Are you getting your oats?

Good morning. It's raining here, so best stay indoors for a while untill it brightens up. I see the meter reader man has parked his van outside so I've stuck a note on my door to say please knock loud I am in. I don't have a door bell and often miss people because I can't hear them knocking.

So, what's for breakfast this morning? I have opened a new bag of porridge oats, and wondered how many portions there are in 1kg. It says on the back of the bag that you should weigh out 50g per portion, and as I don't have any scales I measure mine in dessertspoons.

I can get 23 servings out of this bag, at four spoons per portion, I have just counted them all out. That's a fraction over 3p per portion. An amazingly cheap breakfast. It does say on the back of the packet that you should add sugar or salt according to taste. I add neither. I try to limit my sugar consumption, and I never add salt to food.

Porridge oats are so versatile. To make breakfast more interesting I sometimes add a handfull of raisins, or a  few peach slices, this morning I added a couple of spoons of stewed apples which my neighbour gave me. Sometimes I add a banana, and sometimes seeds. You could use any fruit you like. I add oats to stews to bulk them out, and a spoonfull in a smoothie makes it thick and creamy. I don't just have porridge for breakfast either, it's a lovely tummy warmer in the middle of a cold wet miserable winters day.

Oats can also be used for making a face pack. If you really wanted to you could mix it with honey or yogurt and slap it on your face, personally I would rather eat it.

There are loads of good reasons why porridge oats are classed as a superfood. I'm not going to write a big article about the benefits of eating them, you can look it up yourself by googling, Are oats good for you. Here's a site for starters to get you going.
http://www.formerfatguy.com/articles/oatmeal/oats.asp

Feel free to add your own porridge oats recipe suggestions, and let's get everyone eating oats. I am certainly getting my fair share of oats these days, are you?
Toodle pip.