Grain Free Sweet Potato Pumpkin Porridge Recipe- Refined Sugar Free, Vegan

Sweet potato butternut squash porridge, topped with ground almonds

I'm a creative cook, I have a bunch of great ideas for new and interesting recipes, thankfully... but even so, breakfast is always hard for me. I struggle trying to figure out what to make for my family and myself that is tasty, relatively nutritious, and doesn't take too much effort to make... as well as being gluten free, dairy free, egg free, and refined sugar free. I fail miserably most of the time, which is why lately I must admit that my kids have been having store bought junky cereal and milk for breakfast (and good news- it seems that none of my kids are sensitive to dairy anymore!!)

This breakfast idea is one of my successes, when I actually figured out a breakfast that fit all the above requirements. It is perfect for a winter morning, is delicious and healthy and suitable for so many different types of diets, including grain free, gluten free, vegan, etc... The one down side is that it isn't so quick to make, which is annoying in the morning. So I'd recommend either making it at night and reheating it, or making it until step 3 and then finishing it off in the morning.

My kids gobbled this up like there was no tomorrow, and then were sad when there wasn't any more. They asked me to make this as frequently as I can. I plan on it!

Notes: I made mine with a mix of sweet potato and butternut squash, but you can use pumpkin in place of one of them. In fact, as long as you have between 9 and 10 cups of chopped orange stuff, you can use pumpkin, butternut squash, or sweet potato in whatever proportions you want- just adjust the rest of the ingredients to taste accordingly. If you go entirely with pumpkin, with no sweet potato, you'll want to use more starch to thicken it. Feel free to leave out the starch entirely, and make it with only pumpkin and butternut squash if you want to make this GAPS legal, just note that it will be more runny, so you may want to cook it down a little bit more until it thickens.

Grain Free Sweet Potato Pumpkin Porridge Recipe- Refined Sugar Free, Vegan

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped butternut squash
5 1/2 cups chopped sweet potatoes
1-2 cups water
cover and steam
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons honey or maple syrup (or any other sweetener you like)
1-3 tablespoon potato or tapioca starch (or corn starch, but then this isn't grain free)
1 pinch powdered vanilla or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Almonds, raisins, or coconut (optional)

Instructions:
1. Peel and chop up butternut squash and sweet potatoes.

2. Put in a pot with the water, cover well, and cook until the squash/sweet potato/pumpkin is soft. You will be steaming them, not boiling, so the water shouldn't cover it. When the solids are mostly soft, uncover and let the water boil off partially.

3. Strain out the liquid and reserve. If you are preparing the first half at night for the next morning, put it in the fridge now.

4. Using a food processor or blender or blender stick, turn the chunks into a porridge like consistency.

5. Using some of the reserved liquid, mix 1/4 cup water with the starch, and then add it back into the porridge.

6. Add the rest of the ingredients to taste, and then heat up until thickened. (Or if making it starch free and therefore GAPS legal, cook it down, mixing constantly, until it thickens to the consistency that you like.)

7. Serve hot, optionally topped with coconut flakes, ground almonds, or with raisins mixed in. If desired, serve either with regular milk or vegan milks poured on top.

Enjoy!

Are you a fan of porridge/hot cereal in the winter? What do you generally make yours out of? Have you ever made grain free porridge? What do you put in yours? Does this look like something you'd try out?