I refuse to spend the insane amounts of money that certain brands can charge to sell ‘baby porridge’. With the twins not only eating double the amount of everything, but also having really robust appetites, I wanted to find a way to make my own porridge at home for less than I could buy it for.

Hands up, this is hardly a ‘recipe’ – it’s really just a collection of things, whizzed up together, stored in an airtight container and then warmed slowly with milk every morning. But my boys wolf down huge bowls of the stuff, so it works really well for us. I started off, when the boys were about eight months old just whizzing up plain rolled oats, but as they’ve got bigger, and are able to cope with more textures, I have started adding more seeds, nuts and spices.  I also often add some of the ‘superfood’ powders you can get  in the health section of supermarkets these days too – this one is great.

Healthy Baby Porridge (10 months +)

You’ll need a decent food processor/Magimix.

• 300g rolled porridge oat (I use this one)
• 300g rolled spelt flakes (I use these ones)
• 60g quinoa flakes (optional, available from health food shops, but quite strong tasting so go easy on them)
• 60g golden linseeds
• 60g ground almonds
• 6 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp chia seeds (again optional, they cost a bomb, but are a fantastic source of omega-3 fatty acids, fibre, antioxidants, iron, protein and calcium)

Throw it all in a food processor, whizz it up till the oats are broken into small pieces, then store in an airtight container. In the mornings, warm it slowly on the hob with cold milk, an then stir in some yogurt. You could also add some chopped raisins or chopped, dried apricots while heating it in the mornings, or simply some fresh fruit, chopped or crushed.