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Quinoa and poppy seed porridge for children

ingredients

4 tbsp white quinoa organic flakes 1 tbsp ground poppy seeds 1 pcs apple 2 tbsp butter pcs water

progress

Starting the day with porridge is almost a rule for us. At least with our youngest. She asks for it already from her crib in the morning after waking up. We give porridge as a lifesaver even if other than “noooooo”, she won’t eat for the world. And sometimes a lighter one for dinner too. Then no fruit, just porridge prepared on water with a piece of butter. For quicker porridge preparation, there are already a number of instant versions available, but I call it lazy mother’s porridge, because I don’t indulge in making my own. I find the choice of flakes – oat, wheat, rye, rice, corn, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, kamut – helps to speed things up. Some are gluten free, some are not. And we also mix dried or frozen fruit, crushed nuts or kernels into some. I use organic dried fruits like plums, raisins, or puffed cereals to sweeten. I added poppy seeds and finely grated apples to the exotic quinoa porridge recipe. Oh, and the baby took a bowl of blueberries out of the freezer. Interestingly, he can’t pronounce it, but he knows exactly where they are and probably asks for the “chuck” the most. Then there are the strawberries. And apples . For better digestion I cook porridge without milk, only with water. And mostly they are oat or gluten free. If we’re traveling and it’s not affordable to have porridge, we bring a blender and I blend up swollen oats soaked in hot water with a banana or apple. We really carry the blender everywhere. If she doesn’t like that porridge, she always drinks the smoothie thick and undiluted, or eats the whole pulp of a young coconut and drinks the coconut water through a straw. Our baby can still eat a lot of our plates after her breakfast, the occasional soft scrambled eggs, and she loves tomatoes, olives, and a crumb of sourdough bread. Oh, and butter. If butter was on a tree instead of an apple, she’d probably be living under that tree too . Even at 18 months, she’s still breastfed, so we don’t really address her choice cravings somehow. But it is a fact that the wheat porridge must always be combined with another cereal. Do your kids have that too?

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I also wash organic oatmeal, add about 2dcl worth of water to it after washing and cook it with poppy seeds. Occasionally I will use orange juice, apple, grape or coconut water. I finely grate a skinless apple into this porridge and add it to the end.

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Slow cooking the porridge takes about 5-7 minutes. I usually cook more, I like them too . If I use larger flakes, I blend the porridge until smooth. Then I stir in the butter and if Miss Princess asks for blueberries, I’ll give them to her because that’s a sure bet that she’ll eat the soup plate of porridge . Sometimes the bribe is a pretzel dipped in maple syrup .

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I don’t tend to sweeten my porridge, but when I use poppy seeds or a more acidic apple, I’ll add a few drops of maple syrup or coconut sugar.