!
Monday Lunch: Blood Orange Porridge
When I saw this recipe on Laurenâs blog I knew I had to try it! All though I donât like oranges that much I love the color of them! And I wasnât disappointed!
Monday Dinner: Porridge Soufflé
At dinnertime I watched a cooking show and thought, if they can do a soufflĂ© why shouldnât I?! Porridge tastes completely different when you prepare it like that. Light, salty yet sweet. A bite of lightness.
Tuesday Breakfast: Toasted Porridge
I stumbled across this recipe and got curious how it would taste like. Toasting the oats before you cook them gives them a hearty and rough flavor. For this recipe I tried to give bananas a last chance but I just donât like them âŠ
Tuesday Lunch: Lime Meringue Porridge Tart
This doesnât look healthy or like breakfast but it is! Lime Meringue tarts is one of my favorite deserts. Unfortunately they are full of sugar and not that healthy, so I had to find a replacement. Although I takes a lot of time to make this recipe but it is so worth it!
Tuesday Dinner: Tonka Brownie Baked Porridge
Basically this is Laurenâs Salted Brownie Baked Oatmeal but I substituted the salt for Tonka beans. Tonka beans have a strange taste, like chocolate, rum and cinnamon together. It gives a nice twist to plain chocolate.
Wednesday Breakfast: Sweet Pea Lemongrass Porridge
I made a few savory porridges, I did like them but sweet and savory is just unbeatable! I planned to make pea porridge but something was missing. I added some lemongrass and a few drops of sweetener and BAMM! Flavor explosion!
Wednesday Lunch: Lava Cake Porridge
Everybody loves lava cakes. The warm cake and the liquid filling that melts in your mouth. Dessert Heaven. Obviously I had to find a way to enjoy lava cake everyday!
Wednesday Dinner: Crunchy Salted Caramel Porridge
Who ever had the idea of adding salt to caramel deserves a Nobel Prize or something! I used caramel flavored tea and flax seeds for the crunch.
Thursday Breakfast: Cherry Porridge
I donât like black forest cake, thatâs the reason I hesitated to use cherries for my porridge. Big mistake! Without chocolate it doesnât taste like black forest cake, it tastes like a summer night, fresh and warm.
Thursday Lunch: Apple Maple Porridge
For this recipe I used again tea to give flavor to my porridge. I wish I had some real maple syrup but itâs so hard to find and expensive here! Itâs a shame! if you combine apple and maple here, you get automatically a Canada flavor, so you could also call this Canadian Porridge.
Thursday Dinner: Red Velvet Baked Porridge
This hasnât much in common with breakfast porridge. Although I made it with the salted brownie baked recipe, I baked it in mini tart shells and stacked them with fresh strawberries and natural yoghurt. It tastes like a guilt free dessert. Everybody in my house got jealous and wanted to have a bite đ Itâs not an everyday recipe but if you got the time DO IT!
Friday Breakfast: Sweet Potato Fudge Porridge
This is one of my favorite recipes from Lauren. As she said, the sweet potato gives so much to the porridge! This is porridge heaven!
Friday Lunch: White Chocolate Vanilla and Cranberry Porridge
I used real vanilla beans, white chocolate powder and fresh cranberry sauce to create this one. Cranberries and white chocolate is a great couple but the vanilla brings it all together and flavors melt together and create a whole new taste!
Friday Dinner: Lime Cheesecake Porridge
This is a variation of Laurenâs Blackberry and lime cheesecake oatmeal. First I wasnât sure about how the cream cheese would work in the porridge. I wasnât disappointed! The cream cheese gives the porridge a great twists, especially with Lime.
Saturday Breakfast: Vanilla Snowmeal
Snowmeal is oatmeal cooked with snow instead of water. That day I was in the mountains and everywhere was snow and then plopped the Idea of including snow into my porridge into my mind. This recipe isnât the most flavorful but the most fun to make.
Saturday Lunch: Lemon and Thyme Porridge
Lauren I canât thank you enough for this recipe! As I donât like honey I just went with Lemon and Thyme. The warm herby flavor of the thyme goes perfectly with the fresh tanginess of the lemon. This is defiantly one of my favorite recipes.
Saturday Dinner: Very Berry Porridge
I know this isnât that special but some times simple things are all I need, especially if youâre surrounded by a snowy landscape.
Sunday Breakfast: Pumpkin Pie Porridge
I know that itâs not really pumpkin season but I had a tin of pumpkin purĂ©e that begged me to use it today. Also I was really craving the hearty, nutty flavor of pumpkin. Iâve never had real pumpkin pie before but since I discovered Pumpkin Pie Porridge I donât feel like I ever need to đ
Sunday Lunch: White Chocolate and Orange Jam Porridge
Vanilla beans and white chocolate powder work well together, it gives the porridge a warm and cozy touch. By adding the orange jam, the whole porridge changed. It became an expensive tasting piece of heaven.
Sunday Dinner: POMegranate Porridge
This is my final porridge and I wanted to end this amazing experience with a POM!
Iâm a lucky girl as my mom found the biggest pomegranate Iâve ever seen! It had the size of a melon! I also added a vanilla bean to give this fresh and fruity recipe a slight warm flavor. I canât stop dreaming about this porridge; pomegranate seeds are just wonderful! They are so rich in flavor and give you a really nice texture and an amazing crunch!
I hope you enjoyed my guest post and thank you for reading â Laura
[Editor’s Note: If you’re interested in becoming my next Oatmeal Enthusiast, be sure to show your enthusiasm by tagging your oatmeal pictures with #oatmealartist on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook! Thank you for all your love and support!]
**You can also find hundreds of other oatmeal recipes (as well as tons of other meatless recipes) on my Pinterest account! You can also like The Oatmeal Artist on Facebook. Thanks!
