Like most of my Enthusiasts, I discovered Laura on Instagram. What initially drew me to her account was the adorable heart-shaped bowl she used for most of her oatmeal pictures. It made her pictures truly stick out whenever I searched the #oatmealartist hash tag!
You can’t imagine how excited I was when Lauren asked me to be the next Oatmeal Enthusiast. Thousands of ideas for porridge appeared in my mind. I could not wait to start experimenting and eating!
But first I’ll introduce myself a little ;)
My name is Laura, and I’m 16 years old. Some of you may know me from my instagram account @laura__kiss. I live in Switzerland, but I lived my first 2 years in Scotland. I still go to school and I’ll start at the university in about 1 and a half years. In the last 2 years I struggled with anorexia; I’m not ashamed to say that I had an eating disorder because it made me the person I am today. With my account I got inspired and hope to inspire others to recover.
I have to admit that I don’t like bananas or peanut butter :O I’m not vegan or vegetarian but I avoid sugar. I’m sorry Lauren, but I add sweetener to my porridge. I have a huge sweet tooth and I haven’t found any other way to satisfy me …
That’s enough from me... now comes the oatmeal, or how I call it, porridge part.
In Switzerland, cooked oats are very unpopular, almost not existing. The only oats that are eaten here are mueslis. The first time I discovered porridge was about 2 years ago. I went shopping and in an English bookshop there was a food corner with tea, marmite, and porridge pots. I have a crush on British/ American food so I grabbed one of those and went straight home. I put the kettle on and added the boiling water. The first spoon full of the golden goodness was like heaven in my mouth! But those porridge pots were really expensive, about 5 Swiss franks / $5 for 40g oats!
I had to find another way to have porridge in my life. I found at the same shop those instant sachets and a 1 kg box of plain oats. Yep, I was a happy girl.
First I just had plain porridge then I became braver and tried various flavors like blueberries or chocolate. My love with porridge has gone way too far but in a good way, maybe a little obsessive ;)
I often wish I could eat breakfast all day long…
I was trying to choose which porridge I’d make for my post but I couldn’t decide. There were just too many delicious recipes and flavors. No way I could fit them all in just one week. But then I had a moment of enlightenment, maybe it was just madness, I thought why shouldn’t I go a little over the top and finally give in to my craving for porridge? There’s no reason I can’t have porridge 3 times a day! And that’s what I did! One week full of porridge!
Now I can tell you this was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!
I usually use steel cut oats because they give you a creamier porridge, but I appreciate biting on a whole oat. I often add egg whites to my porridge for some extra volume and protein.
Monday Breakfast: Mango Porridge
I always wondered how fresh mango and oats would work together. Now I know they are made for each other! If you like mango you’ll love mango porridge!
Monday Lunch: Blood Orange Porridge
When I saw this recipe on Lauren’s blog I knew I had to try it! All though I don’t like oranges that much I love the color of them! And I wasn’t disappointed!
Monday Dinner: Porridge Soufflé
At dinnertime I watched a cooking show and thought, if they can do a soufflé why shouldn’t I?! Porridge tastes completely different when you prepare it like that. Light, salty yet sweet. A bite of lightness.
Tuesday Breakfast: Toasted Porridge
I stumbled across this recipe and got curious how it would taste like. Toasting the oats before you cook them gives them a hearty and rough flavor. For this recipe I tried to give bananas a last chance but I just don’t like them …
Tuesday Lunch: Lime Meringue Porridge Tart
This doesn’t look healthy or like breakfast but it is! Lime Meringue tarts is one of my favorite deserts. Unfortunately they are full of sugar and not that healthy, so I had to find a replacement. Although I takes a lot of time to make this recipe but it is so worth it!
Tuesday Dinner: Tonka Brownie Baked Porridge
Basically this is Lauren’s Salted Brownie Baked Oatmeal but I substituted the salt for Tonka beans. Tonka beans have a strange taste, like chocolate, rum and cinnamon together. It gives a nice twist to plain chocolate.
Wednesday Breakfast: Sweet Pea Lemongrass Porridge
I made a few savory porridges, I did like them but sweet and savory is just unbeatable! I planned to make pea porridge but something was missing. I added some lemongrass and a few drops of sweetener and BAMM! Flavor explosion!
Wednesday Lunch: Lava Cake Porridge
Everybody loves lava cakes. The warm cake and the liquid filling that melts in your mouth. Dessert Heaven. Obviously I had to find a way to enjoy lava cake everyday!
Wednesday Dinner: Crunchy Salted Caramel Porridge
Who ever had the idea of adding salt to caramel deserves a Nobel Prize or something! I used caramel flavored tea and flax seeds for the crunch.
