December has arrived.

Festive spirit is in the air.

As is a freezing chill and scraping of car windscreens in the morning ;-)

I’ll be honest, I haven’t really landed in Christmas vibes yet. No sparkly decorations or an advent calendar BUT I do have my Christmas pudding made (still time to make yours!)

One thing I love about chilly days - as well as the sun shining and crispy leaves to kick as I walk through the woods - is porridge!

Big bowls of porridge for brunch!

I do eat porridge all year round both hot as porridge and cold as overnight oats, but there is something even more deliciously cosy about porridge on chilly winter days.

If you’ve been a long-time reader you’ll already know I love to add veg to my porridge, it’s very rare that I make a bowl without. I love the boost of ‘hidden’ nutrition, the overall texture and how it lightens up the oats.

Typically carrot is my favourite or courgette or sometimes beetroot with berries BUT recently I have been absolutely loving sweet potato porridge with a generous dose of mixed spice. Sweet potato has a slight sweetness naturally which reduces the amount of extra sweetness required.

This was a bowl I made this morning, and the addition of dried apricot was amazing both in texture and flavour. I highly recommend giving it a try!

Berries on top are optional- but they look pretty, add extra sweetness and from a nutrition point of view I like to get a portion of berries in each day (I keep bags of frozen berries to hand at all times throughout the winter and use fresh when possible in the summer).

I also added a little sprinkle of Gingerbread Wholeplus Toppers. I am revamping and re-launching my health food business in coming weeks so watch this space… more on that soon. You can follow @wholeplus on Instagram as I will start talking about the journey!

Recipe: Sweet Potato & Apricot Spiced Porridge

Serves 1 (fairly large) bowl

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup finely grated sweet potato

• 2/3-3/4 cup oats

• 1 tbs chia seeds (or flax)

• 1/2 heaped tsp mixed spice - more or less to taste

• A handful chopped dried apricot

• 1 tsp coconut sugar or syrup - more or less to taste

• approx. 2 cups non-dairy milk - more or less to desired texture.

Method:

Finely grate the sweet potato into a small pan on the stove. Add remaining ingredients and stir through. Bring to the boil, simmer whilst stirring continuously for 3-5 mins. Add more milk as desired.

Serve with berries and non-dairy yoghurt if desired, or just eat as is!