Yoghurt Cooked Oats

Get a jar
add oats
add yoghurt
leave for 48 hours
to reduce phytates
to create more probiotica
increase digestibility
to have a ready go breakfast in a jar.

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Sweet Curry Porridge

I am back on the porridge. It is the perfect delivery device for spices and antioxidants. Cinnamon and tumeric are  two of the most powerful antioxidants  with lots of inspiring google entries  testifying to these spices being  protectors of our cellular health. Like this:

So here is todays recipe inspired by both Chai tea, and the sweet Indian curries.

The recipe:
Millet, oats, cinnemon, white pepper and tumeric powder gently boiled over a 78 degree flame.

Cool the porridge with some water to the desired consistency before adding the following:

Two cloves, ten sultanas, twenty five coriander seeds, twenty papitas, and seventeen almonds ground in a coffee grinder.

The almonds give it a milky umami and sultanas provide the sweet factor.

Annecdotal Health Tips from The French’s Forest Organic Market to Flavour your Next Spicy Anti Inflamatory Cell Healthy Porridge

Yesterday, at the French’s Forest Organic Markets, I hardly had a chance to shop for talking with Karen and John at Starflower Teas. I am always inspired by these wonderful people who are dedicated to organic herbs, minimal processing of foods, increasing our knowledge on better health, the  munificence of plants,  eating well , whole foods,  teas versus supplements and living naturally. yesterdays conversation included recent findings that Organic food has 2/3rds more antioxidants than non organic, super important in the light of the root causes of cancer and other western degenerative disease, strongly correlated with oxidization and inflammation of cells .
Epidemiological related to this is the much much lower incidence of degenerative diseases in parts of Asia, which researchers are now speculating may be related to the barrage that anti oxidants that spices give to Asian foods.

The ginger in Chinese and Thai rice porridges is a primo example of antioxidant action at work first thing in the morning. Add some Coriander leaves, some chillis. Spices sound inflammatory and intuitively one would think that they rip the gastro pathway to pieces – but apparently not.

Other findings that came up in the conversation were the importance of good oils – fish oils in particular- for brain health, and a low-carb diet for reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s. This has to be weighed in with the fact that some carbs are essential for brain function, and also the traditional Chinese Medicine perspective that advocates well cooked rice porridge as the most gentle start to your engine.

There are a million wonderful recipes or making Asian spiced porridges. This morning I have chicken stock from the Easter Roast chooks, some mushrooms from Dee Why Arcade ( the fact that so many Tibetans and Chinese have recently moved into Dee Why means there are much more interesting ingredients available in this neck of the woods), fresh ginger from the organic markets, and shallots from the garden, cooked in the slow cooker (which will be posted on separately in a few days).

Yangon Porridge

The streets of Yangon are devoted to the art of Porridge
Whilst big pots of porridge are sold on street side stalls, vendors honor the ingredients constructing wonderful retro style lattice gates to hang bananas from, and guilding the coconuts which provide the wonderfully creamy texture and tropical taste of yangon porridge.

Burmese Monk Porridge

Monks in Yangon, gather ingredients for porridge  in the early hours of each day.

Monks cannot work for money. They are doing the journey-work for the whole of society – discovering they way of the buddha  – for which grateful citizens feed them the ingredients for a daily porridge cook up which will sustain them on this journey.

Monks open their bowls , and what goes in (usually rice and different curries) forms a porridge like  gruel.

This photo essay – a chance encounter with two  groups in the Sule Pagoda/ china town beat records  the ingredient gathering for Monk Porridge.

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Stevia porridge

Stevia – a natural sweetner is 36 times sweeter than sugar cane. Dried crushed leaves thrown straight into the blend – porridge works well – works exceptionally well, particularly with a little cinnamon and raisins. This could be my discovery of the century. And ironically this sweetener is good for your teeth. Why isn’t everyone onto this I wonder?

Years End at Hill End.

A jar full of homemade muesli was placed upon my desk in Sydney by Jacqui as a welcome home gift. I packed it in a washing basket with a thermos, avocado, lemons, christmas chocolates, plunger, coffee, and tea bags for a journey to Western NSW with Susan. We ended up at Hill End where porridge (well muesli really but I think they are closely enough related to be in the family) once again proved to be a pivotal point of the trip. Instead of scoffing sausage rolls at Hill ends general store like everyone else, we purchased a litre of milk , drove up to Hawkin’s lookout for porridge with a view taking in the mountains which magnetically drew people from all around the world with the promise of gold back in the 1850’s, then fossickers, school excursion groups, artists and tourists ever since.