Thursday Breakfast: Cherry Porridge
I don’t like black forest cake, that’s the reason I hesitated to use cherries for my porridge. Big mistake! Without chocolate it doesn’t taste like black forest cake, it tastes like a summer night, fresh and warm.
Thursday Lunch: Apple Maple Porridge
For this recipe I used again tea to give flavor to my porridge. I wish I had some real maple syrup but it’s so hard to find and expensive here! It’s a shame! if you combine apple and maple here, you get automatically a Canada flavor, so you could also call this Canadian Porridge.
Thursday Dinner: Red Velvet Baked Porridge
This hasn’t much in common with breakfast porridge. Although I made it with the salted brownie baked recipe, I baked it in mini tart shells and stacked them with fresh strawberries and natural yoghurt. It tastes like a guilt free dessert. Everybody in my house got jealous and wanted to have a bite ;) It’s not an everyday recipe but if you got the time DO IT!
Friday Breakfast: Sweet Potato Fudge Porridge
This is one of my favorite recipes from Lauren. As she said, the sweet potato gives so much to the porridge! This is porridge heaven!
Friday Lunch: White Chocolate Vanilla and Cranberry Porridge
I used real vanilla beans, white chocolate powder and fresh cranberry sauce to create this one. Cranberries and white chocolate is a great couple but the vanilla brings it all together and flavors melt together and create a whole new taste!
Friday Dinner: Lime Cheesecake Porridge
This is a variation of Lauren’s Blackberry and lime cheesecake oatmeal. First I wasn’t sure about how the cream cheese would work in the porridge. I wasn’t disappointed! The cream cheese gives the porridge a great twists, especially with Lime.
Saturday Breakfast: Vanilla Snowmeal
Snowmeal is oatmeal cooked with snow instead of water. That day I was in the mountains and everywhere was snow and then plopped the Idea of including snow into my porridge into my mind. This recipe isn’t the most flavorful but the most fun to make.
Saturday Lunch: Lemon and Thyme Porridge
Lauren I can’t thank you enough for this recipe! As I don’t like honey I just went with Lemon and Thyme. The warm herby flavor of the thyme goes perfectly with the fresh tanginess of the lemon. This is defiantly one of my favorite recipes.
Saturday Dinner: Very Berry Porridge
I know this isn’t that special but some times simple things are all I need, especially if you’re surrounded by a snowy landscape.
Sunday Breakfast: Pumpkin Pie Porridge
I know that it’s not really pumpkin season but I had a tin of pumpkin purée that begged me to use it today. Also I was really craving the hearty, nutty flavor of pumpkin. I’ve never had real pumpkin pie before but since I discovered Pumpkin Pie Porridge I don’t feel like I ever need to ;)
Sunday Lunch: White Chocolate and Orange Jam Porridge
Vanilla beans and white chocolate powder work well together, it gives the porridge a warm and cozy touch. By adding the orange jam, the whole porridge changed. It became an expensive tasting piece of heaven.
Sunday Dinner: POMegranate Porridge
This is my final porridge and I wanted to end this amazing experience with a POM!
I’m a lucky girl as my mom found the biggest pomegranate I’ve ever seen! It had the size of a melon! I also added a vanilla bean to give this fresh and fruity recipe a slight warm flavor. I can’t stop dreaming about this porridge; pomegranate seeds are just wonderful! They are so rich in flavor and give you a really nice texture and an amazing crunch!
I hope you enjoyed my guest post and thank you for reading – Laura
[Editor's Note: If you're interested in becoming my next Oatmeal Enthusiast, be sure to show your enthusiasm by tagging your oatmeal pictures with #oatmealartist on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook! Thank you for all your love and support!]
**You can also find hundreds of other oatmeal recipes (as well as tons of other meatless recipes) on my Pinterest account! You can also like The Oatmeal Artist on Facebook. Thanks!
You can’t imagine how excited I was when Lauren asked me to be the next Oatmeal Enthusiast. Thousands of ideas for porridge appeared in my mind. I could not wait to start experimenting and eating!
But first I’ll introduce myself a little ;)
My name is Laura, and I’m 16 years old. Some of you may know me from my instagram account @laura__kiss. I live in Switzerland, but I lived my first 2 years in Scotland. I still go to school and I’ll start at the university in about 1 and a half years. In the last 2 years I struggled with anorexia; I’m not ashamed to say that I had an eating disorder because it made me the person I am today. With my account I got inspired and hope to inspire others to recover.
