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.
Yoghurt Cooked Oats
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.