I never used to be a fan of hot cereals. However, they have grown on me with age. Going off of recipes in both Nourishing Traditions and Sue Gregg‘s Breakfasts book, I have arrived at a hot cereal I really like.
and I take whatever whole grains I have on hand. Usually that’s brown rice, barley, oats, and some type of wheat. This time around I used 
spelt, which is an ancient variety of wheat. Sue Gregg suggested cracking these grains right in your blender, which is ingenious. It’s also nostalgic for me because I used to spend a week every summer in a grain elevator where my grandfather worked. After you run this mixture through your blender it will smell just like a grain elevator.
I used to make something similar from an Arrowhead Mills box. The freshly ground grain tastes much better.
Based on Nourishing Traditions, I soak this over night in water with a couple tablespoons of whey added. I use 1 cup of grain to 3 cups of water. In the morning I add salt (Eden Foods celtic sea salt) and dried fruit, cook till it’s thick and not too soupy and then add butter, ground flax (freshly in the blender), and maple syrup. This morning I ground some almonds and added those.
Mmmmm.
Brian, until today I’ve never liked hot cereals. I finally tried a multi grain pooridge like what is in NT (barley, oat, millet were the only 3 I had), soaked in whey and cooked with sea salt, but also nutmeg and cinnamon (based on one I purchased from Three Stone Hearth recently). I didn’t know how to grind them (thanks for the blender tip) so I used a hand immersion blender after it was cooked mostly. My son asked for 2 bowls at lunch, another at dinner and says he’s having it for breakfast too. I serve it with raw butter, cream, frozen fruit and a dash of agave. I could not belive how tasty it was, especially with a blend of fruit flavors and the spices. I’m converted now. Thanks for sharing a cool blog!
Thanks for the breakfast cereal post. We are trying to eat more hot cereal too. Many years ago we used to get a cereal (when ever we would go to British Columbia to visit friends) called “Red River Cereal”. It was a hot cereal blend and it was the best. I can’t recall the grains, but it was good. I think it is a Canadian cereal, probably from the middle part of Canada. Are you familiar with this cereal, and if so, any ideas on how to duplicate it?
http://www.redrivercereal.com/
Looks like it is wheat, rye, and flax. I haven’t ever seen it or had it.
Red River Cereal is readily for sale in Canada and we recently bought some on-line through e-bay and it was shipped in no time! Great stuff!