I have to admit that I don’t like bananas or peanut butter :O I’m not vegan or vegetarian but I avoid sugar. I’m sorry Lauren, but I add sweetener to my porridge. I have a huge sweet tooth and I haven’t found any other way to satisfy me …
That’s enough from me... now comes the oatmeal, or how I call it, porridge part.
In Switzerland, cooked oats are very unpopular, almost not existing. The only oats that are eaten here are mueslis. The first time I discovered porridge was about 2 years ago. I went shopping and in an English bookshop there was a food corner with tea, marmite, and porridge pots. I have a crush on British/ American food so I grabbed one of those and went straight home. I put the kettle on and added the boiling water. The first spoon full of the golden goodness was like heaven in my mouth! But those porridge pots were really expensive, about 5 Swiss franks / $5 for 40g oats!
I had to find another way to have porridge in my life. I found at the same shop those instant sachets and a 1 kg box of plain oats. Yep, I was a happy girl.
First I just had plain porridge then I became braver and tried various flavors like blueberries or chocolate. My love with porridge has gone way too far but in a good way, maybe a little obsessive ;)
I often wish I could eat breakfast all day long…
I was trying to choose which porridge I’d make for my post but I couldn’t decide. There were just too many delicious recipes and flavors. No way I could fit them all in just one week. But then I had a moment of enlightenment, maybe it was just madness, I thought why shouldn’t I go a little over the top and finally give in to my craving for porridge? There’s no reason I can’t have porridge 3 times a day! And that’s what I did! One week full of porridge!
Now I can tell you this was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made!
I usually use steel cut oats because they give you a creamier porridge, but I appreciate biting on a whole oat. I often add egg whites to my porridge for some extra volume and protein.
Monday Breakfast: Mango Porridge
I always wondered how fresh mango and oats would work together. Now I know they are made for each other! If you like mango you’ll love mango porridge!
Monday Lunch: Blood Orange Porridge
When I saw this recipe on Lauren’s blog I knew I had to try it! All though I don’t like oranges that much I love the color of them! And I wasn’t disappointed!
Monday Dinner: Porridge Soufflé
At dinnertime I watched a cooking show and thought, if they can do a soufflé why shouldn’t I?! Porridge tastes completely different when you prepare it like that. Light, salty yet sweet. A bite of lightness.
Tuesday Breakfast: Toasted Porridge
I stumbled across this recipe and got curious how it would taste like. Toasting the oats before you cook them gives them a hearty and rough flavor. For this recipe I tried to give bananas a last chance but I just don’t like them …
Tuesday Lunch: Lime Meringue Porridge Tart
This doesn’t look healthy or like breakfast but it is! Lime Meringue tarts is one of my favorite deserts. Unfortunately they are full of sugar and not that healthy, so I had to find a replacement. Although I takes a lot of time to make this recipe but it is so worth it!
Tuesday Dinner: Tonka Brownie Baked Porridge
Basically this is Lauren’s Salted Brownie Baked Oatmeal but I substituted the salt for Tonka beans. Tonka beans have a strange taste, like chocolate, rum and cinnamon together. It gives a nice twist to plain chocolate.
Wednesday Breakfast: Sweet Pea Lemongrass Porridge
I made a few savory porridges, I did like them but sweet and savory is just unbeatable! I planned to make pea porridge but something was missing. I added some lemongrass and a few drops of sweetener and BAMM! Flavor explosion!
Wednesday Lunch: Lava Cake Porridge
Everybody loves lava cakes. The warm cake and the liquid filling that melts in your mouth. Dessert Heaven. Obviously I had to find a way to enjoy lava cake everyday!
Wednesday Dinner: Crunchy Salted Caramel Porridge
Who ever had the idea of adding salt to caramel deserves a Nobel Prize or something! I used caramel flavored tea and flax seeds for the crunch.
Thursday Breakfast: Cherry Porridge
I don’t like black forest cake, that’s the reason I hesitated to use cherries for my porridge. Big mistake! Without chocolate it doesn’t taste like black forest cake, it tastes like a summer night, fresh and warm.
Thursday Lunch: Apple Maple Porridge
For this recipe I used again tea to give flavor to my porridge. I wish I had some real maple syrup but it’s so hard to find and expensive here! It’s a shame! if you combine apple and maple here, you get automatically a Canada flavor, so you could also call this Canadian Porridge.
Thursday Dinner: Red Velvet Baked Porridge
This hasn’t much in common with breakfast porridge. Although I made it with the salted brownie baked recipe, I baked it in mini tart shells and stacked them with fresh strawberries and natural yoghurt. It tastes like a guilt free dessert. Everybody in my house got jealous and wanted to have a bite ;) It’s not an everyday recipe but if you got the time DO IT!
