Porridge - how do you make it interesting?

[Willow33]

I am going for the healthy breakfast route and today got some Asda oats and mixed them with unsweetened almond milk. The oats packet said not to cover the bowl whilst it is heating on the microwave. Result : porridge all over inside of microwave
Yes I followed the instructions.
However am new to this oats thing and need some inspiration please of how you make yours delicious but low on the sugar.

Bung it all in together.

Use oatmeal rather than porridge oats. Put some in the pan cover with milk and pinch of salt , simmer for 8 minutes. Use non stick pan and fill soak straight after. Top with any thing, syrup and cold milk popular here. Oatmeal is less grey than porridge oats and tastes far better

I chuck in a load of frozen fruit and a banana. Delicious

I bung it in a pan, cover it with milk, put on a medium heat and stir until it looks right. Takes a few minutes and is the easiest thing ever.

Then I slice a banana into it, sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and drizzle with honey - it's delicious.

I soak the pan, then it rinses out really easily.

My two favourite ways with porridge

1 chuck in a handful of mixed frozen berries either with semi skimmed milk or almond milk

or for something bit different I go for grated carrot, a sprinkle of cinnamon and ginger and little bit of brown sugar for something that kind of tastes a little like carrot cake

Forgot to add that I sometimes mix it all together and chuck it in Tupperware in the fridge the night before then just heat it up for a couple of minutes in the microwave in the morning. Because the oats have absorbed the moisture overnight I don't tend to get the porridge volcano in the microwave just a nice hot hassle free breakfast

Francois - you got me at carrot cake.

DS (4) gets his made with milk but I prefer mine made with water.

DS's gets made in a little mini souffle thing from ikea - about 4 tbs jumbo oats then top it up a third with milk and nuke for 2 minutes. So long as it's not more than half full I don't get any overflow, although you might want to stir it after a minute if you're feeling unsure. I also add more milk afterwards, because he needs the milk and it helps cool things down.

I like really solid porridge so I just add just enough boiling water to cover the oats (jumbo again, anything smaller is too gloopy), let it stand for 5 minutes then nuke for 2.5 mins.

We like fruit (especially pineapple, grapes, bananas, strawberries, mango, sometimes all together ) and Onken Biopot on ours. Also stewed apple and more Biopot. Muscovado and drown it in full fat milk is my treat - DS got banned from this after the sugar made him too loopy. I always cook the porridge plain and add toppings afterwards.

I have a recipe for baked porridge somewhere. I'll dig it out and post it.

You can't make it interesting. It is the devil's vomit.

Amish baked oatmeal
from philosophyoflists.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/amish-baked-oatmeal.htm (but it seems this link doesn't work any more)

Dry ingredients:
3 cups porridge oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice
1 cup chopped fruit or berries (I used blueberries)
Wet ingredients:
1 cup stewed fruit (I used apple)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
100g butter, melted or vegetable oil
Mix all the dry ingredients together in a big mixing bowl. Stir all the wet ingredients together in a large jug. Pour the wet into the dry and mix together until thoroughly combined. Pour into a large pie dish and bake in the centre of the oven at Gas 4 for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Check that it is done as you would for a cake: poke the middle with a cocktail stick and make sure that there is no wet mixture left.
Other suggested fruit combos:

• stewed rhubarb and chopped apple, with ground ginger in place of the cinnamon
• stewed blueberries and chopped peaches
• stewed apple and mixed frozen berries (no need to defrost them first)
• stewed plums and chopped apples
• stewed apple and chopped pears

I haven't tried it but it sounds great and perhaps you can leave a large proportion of the sugar out.

Stir in a spoon of cocoa powder and a chopped banana.

Raisins and a sprinkle of nutmeg

I add frozen blueberries or a grated apple. just put the oats in aq bowl, cover with milk and zap I the microwave for 2 mins. Stir in the blueberries or apple and extra milk if it looks like it need it then zap for another 2 minutes. Yum.

I came across Porridge with Marmite at a hotel in the Highlands of Scotland once. I don't particularly like Marmite (except under Scrambled Eggs) but this was great if going outside on a cold and blustery day!

I soak the oats in almond milk for a few minutes (soaking makes all the difference) then microwave for 2:30 minutes. I add a sliced banana and a dusting of cinnamon after. The cinnamon and banana make it worth eating for me.

DS has porridge every day. We don't have a microwave and do it on the hob with all milk (unless out of milk) and jumbo oats. He has raisins, sliced banana, or apple puree (added at end) or blueberries (added while cooking). My mum does hers in the microwave and adds frozen blueberries while it cooks.

Add chopped dates before you cook it.

Honey and banana.

Rum and raisin.

Mixed berries.

In a saucepan, cover them in boiling water and leave for as long as it takes you to drink a cup of tea. They will go like concrete. Add more water and milk powder (marvel) and heat until thick.
We have ours with seedy topping stuff from lidls, brown sugar, bananas or raisins. It's quite nice with peanut butter in too.

Use a massive bowl in the microwave. Porridge turns into an animal as it boils and expands to about 4 times its size. Use one third milk two thirds water or it will grow even more. It shrinks again once it finishes boiling.
Then add half a dozen dates, a teaspoon of mincemeat and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
I would like to apologise to my Scottish friends