I Won't Quote

I have indeed kept up with my habit of having porridges for breakfast. Like there are maybe mornings that I can count on my fingers where this has NOT been the case.

The bigger struggle than getting tired of it is actually... WHAT KIND OF OATMEAL DO I WANNA EAT TODAY?

I would like to mention, just in case, that I usually of course don't make it like this. It is more like... get up with your alarm, grunt, start coffee, mix everything together and then finally enjoy like 10 minutes of peace before heading to work.

This is my go to one when I cannot decide, and also my favourite. I promise you, I always have ingredients for this at home.

Ma olen endiselt iga päev hommikusöögiks putru söönud. Tegelikult on neid hommikuid, millal ma ei ole, umbes nii palju et need võib ühe käe sõrmedel üles lugeda. Ausalt öeldes on mul ka üks probleem - mitte see, et ma hakkaks tüdinema, vaid see, et "millist putru ma täna hommikul tahan??". Igaks juhuks mainiks ka ära, et tegelikult ei näe mu hommikusöök tavaliselt üldse nii hmm... luksuslik välja. Pigem on minu hommik selline, et ma ärkan väikse mühatuse ja tusatujuga äratuskella peale, teen kohvi ning pudru, kusjuures kogu protsess näeb välja selline, et ma viskan koostisosad sellest järjekorras kastrulisse, kuidas ma nad riiulitest kätte raban. Ja siis on mul kuskil kümme minutit, et veidi niiöelda enda aega nautida.

Sooo I am starting off with half a cup of oats (my favourite is Veski Mati still, and I use their different ones on rotation), 3 times the amount of water, banana (should be more ripe but this is all I had. Somewhy our stores always sell the really yellow ones or even ones that are still green), tablespoon of coconut flakes, tablespoon of peanut butter (I love crunchy), tablespoon of fruit and nut mix, 1/3 of a cup of berries (this time blackberries) and hald a teaspoon of cinnamon.

Igatahes alustan ma pudrutamist poole klaasi kaerahelvestega (umbes. Mu lemmik on endiselt Veski Mati ja ma tavaliselt ostan erinevaid, et isu otsa ei saaks), lisan kolm korda sama palju vett, ühe banaani (mis peaks olema rohkem küps, aga antud hetkel oli mul ainult selline. Mingil põhjusel on meie poodides banaanid alati pooltoored, st. alles väga helekollased või lausa rohelised), supilusikatäis kookoshelbeid, maapähklivõid (ja mulle meeldib just tükkidega), pähkli ja rosina segu, lisaks mõned marjad. Täna kasutasin külmutatud põldmarju, ja pool teelusikatäit kaneeli.

I have to add this picture as well, simply because it shows my adorable cat pillow.

Ma selle pildi lisasin ainult selle pärast, et mul on köögis liiga lahe kassiga padi.

While I am cooking the oats, I am preparing the toppings, which mostly just means slicing the banana. I like to use really thin slices, as I don't add any sugar or sweetner and like it when banana gives sweetness and greates this mush pictured below.

Samal ajal kui ma putru keedan, valmistan ma ette ülejäänud asjad, tavaliselt see tähendab banaani viilutamist. Aa, siin peaks mainima, et mull meeldivad hästi õhukesed tükid, sest ma ei lisa suhkrut ega magustajat ning õhukesed viilud segunevad paremini.

Usually I let the water to become to a boil before adding the oats, but I could not be bothered. Also it does not make a lot of difference in my... long life of oat-eater. When it does become to a boil I add the banana and mix it to combine well. Usually I add the whole thing.

So when this is done I always add in peanut butter and cinnamon. I like when it all tastes the same.

Kui see on tehtud, lisan ma maapähklivõi ja kaneeli. Mulle meeldib, kui kõik on hääästi segamini ja maitseb ühtlaselt.

Also a little goes long way like this.

Ja tegelikult piisab sel juhul hästi vähesest ka.

Here I discovered that I had not even started my coffee so I had to hurry and prepare it as well. And then the decoration part.

Siin ma avastasin, et ma ei ole kohvi teinudki, ma ei tea, kuidas see võis juhtuda. Ükski hommik ei ole hommik, kui ei ole joodud kohvi.

