Take a stroll down the cereal aisle in most supermarkets (if not all!) and you’ll see that it’s typically dominated by pack after pack of brightly coloured, cartoon decorated cereal boxes filled with sugary cereals…at children’s eye level! I’m sure if any of you have ever wheeled a small child along this aisle or, heaven forbid, tried to sneak past this aisle, you will understand my frustration at having to listen to ‘Mummy, go back, I want to see the tiger on that box!’ and the ensuing explanation as to why we can’t take the tiger box home with us – or variations on that theme. It’s not as if we never eat sugar in our house, but I’m trying to make a concerted effort to limit our sugar intake where possible. If you are on this journey – like me – then keep reading 🙂

As a result, I now read the labels on most of the things I buy to check the sugar content. I’ve noticed that many so-called ‘healthy’ kids cereals with ‘no refined sugar’, actually have other sugar/syrup added. Not good.

This brings us to Brilliant Banana Oats. It’s a super easy recipe that I created while trying to think how I could make my son’s breakfast oats sweeter without adding syrup/sugar/honey etc. It’s now a staple breakfast in our house for the whole family. In fact, my husband (who cycles into work every day and needs something to keep him going till lunchtime) commented that having oats for breakfast, instead of his other cereal, means he can go without eating until lunchtime whereas the other cereal doesn’t seem to touch sides. Go oats go!

This is a great breakfast/morning snack for little ones when you’re weaning them too – you can pop the warm oats into a Super Squish pouch and head out. It’s probably good to add a little more liquid to the pot if you’re going to put into a pouch to prevent it becoming stodgy. Experiment and see what works for you.

Ingredients: (1 adult serving, so if making for a little one you might want to adjust quantities):

40-50g porridge oats (if you need to make this gluten free, just buy gluten free oats)

200 -250ml milk (dairy or alternative if you need to go dairy-free) – you’ll need to play around with this quantity depending on how thick you like your oats. Check on the oat packet for the manufacturers suggestions.

1 ripe banana – the riper the banana, the sweeter the oat porridge will be!

Peel and mash the banana well. Add the banana mixture to the oats in a pot and combine. Add the milk and stir till well mixed. Cook on the stove top till cooked (Check oat packet for suggested cooking time).

Serve immediately or cool slightly and pour into a Super Squish pouch for eating a little later. You could also add fruit puree or top with berries and yoghurt.