What do you put on/in your porridge?

[TheBlackCatWithTheWhiteSpot]

I’m usually a brown seeded toast and marmite for breakfast person, but I’m trying to economise, so thought I would have porridge for breakfast instead.

The problem is, I’m a bit weary of it already, one week in.

I have a mild intolerance to milk, but I hate soy and nut milk substitutes.
So I make it with water and just add a small splash of real milk on top to cool.

I don’t really like overly sweet things for breakfast, I’ve been adding cinnamon and a tiny dab of honey. It’s fine, but I just feel there must be more to life than this!

What can I add to make me look forward to eating it?

I usually do my porridge in the microwave, with frozen blueberries which cook into it and turn mushy, then add chopped walnuts and almonds, plus some flaxseed on top. It's quite filling and warming in the autumn/winter.
In the summer I use chopped strawberries as well.

You could try it with chopped banana and walnuts, or cranberries and almonds. There are loads of combinations.

If you don't like sweet things you might struggle with porridge - as most of the usual toppings are fruit and nuts. I've heard of people putting savoury stuff on porridge, but I find that a bit weird.

I go savoury, I cook it with water or water and a bit of a stockcube and then normally some vegetable leftovers or a fried egg and a chilli sauce.

I love porridge made with almond milk, chopped pear and cinnamon sugar on the hob, feels like a treat each time. You might like the almond milk with the other flavours?

Butter (dairy or vegan) and a sprinkle of salt!

We have a fruit porridge made with water & a dash of honey on top

Turmeric, ginger and stewed fruit
Cardomon, vanilla and some seeds and nuts

I made some this morning with cassia (sweet cinnamon), chopped banana vanilla essence and blueberries. Added all ingredients together with water and cooked until the banana had melted and the porridge was the right consistency and a strange lilac colour frm the blueberries. Delicious.

Sometimes I add cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, grated apple, sultanas and chopped walnuts

Dried apple peices while its cooking, add apple cinnamon jam when its finished.
Strawberry honey is my favourite but there are many other flavour honeys. Black cherry comes a close second place.
Or marmalade or dried strawberry pieces, you get the idea.

I'm not a fan of savoury porridge but I've tried it, with eggs and cheese or mushroom or kale. If its savoury it's called congee I think, so look up what others have done.

I put all sorts on mine, I used to cook up in the slow cooker apples with cinnamon and dollop a bit lot of that on top, then I moved to peanut butter, sometimes I would have nutella, then I moved to cheese, then cheese and peanut butter together (lovely), now I have prunes as its the easiest way to get all the fibre in. Yesterday I had dried cranberries

Cacao nibs and dried apricot is lovely

I like sliced bananas on top. Or a spoonful of Apple sauce stirred in. I add a dollop of Greek yoghurt to cool it and make it creamy.

For a dairy free one, it is nice with coconut instead of dairy milk, then chopped banana and dates.

I also like with peanut butter and maple syrup, apple and cinnamon or plain honey or brown sugar. I don't find porridge filling for long.

Banana and peanut butter
Frozen cherries and cocoa powder
Frozen berries
Blueberries in it and fresh figs on top

Almond butter on top with blueberries.
Sprinkle of chia seeds
Vanilla/cardamom/cinnamon/nutmeg
Honey/agave/date syrup
Frozen fruit
Apple or pear added in to cook
Small handful of quinoa/amaranth added to oats to cook at same time. Could also add rice flakes.

Agree with congee, can be very nice but for me is v much a dish for winter or when I'm feeling sick.

I’m intrigued by the vegetable leftovers and fried egg idea (though I can’t help thinking they’d be better with rice instead of porridge).

I think pear or apple and chopped nuts particularly sounds like a really nice and seasonal addition, I might try that tomorrow.

Different seeds sounds interesting too.

Im not sure about berries, reminds me too much of school rice pudding and jam, which I always hated - probably due to the milk intolerance, which nobody knew about then.

Porridge is such a chore to eat, but the most palatable I've found is approx:

1/4 cup of oats (the processed ones because the rough ones are even more of a chore!)
2 tbsp chia seeds
Almond milk to make quite a loose porridge, and don't cook for very long to prevent it getting stodgy

Serve with a big dollop of coconut yoghurt, some blueberries and a sprinkle of muscovado sugar.

It ends up being a lighter-feeling porridge than the usual heavy lump of stodge!

It might not be as cheap as you wanted, though. But I found it good for my digestion when I ate this every day for a year or so.

I have overnight oats with cinnamon and raisins.

If you can get it, pistachio butter makes for a nice decadent addition.
Rose water for a bit of perfume.

For protein you can add tofu. On my to do list to try out but you'll find recipes online.

I’ve just had porridge with some stewed apple.

Mushrooms, garlic, fish, and saltiness.😋

Peanut butter and banana.

I can’t bear sweet things in the morning so I have porridge, not regularly, in the evening. Soy milk and some honey

I mainly do this because PIL have fruit trees, but I stew up a big batch of apple and pears with cinnamon (peeled, diced, no sugar added) and freeze in silicone ice cube trays, (transfer to a big Ziploc bag) a couple popped in the microwave are lovely on porridge , DH likes banana sliced on top, DS likes both of the above and sliced strawberries with double cream on his!

I also make it with water, don't like the taste of too much milk.

I usually have a cupboard stocked full of nuts, seeds and dried fruit (walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins, apricots...) so add whichever ones I feel like. Also always have a huge tub of peanut butter and tahini (good quality - something like Achva or Baracke, the others just taste bad and grainy) in the fridge, so usually put a dollop on.

Then usually add some fruit:

• stewed plums & ginger
• stewed apples & cinnamon
• sliced banana

So versatile!

Edit: and also enjoy a squirt of silan/honey/carob syrup for extra sweetness.

Water, (I do overnight refrigerated oats so not cooked) then variations of:
flaked almonds
chia and/or ground linseeds
sultanas
grated apple
frozen berries
I often top with dairy free yoghurt (I love coconut collaborative) and date molasses