Ahhhh… so nice to be back home in London again. My off-piste eating excursions have been rather exceptional so I can’t wait to kick-start my good food habits anew.  Being on holiday is great but you never have your ‘stuff’ at the ready. All those extra curricular condiments and such like that you’ve collected over weeks and months and that you take for granted when you assemble/cook food at home. On holiday you have the choice to buy the whole lot again – or not in my case. I did it the local way instead and ate what was there and enjoyed it. Basta.

What were the things I missed? Well, cupboard stuff like chia seeds, goji berries, nuts, seed mixes, coconut oil, gluten-free porridge, coconut milk, herb salt, ginger, turmeric, tamari, miso paste, frozen berries and so on. I also REALLY missed my juices, especially the green ones. Not to mention my juicer, my blender and hand blender. These things take time to accumulate yet once you have them at home, concocting something nutritious is a doddle. It ‘s all in the planning really and if you can buy online it is a great way to buy large quantities of nuts and seeds for example. Yes, I know it is great to bumble through Whole Foods market but it is expensive and sometimes you can buy much cheaper in bulk via places like Amazon. I’ll do a blog post on good online stockist shortly which may help you keep prices at bay. But I digress…

So back home and this morning I opened the fridge to find very little fresh stuff to eat for breakfast, yet I knew that a scrumptious porridge was only minutes away. Store cupboard essentials, people. This is when your collection springs into first aid mode and saves the day. Which it did – I had an absolutely delicious porridge. Here’s what went into it:

‘Store cupboard essentials’ porridge

1 (very soft=old) apple, cut into small pieces (it was left in the fruit basket over hols, it was hot, you get the picture)

1 cup gluten-free porridge oats

1/2 cup frozen berries (blueberries, blackberries)

1 tsp goji berries

1 tsp mixed organic seeds

1 tsp chia seeds

1/2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp coconut butter (Biona does a wonderful butter)

1 -2 cups coconut milk

How to:

Add porridge oats, the cut up apple and coconut milk into a pan and heat up until porridge consistency and apple has softened. Add the frozen berries and continue stirring until they have thawed and almost melted into porridge. You may have to add some more coconut milk (or regular milk if you prefer). Once ready and stirred, top with all the seeds and goji berries and finish off with milk.  If you want to make it into more of a meal you can slice bananas into it at the end.

Enjoy! x