I am hopeless when it comes to routine. Beyond getting out of bed each morning, for the rest of the day, nothing is ever the same. I could blame this on Thea and the fact that she wakes at different times every morning and I usually always wait until she calls out to me before I get up, to try and capitalise on sleep. I could accuse my job for my irregular attitude to the day, always working for different clients on a range of ever changing culinary tasks. Or I could just take accountability for the fact that I get easily bored and have always stated that I never wanted a nine to five lifestyle. That said though, as a mum, I can now see the  advantage of familiar daily events. And that has become ever clearer since returning from a holiday to Bali.

Don’t get me wrong. The holiday was great. Uninterrupted time spend with the contemporary builder and Thea (who started to crawl and stand up while we were away) was beautiful. But it was also exhausting. Thea just hates sleeping. Or rather, she has never really had much of a routine to be able to recognize that she is supposed to nap. I vowed to myself that on our return, Thea and I would commence a regular daytime pattern, involving set activities, punctuated by sleep. And what better set activities that breakfast, lunch and dinner, just like on our family holiday.

Now Thea’s breakfast, lunch and dinner at this stage of her life, eight months give or take, is pretty easy. Pureed meat and veggies. Yes, even for breakfast. I have tried banana and yoghurt and eggs for brekkie, as is more the norm, but she won’t have any of it! Chicken is her preferred start to he day. So while she is taken care of in the form of pre prepared frozen cubes of sustenance, my first meal of the day can take a bit longer (I like to have something more nutritious and sustaining than toast or commercial cereal) and when its preparation is hindered by the demands of a small person, I can end up eating at midday. Again, all routine out the window. That is until I discovered steel cut oats. A revelation. I can soak a cup on a Sunday night and I’m set for the week. Just add some milk, blueberries (Thea does like to share these), coconut oil and panela, reheat and my morning meal is ready. However, I do have to wait until after Thea’s first nap before we can go out and get coffee, but one step at a time. At least we are making progress. To be continued…

Steel cut oats

In the evening, simply combine one part oats to four parts water in a pot. Bring to the boil and then turn off heat. Cover pot and leave to stand overnight.

In the morning, just take the amour that you want from the pot of soaked oats, add more water or milk, fruit, sugar, nuts, whatever you fancy, and reheat.

Refrigerate the remaining soaked oats and repeat the process every morning. Easy!