Vegan Recipe: Frugal Oat-so-Simple inspired Porridge

I used to love the simplicity that Oat-so-Simple porridge sachets offered. For years I bought these expensive portions of oats in favour of traditional rolled oats for the simple reason that the Oat-so-Simple oats made a soft, creamy porridge, whereas the cheaper oats stayed hard and turned out claggy. Little did I know that the secret to creamy rolled oats was not only easy, but also very cheap to re-create.

The breakfast porridge I made this morning used blueberries and Gingerbread Skinny syrup. I only buy blueberries when I get them on a yellow sticker deal, and these blueberries cost me just 5p for the punnet from my local greengrocers. The Skinny syrup I bought on offer with a discount code. If you check out The Skinny Food Company (or subscribe to their newsletter) they seem to have deals all the time. This syrup, along with most of their syrups, are vegan. They are so low in calories that I don’t even count them when I’m tracking my calories. They work out 4 calories per 100ml and I probably used less than 10ml in my porridge.

So what’s the secret to the Oat-so-simple inspired porridge? 

Quite simply, you put the rolled oats into a container, cover the oats with cold tap water and leave to soak in your refrigerator overnight. It’s important that you keep soaked oats in the refrigerator. Once you soak oats they start to ferment and oats left out at room temperature will spoil due to the rapid growth of microorganisms. I make 2 portions within the container and use it within 3 days. I weigh out 40g of oats and this makes 2 portions because I also use flax seeds in my porridge (a vegan diet calls for a daily dose of Omega 3 fatty acids, and as we can’t get this from fish, flax seeds are a perfect swap).

Frugal Oat-so-Simple Inspired Porridge (serves 1)

Ingredients:

20g rolled oats soaked overnight in water (keep refrigerated)

12g flax seeds

100ml plant milk of choice

Sweetener of choice (syrup, jam, sugar etc)

Topping of choice (fruit, seeds, nuts, jam)

Place the soaked oats (use the water too) in a deep bowl and add 12g flax seeds. Mix in 100ml plant milk and get the flax seeds and oats well coated in the milk. Pop in the microwave for 2 and a half minutes, give it a good stir and add your sweetener and toppings. It’s that easy. Oh so simple!

The porridge I made this morning was only 183 calories. Blueberries are very low in calories, these were just 12 calories for 31g and are high in antioxidants, helping to protect you from heart disease whilst regulating your blood sugars and are excellent for eye health to name only 3 benefits. 

 I love that I have found the perfect way to recreate Oat-so-Simple porridge at such a low price. I buy 500g bags of porridge oats from Tesco for just 75p. Using 20g of porridge per serving means that works out at just 3p per portion compared to Oat-so-Simple which is 27.5p per portion or Tesco’s own brand porridge sachets at 10p per portion.

Try making your own and let me know what you think. I love how creamy the porridge turns out every time. 

All the best until next time, Becky xx