Stop in for a sausage roll and a cappuccino or grab some milk for some porridge alfresco

Or head up to Hawkin's Hill and eat muesli

Now its not like you couldn’t bring your sauasage roll up to any of the sceneic viewpoints around this quaint national parks managed semi ghost town, but people tend not to get much further than the car park, sacrificing the feast for the eyes which tend to accompany porridge picnics. Sitting on a hand hewn red gum slab bench that seemed to have been constructed precisely for our porridge picnic, Susan and I savoured the bush and the hills, which have regenerated over the last hundred years from the moonscape that gold hungrry minders turned this area into hoping to strike it rich.

porridge picnic on red gum slab.

Most of them didnt’t get rich , though the hoteliers, and the chinese market gardeners often did. The swag men and women who roamed the countryside also knew that they were surrounded by gold … the gold of being in nature,  theirs for the taking and the enhanceing  of the flavours of damper (I am sure a few were porridge eaters as well) with each  mouthful of every meal  enjoyed on a ridge top, by a billabong, or under a Coolabah tree.

Artists and  modern day fosickers  seem to know that just being in nature is gold,  particularly when national parks who are now running the town provide both dog friendly camping and panning.

Panning for gold.

Praise be to National parks who allow dogs into campgrounds and fossicking fields

Pink Porridge

Oats
lychees
straweberry yoghurt
chia seeds
mangosteen and cranberry juice
banana
soy milk
fresh chocolate mint
ice

Iron Porridge

Oats
Quinoa (sprouted or cooked)
Lentils (sprouted or cooked)
Soy milk – organic Non GM only (will do a whole post on the importance of this)
Blackstrap mollasses
Blueberries or other fresh fruit.

Serve with a cup of thyme tea with a squeeze of lemon, then go and do some exercise to utilize your oxygen  enriched blood !

Iron is a mineral that helps your blood access life giving oxygen and supply it to your cells. If you want  energy and good cellular health,  you need it. If you don’t have it, you become anaemic. According to http://www.whfoods.com the most iron dense foods include Soy, lentils, sesame and pumpkin seeds. Beef, traditonally the iron food,  is lower on the list after these more porridge friendly seeds and legumes, but is claimed to be far  more absorbable, which is why vegetarians sometimes are deficient.  Add a little bit of fresh-fruit-sourced vitamin C – some fresh strawberries, a squeeze of lemon, sprouts –  and the absorption of iron from plant foods is increased threefold, the vitamin C counteracting the inhibiting effects of phytytes found in grains and legumes. Or sprout  grains like

source: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=70

Quinoa to  reduce the phytates.  Wikipedia reckons that oats too are iron rich even though they are ignored on WH Foods?   There are lots of variables that seem to effect iron utilization. Copper may be  required for Iron to be absorbed, other minerals like calcium can inhibit absorption and who knows what other interactions count. This is an argument for eating  a wide variety of whole foods to cover all your bases :