Yum yum get in my tum tum.

Ilus JA maitsev.

Okay, maybe not literally entire year but for sure 95% of the past year's breakfasts can be labelled as porridge. (I will be using the word "porridge" here so much that it won't even sound like a real word in the end. Porridge. Porridge. Porridge.)

Firstly - what is considered porridge here in Estonia (mostly) and what I mean by it personally?

Sweet porridge. Either oatmeal (the most popular one), mixed seeds porridge (different kind of grains, I like 8 or 7 different types, but there are ones that mix 5 different or 4 different etc; Veski Mati and Tartu Mill are definitely my favourite brand and I love that... it will sound so lame... that I got a box of it after finishing a marathon. Here. I said it.), rice porridge. I am not a fan of sweet buckwheat as here I have always had buckwheat with salty stuff. Maybe I will get into that in the future though.

Obviously on most of the days I don't set it up so nicely but just mix everything together while it is still on the stove. But here is my fav combo: 4 types of mixed grains, half of a banana mashed in there, peanutbutter mixed in there and topped with rest of the banana, coconut shreds, almonds and cashews, dried crandberries and rainsins and dark chocolate pieces. Pair with: coffee.

Take aways from this experience:

Another day, another combo: rice flakes with half of a banana and handful of blackberries (yes, blackberries. Not blueberries.), topped with rest of the banana and coconut shreds. Pair with: coffee.

It has been a journey. When I was a kid, my mum would make porridge with just oatmeal, milk, sugar and a lot of jam. Usually fresh strawberry jam we would make during summer and freeze. And I always considered it just as an addition to normal breakfast, I would for sure have a sandwitch or fried egg or something in addition. I always felt super hungry after having just porridge, and super soon. Now I know it was probably the amount of just plain sugar and not really any nutritional stuff in the meal.

That is still how I started.

Another really good one: rice flakes and half of a banana, topped with rest of the banana, some raisins and a handful of frozen blackberries + some cinnamon. Pair with, as always: coffee.

At one point I switched regular milk to soymilk and at the moment I only use water. WATER? Soggy and meh you say? Well.

At first my porridge was kinda blergh indeed. (I am such a good writer I amaze myself...) I tried not to use sugar and used honey, but after quitting sweetners in my tea and coffee I did not want to use any of that in the porridge as well. I started adding more jam, but this was not too good as well, as most of it still is made with sugar.

During summertime - porridge with banana, topped with frozen mango, coconut and fresh strawberries. You can see what it is paired with.

At one point I decided to use a banana. I had several overly ripe ones at home and I had already made banana-oat pancakes - why not use it in porridge then? It was mindblowing, honestly. This is also when I realised it gives enough creamy texture so that you really don't need milk. Just water is fine - make sure you cook your oats enough.

I promise there is some porridge under it. I just really needed to finish the strawberries...

Also thanks to a friend I started using different topings - not just fruits or jam. At the moment I think for the past... 4 months for sure I have had different porridge but the toppings are always the same: fruit and nut mix, shredded coconut, peanut butter! And one whole banana. And half a cup of dry oats. I just mix it all together and enjoy the warm and filling and sweet and amazing thing. Every morning. Even during the weekends when I could actually have something else. If I do (here is the 5 percent) I feel that something is wrong and I get hungry much sooner. The 5% I have had other kind of foods has been when I have been travelling or have visited a friend, parents etc. Even then I mostly try to stick to my regular breakfast.

Porridge with banana and peanutbutter, topped with fruit and nut mix, frest blackberries and coconut shreds.

Another thing in my recent porridge-discovery is rice porridge. Something my family hated and I never tried during my childhood. My favourite way to have this is definitely cooking rice flakes with mashed banana (optional here, but I do love my bananas!), some raisins and CINNAMON. I do have some frozen blackberries as well that I sometimes add as a topping and to create this nice a little sour and fresh taste.

Also I love different textures together.

What is your favourite breakfast? Would you be able to stick with if the whole year?

For me - I am going to continue for sure and I am thinking of taking a picture of my breakfast every morning from the 1st of November 2017.