Oat Groat Porridge & Strawberry-Pineapple-Banana Smoothie

Today is a new day. My cleanse is over and I am lighter in body, mind and spirit for having done it. I kept to the cleanse for the most part. I allowed myself one cup of "good" coffee each morning which is not part of the regimine. I faltered on the 5th day by having a no-gluten coconut-blueberry muffin that Mel had made along with a few bites of seafood salad and a spicy pork taquito. The latter not being the wisest of choices!

With this new day, I wanted to start out by having a healthy, "good for you" breakfast. I had purchased organic oat groats from Martha's (aka Regis Cafe) a few weeks back and had cooked a batch overnight in the crockpot. While they turned out fine, they were not what I was aiming for. The crockpot had diminished the beautiful whole grain into mush, well oatmeal you are accustomed to seeing...just a big gooey glob. Mel and I sermized that boiling them would probably give the results I was looking for. She later suggested soaking them overnight. Well, both these ideas were just what was needed to render perfect, plump and chewy oat groats for my breakfast this morning. I also made a fruit smoothie to go along with my morning porridge.

STRAWBERRY-PINEAPPLE-BANANA SMOOTHIE

makes approx 1 14 oz serving

1 cup plain full fat yogurt (I used Brown Cow Cream Top)

3 frozen strawberries

1 tbsp crushed pineapple

1/2 banana

1 tbsp flaxseed, ground

Nutritional Information per serving:

Place all ingredients into container and blend using hand held immersion blender.

Nutritional Information per serving:

299 calories, 14g fat, 39g carb, 4.5g fiber, 10.5g protein

OAT GROAT PORRIDGE

makes 4 - 1/2 cup servings

1 cup organic oat groats

2 cups water, plus more for soaking

pinch kosher salt

Place groats in small saucepan and cover enough with water so that there is approximately 1/2 inch excess over top.  Place in refrigerator and soak overnight.

Remove groats from the refrigerator the following morning.  Strain water from groats using fine mesh strainer, then return groats to pan. Add 2 cups water and a pinch of kosher salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until groats are tender.

Serve warm with skim milk, a dash of vietnamese cinnamon & agave.

Nutritional information per 1/4 cup raw, or 1/2 cup cooked:

110 calories, 2.5g fat, 27g carb, 4g fiber, 7g protien