Anti-Inflammatory Flaxseed Porridge
Before we talk about this easy flaxseed porridge, let’s talk about painting for a minute here. Not the spiritually-fulfilling, cathartic, artistic kind. The kind that happens when you look around your home and realize that the previous owners did an excellent job at staging…as in painting around their books on the wall shelves (seriously?), touching up wear and tear with close-but-not-quite-matching colors, and masking gaping holes in the drywall with oversized hardware. I remember doing the walk-throughs of our condo and thinking, “This is awesome! We won’t have to do anything!” Famous last words, right? I knew staging was a powerful thing, but I really appreciate the value of it now (again, who paints around books?). I saw none of those nagging imperfections then that irk me now.
Admittedly, I can be a bit of a perfectionist. At least in the painting department, I get this from my dad, who I swear re-paints my parent’s house a crisp white every year, during his vacation time no less. I am my father’s daughter—I love a crisp white wall too.
This weekend, Aaron and I finally tackled re-painting our bedroom, which was previously a darker shade of taupe. I described it as “the mom jeans” of colors or like “pleated khakis.” I don’t even know. What I do know is that I learned five important lessons:
- You will need 1.5x the paint you initially buy. Add another trip to the hardware store.
- You might get the paint color right on the first try (so many shades of white!), but you’ll forget an essential tool you didn’t know you needed until that moment…probably twice. Add two more trips to the hardware store (we are on a first-name basis with the guys at our store).
- It’s 100% worth it to spend more for paint with primer. However, you will still have to do two coats. So stop trying to make one coat work. The sooner you accept this, the better for your mental state (I’m talking to myself here, after a mini-breakdown around the 25% finished point).
- Painting takes for-ev-er. At least twice as long as you plan.
- You need painter’s tape. Much as you may not like it, you are just not that skilled at painting within the lines.
My shoulder, hands, and feet are feeeeeeling it today. The last thing I wanted to this weekend and this morning was to make an elaborate breakfast, but I knew whatever I made needed to be nutritionally solid (in part to balance out that pizza I ate late Saturday night, because as is the official rule: painting = pizza). Inspired by one of my most popular recipes to date, I re-jiggered my anti-inflammatory blueberry smoothie into warming, comforting flaxseed porridge form. If you’ve been in a blah breakfast or oatmeal rut, this recipe is for you. It makes for the easiest, lightest, and fluffiest porridge.
Loaded with inflammation-reducing, freshly ground flaxseeds, mashed banana for natural sweetness, and topped with more anti-inflammatory goodness in the form of blueberries and walnuts (for crunch!), this meal is all about the simplicity and plant-based power. The ingredients are minimal and each has a purpose. When I make this flaxseed porridge and take those few minutes to slowly whisk the flaxseeds and non-dairy milk over the stovetop, my mind gets a little more quiet. And when I sit down to enjoy it, I swear I can feel my sore muscles and my tired hands relaxing. It’s a mini-meditation of sorts before I tackle the inevitable upcoming project. Because another lesson I’ve learned: there’s always something else to do.
Next: we paint the upstairs bathroom. But first: we sit down to breakfast. Yesss.
Anti-Inflammatory Flaxseed Porridge
Anti-Inflammatory Flaxseed Porridge
Serves: 1
Cook Time: 5 mins
A warming, comforting flaxseed porridge packed full of anti-inflammatory foods with minimal ingredients. This flaxseed porridge is a great change-up from your usual oatmeal and a nutritional powerhouse to boot.
Cuisine: Gluten Free, Vegan Servings: 1
Cook Time: 5 mins
A warming, comforting flaxseed porridge packed full of anti-inflammatory foods with minimal ingredients. This flaxseed porridge is a great change-up from your usual oatmeal and a nutritional powerhouse to boot.
Instructions
- Add the porridge ingredients to a medium saucepan and whisk to combine.
- Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the porridge comes to a low boil and thickens (about 3-5 minutes). Turn off the heat and tranfer the porridge to a serving bowl.
- Top with blueberries and a small handful of chopped walnuts. Enjoy!
Notes
2 heaping tablespoons of whole flaxseeds should yield about 1/4 cup of ground flaxseeds. There is a noticeable difference in freshly ground versus flax meal when it comes to binding properties. If possible, opt for grinding your own at home for the best texture. I like this spice grinder for grinding mine.
Copyright © 2020 Amanda Maguire for Pickles & Honey
OMG YES MORE VIDEOS! 🙂
Also this came at the perfect time. I’ve been dealing with a relapse on the pain front at the same time as my carb cravings have sky-rocketed. Seriously – what is a green smoothie? This looks so comforting and now that the beau has a manual coffee grinder (which made him so ridiculously excited #thesimplethings), I’m commandeering his electric one. Now I just need to wash it….
Good luck painting! xo
It’s tough to want to drink green smoothies this time of year. I feel you on that. Maybe I need to create one that will get us excited about them again… In the meantime, porridge!
When we FINALLY re-painted my baby pink bedroom a few years ago to a yellow color I picked, my dad only ever finished one coat. The smell of the paint was HORRIBLE and lasted forever so we never got a second coat on. Now you can see pink underneath. It’s just not good, haha!
Ugh, yes–hate the smell of paint fumes! I asked about that when we bought our paint and the guy said most aren’t too smelly these days. We went with Valspar and it’s thankfully not been too bad. I also have an air filter on to help.
