Hey! I'm popping in quickly on this Saturday afternoon, (whilst steaming my Christmas puddings) with a little recipe combo I've been eating quite a bit recently... I hadn't initially planned to write a blog post but then figures these photos weren't actually too bad, and since it was a lovely wintery warmer full of festive spice, it was too good not to share!!

P.s If you want to know what recipe I used for my Christmas pud I shared it here on Facebook. I thought it best not to blog it just yet since I won't know how well it's worked out until I taste it, but if you are going to make your own this is the latest time you should ideally be doing it, so that it can sit and mellow before the big day!  Fingers crossed it's as tasty as the non-vegan one I remember so well from years gone by.

So, back to the porridge... I used ingredients from two of my favourite companies for purchasing ingredients. RealFoodSource and Steenbergs (this is not an affiliate post but I did get some ingredients gifted to me to try in my recipes).

The freeze dried apple powder is great as an alternative whole food sweetener to syrups, it's literally ground up freeze dried apple! Teamed with Christmas Chia spice (regular ground cinnamon or mixed since would also work) it was delicious... I made two different variations, one with a sprinkle of cranberries an extra spice and another with dark chic chips and a drizzle of almond butter. Both were yum!

I sliced my pear longways and griddled it, but you could also cut into cubes and pan fry to warm through or serve raw.

Recipe: Spiced Apple & Pear Porridge

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup porridge oats

• 1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk of choice

• 2 tbs freeze dried apple powder (more to taste if needed)

• 1/2 - 1 tsp christmas chai spice (or cinnamon/mixed spice)

• 1 pear- sliced and griddled in a touch of coconut oil

• Topping: dried cranberries or choc drops and almond butter (or everything!)

Method:

Add the oats, non-dairy milk, apple powder and spice to a small saucepan, bring to the boil then simmer for five minutes or so until cooked. Meanwhile griddle (or pan fry) the pear until softened.

Serve the porridge into a bowl then top with the pear slices and other toppings of choice. 

If you love porridge... check out my book 'Not Just For Goldilocks'  for over 50 unique porridge recipes with options to suit all tastebuds and dietary requirements.

Porridge is amazing and so versatile... it's literally my favourite meal ;-)