Friday Breakfast: Sweet Potato Fudge Porridge
This is one of my favorite recipes from Lauren. As she said, the sweet potato gives so much to the porridge! This is porridge heaven!
Friday Lunch: White Chocolate Vanilla and Cranberry Porridge
I used real vanilla beans, white chocolate powder and fresh cranberry sauce to create this one. Cranberries and white chocolate is a great couple but the vanilla brings it all together and flavors melt together and create a whole new taste!
Friday Dinner: Lime Cheesecake Porridge
This is a variation of Lauren’s Blackberry and lime cheesecake oatmeal. First I wasn’t sure about how the cream cheese would work in the porridge. I wasn’t disappointed! The cream cheese gives the porridge a great twists, especially with Lime.
Saturday Breakfast: Vanilla Snowmeal
Snowmeal is oatmeal cooked with snow instead of water. That day I was in the mountains and everywhere was snow and then plopped the Idea of including snow into my porridge into my mind. This recipe isn’t the most flavorful but the most fun to make.
Saturday Lunch: Lemon and Thyme Porridge
Lauren I can’t thank you enough for this recipe! As I don’t like honey I just went with Lemon and Thyme. The warm herby flavor of the thyme goes perfectly with the fresh tanginess of the lemon. This is defiantly one of my favorite recipes.
Saturday Dinner: Very Berry Porridge
I know this isn’t that special but some times simple things are all I need, especially if you’re surrounded by a snowy landscape.
Sunday Breakfast: Pumpkin Pie Porridge
I know that it’s not really pumpkin season but I had a tin of pumpkin purée that begged me to use it today. Also I was really craving the hearty, nutty flavor of pumpkin. I’ve never had real pumpkin pie before but since I discovered Pumpkin Pie Porridge I don’t feel like I ever need to ;)
Sunday Lunch: White Chocolate and Orange Jam Porridge
Vanilla beans and white chocolate powder work well together, it gives the porridge a warm and cozy touch. By adding the orange jam, the whole porridge changed. It became an expensive tasting piece of heaven.
Sunday Dinner: POMegranate Porridge
This is my final porridge and I wanted to end this amazing experience with a POM!
I’m a lucky girl as my mom found the biggest pomegranate I’ve ever seen! It had the size of a melon! I also added a vanilla bean to give this fresh and fruity recipe a slight warm flavor. I can’t stop dreaming about this porridge; pomegranate seeds are just wonderful! They are so rich in flavor and give you a really nice texture and an amazing crunch!
I hope you enjoyed my guest post and thank you for reading – Laura
[Editor's Note: If you're interested in becoming my next Oatmeal Enthusiast, be sure to show your enthusiasm by tagging your oatmeal pictures with #oatmealartist on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook! Thank you for all your love and support!]
**You can also find hundreds of other oatmeal recipes (as well as tons of other meatless recipes) on my Pinterest account! You can also like The Oatmeal Artist on Facebook. Thanks!
Wowza Laura, these are so creative! I mean Lemon Meringue (please share) and SNOWMeal?!
ReplyDeleteAnd btw Lauren, if you have a World Market or Costplus by you, they have a huge display of ramekins for sale at an inexpensive price. I've seen a cute heart shaped one there that I was tempted to get myself!
I recently discovered your blog and instantly fell in love since I'm a frequent oatmeal eater myself. And proud of it! I love oatmeal and never get tired of it. So to be introduced to other oatmeal enthusiasts is also a great thing, thank you Laura for also sharing your oatmeal love!
ReplyDeleteWow, oatmeal three times a day for a week! I'm impressed - ridiculously impressed!!!
ReplyDeleteHow did you make the oatmeal soufflé?
ReplyDeleteLaura raises the interesting issue of eating disorders. In the worst stage of my anorexia, oatmeal with fruits, veg and beans was all I ate, and many of my recipes came from this blog. Lauren, I hope you don't find this rude, and I'm certainly not blaming you for anything, but what is your view on the role your blog plays in the eating disordered community, and do you see any potential for it being a fuel for disordered eating in some people?
ReplyDeleteMy blog does not play a role in it. I believe any blog focused on healthy eating could inherently fuel disordered eating; that does not mean they "play a role" in it. However, my blog celebrates clean, whole eating. My posts never discuss calories or dieting--just eating real food. I cannot control what people do with my recipes. I use oatmeal to control my IBS and stay full from 5 am to noon. If other people are using my recipes to diet, that's out of my hands.
Delete