We used Vaslpar too, for the first time…Obviously ours was bad though, haha! We even tried charcoal in buckets of water around the room to soak up the smell! We were trying everything, haha!
i always use valspar, too, and don’t find the smell to be bad at all. that stinks about the color already showing through!
i completely relate to your stories of the previous owners painting techniques. sheesh. people should take more pride in their work. also, my bedroom was (and unfortunately still is) painted the same unfortunate color. it’s getting redone over the summer and i cannot wait.
also, this porridge. totally making it. it’s GENIUS.
I completely agree about taking pride in your work. Why even bother if you’re going to do a crap job? I would never even think to be so lazy as to do things like paint around books on a shelf for staging purposes. Not cool!
We recently invested in a paint sprayer, and it will rock your world. It is a bit tedious to have to tape off everything you don’t want painted, but well worth your time! We were able to primer and paint a large bathroom in about two hours, and that includes waiting an hour for the primer to dry. The sprayer works best in rooms that you do not have obstacles in like cupboards to have to try to angle around. I would also recommend checking your paint for a No VOC so that the fumes are not as strong.
Thanks for the yummy recipe – can’t wait to try it!
Mid-way through painting, I asked Aaron if maybe we should look into a paint sprayer. That’s really good to know that it’s been a worthwhile tool!
I hear you on the painting! That is crazy that they painted around the books!!!! We painted our upstairs, tiny, bathroom as a “quick” remodeling project a couple of months ago. It looks great but you are right, it took twice as long as I thought and yep, that “guaranteed one coat” paint took two coats. Thanks for the recipe. We love this type of breakfast. 🙂
Oh, the joys of painting. Ha! Bathrooms take a surprisingly long time–so many nooks.
I tend to get in an oatmeal rut (or a granola rut) so I’ll have to try something like this. Looks great! Love the video too!
Thanks, Chris! I think we share the same rut–oatmeal and granola, rinse and repeat.
I made this the other morning. The porridge has great flavor but I just couldn’t get past the slimy-ness of it. Kind of like eating a giant flax egg. Maybe if I added more nuts to give it more texture…
Sorry you didn’t love the texture, Kelly! I load mine up with fruit and nuts/seeds to give it some variety, and then I find it’s more fluffy than anything else.
I just made it and honestly I thought that I won’t like it at all but it turned out amazing! Sooo delicious and it’s really versatile – thank you for the recipe! This is one of my favorites now 🙂
That’s awesome! I’m so happy to hear it.
Thank you for such a simple and satisfying recipe. I eat almost no grains but keep reading about the health benefits of ground flax seed. I’ve been trying to sneak more of it into my diet and this recipe is the perfect answer to sneak, um, a LOT into my day! The banana added really good flavour and texture. I definitely recommend adding a touch of maple syrup like you suggested- it made this flax seed porridge seem decadent, which is mighty hard to do!
Thank you, Lauren!! I’m so happy you enjoyed the flax seed porridge!
I can’t have oats, so thank you for this recipe! I made it for breakfast this morning (with strawberries) and it was simply delicious! I could eat this every morning!
I’m so happy you loved the flaxseed porridge! It’s nice to change it up from oats, even for those of us who can eat them.
Made this just now and it’s very yummy! Thanks!
Awesome! I’m so happy you enjoyed the porridge, Erin!
We recently moved and have been eating terrible food as a result (take out or frozen). Today I made this porridge because I finally located a saucepan and it was divine and the first whole food meal I have had in 2 weeks. Thank you!
Oh yes, I know the “moving diet” well. There is only so much takeout/frozen food you can eat before your body is like “give me some fresh FRUIT and VEGETABLES!” So glad you were able to find that saucepan and enjoy this flaxseed porridge. 🙂 Good luck with unpacking and getting re-settled!
I did not want to like this recipe. So much so, that I only make half the recipe. It didn’t look very good, so in my mind I was not going to like it. In the end I ended up scrapping the pan for more. I added bananas and used Brazil nuts in place of the walnuts. It was truly amazing and I was sad I only made half of the recipe. Two days later I made the full recipe and still scrapped the pan. I’m taking it to work tomorrow to make my coworkers envious. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you for the amazing comment, Debbie! I’m thrilled you loved the recipe. 🙂
This is so good! Glad I found it, has been my daily breakfast for weeks and still love it!
Hi Amanda,
I’m in the process of transitioning to a vegan diet and am really looking forward to trying your recipe as my first flaxseed recipe! I usually have my breakfast at work, can I soak the night before and microwave in the office? Or is there another way to make this on the go?
Thanks
Hi Jane! I haven’t tried soaking this the night before and microwaving it, but that may work. Please report back if you try that method! 🙂
Just made this recipe with a few changes, I don’t like banana (I know, I know. I must be crazy) so I used half a banana and a couple generous scoops of homemade pear sauce, I made coconut/rice milk which was really tasty in this, I added extra cinnamon, and at the very end I added cooked amaranth to help with texture since I can’t have nuts. I really enjoyed this breakfast! I liked that it was a different texture from my typical amaranth or quinoa breakfast porridge, and something about it just really made it feel like an exceptionally healthy breakfast that filled my soul, clearly I must be needing flaxseeds right now! Loved the recipe, simple, healthy, and tasty!
I love all of the recipe tweaks you made, especially the homemade pear sauce and coconut/rice milk additions. Sounds amazing! <3
What is the nutrition information?
Hi Christine! I don’t have nutritional information, but I believe there are free tools you can use to calculate it. 🙂
Do you think I could make this ahead of time and reheat in the morning?
I think it’s worth a try! You may need to thin it with a little non-dairy milk in the morning.