Also from source: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=70

World’s Healthiest Foods ranked as quality sources of:iron
Food	ServingSize	Cals	Amount(mg)	DV(%)	NutrientDensity	World’sHealthiest Foods Rating
Thyme, dried, ground	2 tsp	7.9	3.56	19.8	44.9	excellent
Dill weed	2 tsp	5.1	0.98	5.4	19.4	very good
Cumin seeds	1 tsp	7.5	1.32	7.3	17.6	very good
Parsley, fresh	2 tbs	2.7	0.46	2.6	17.0	good
Basil, dried, ground	2 tsp	7.5	1.28	7.1	17.0	very good
Spinach, boiled	1 cup	41.4	6.43	35.7	15.5	excellent
Cinnamon, ground	2 tsp	11.8	1.72	9.6	14.5	very good
Oregano, dried, ground	2 tsp	9.2	1.32	7.3	14.4	very good
Turmeric, powder	2 tsp	16.0	1.88	10.4	11.7	excellent
Black pepper	2 tsp	10.9	1.24	6.9	11.4	very good
Swiss chard, boiled	1 cup	35.0	3.96	22.0	11.3	excellent
Rosemary, dried	2 tsp	7.3	0.64	3.6	8.8	good
Romaine lettuce	2 cup	15.7	1.23	6.8	7.8	very good
Blackstrap molasses	2 tsp	32.1	2.39	13.3	7.4	very good
Tofu, raw	4 oz-wt	86.2	6.08	33.8	7.1	very good
Kelp (sea vegetable)	0.25 cup	8.6	0.57	3.2	6.6	good
Coriander seeds	2 tsp	9.9	0.56	3.1	5.6	good
Mustard greens, boiled	1 cup	21.0	0.98	5.4	4.7	very good
Shiitake mushrooms, raw	8 oz-wt	87.2	3.59	19.9	4.1	very good
Turnip greens, cooked	1 cup	28.8	1.15	6.4	4.0	very good
Green beans, boiled	1 cup	43.8	1.60	8.9	3.7	very good
Leeks, boiled	0.50 cup	16.1	0.57	3.2	3.5	good
Kale, boiled	1 cup	36.4	1.17	6.5	3.2	good
Broccoli, steamed	1 cup	43.7	1.37	7.6	3.1	good
Shrimp, steamed/boiled	4 oz-wt	112.3	3.50	19.4	3.1	good
Brussel sprouts, boiled	1 cup	60.8	1.87	10.4	3.1	good
Asparagus, boiled	1 cup	43.2	1.31	7.3	3.0	good
Soybeans, cooked	1 cup	297.6	8.84	49.1	3.0	good
Olives	1 cup	154.6	4.44	24.7	2.9	good
Lentils, cooked	1 cup	229.7	6.59	36.6	2.9	good
Venison	4 oz-wt	179.2	5.07	28.2	2.8	good
Pumpkin seeds, raw	0.25 cup	186.7	5.16	28.7	2.8	good
Sesame seeds	0.25 cup	206.3	5.24	29.1	2.5	good
Celery, raw	1 cup	19.2	0.48	2.7	2.5	good
Quinoa, uncooked	0.25 cup	158.9	3.93	21.8	2.5	good
Fennel, raw, sliced	1 cup	27.0	0.64	3.6	2.4	good
Chili pepper, dried	2 tsp	25.5	0.60	3.3	2.4	good
Kidney beans, cooked	1 cup	224.8	5.20	28.9	2.3	good
Mustard seeds	2 tsp	35.0	0.76	4.2	2.2	good
Tomato, ripe	1 cup	37.8	0.81	4.5	2.1	good
Lima beans, cooked	1 cup	216.2	4.49	24.9	2.1	good
Pinto beans, cooked	1 cup	234.3	4.46	24.8	1.9	good
Green peas, boiled	1 cup	134.4	2.46	13.7	1.8	good
Crimini mushrooms, raw	5 oz-wt	31.2	0.57	3.2	1.8	good
Summer squash, cooked, slices	1 cup	36.0	0.65	3.6	1.8	good
Beets, Boiled	1 cup	74.8	1.34	7.4	1.8	good
Garbanzo beans (chickpeas), cooked	1 cup	269.0	4.74	26.3	1.8	good
Collard greens, boiled	1 cup	49.4	0.87	4.8	1.8	good
Navy beans, cooked	1 cup	258.4	4.51	25.1	1.7	good
Beef tenderloin, lean, broiled	4 oz-wt	240.4	4.05	22.5	1.7	good
Black beans, cooked	1 cup	227.0	3.61	20.1	1.6	good
Calf’s liver, braised	4 oz-wt	187.1	2.97	16.5	1.6	good
Sweet potato, baked, with skin	1 each	95.4	1.46	8.1	1.5	good

World’s HealthiestFoods Rating	Rule
excellent	DV>=75%	OR	Density>=7.6	AND	DV>=10%
very good	DV>=50%	OR	Density>=3.4	AND	DV>=5%
good	DV>=25%	OR	Density>=1.5	AND	DV>=2.5%

Protein Porridge – Red lentils, Chia, Bananna and Coconut milk.

Being  vego succesfully requires that you  take pleasure in variety  whilst  consistently attentive to where your protein is coming from. Cheese sandwiches and chips are not  the healthiest alternatives to meat. Red lentils soaked over night will boil into a mush porridge in  minutes.  Add banana, chia, and coconut  milk ( all sources of protein) for a  naturally sweet gluten free vegan porridge, that tastes  wonderfully pea.  Cook or don’t cook these additional ingredients  as you please. My taste buds tell me there is another ingredient that needs to be added. Something to offset the nutty pea flavours. Looking forward to suggestions.