WE ALL know that the best way to start the day is with a good hearty breakfast, and what could be better for us than a big bowl of steaming hot porridge packed with super nutritious oats. I tend to go for porridge with all the added extras, made with milk, sweetened with brown muscovado sugar or maple syrup and a teeny bit of cinnamon, a pinch of salt and even a splash of cream drizzled over at the end.

Because of their slowreleasing carbohydrates, eating oats at breakfast (or indeed at any time of the day) really will keep the energy up and the hunger at bay until lunchtime. They are also rich in beta-glucan, a gel-like fibre that helps to lower blood cholesterol level, to sustain blood sugar levels and to maintain bowel health.

I successfully fed our boys porridge for breakfast every day from when they were tiny to just very recently, but sadly now they cannot bear the sight of it, so I am constantly finding ways of sneaking oats into their diet even if it is in a crunchy nutty muesli sweetened with honey or in their biscuits for school.

Have oats to hand in your kitchen as there are so many delicious ways you can use them:

»Put a handful of oats with some natural yoghurt and your favourite combination of fruit and whizz in a liquidiser for a healthy nutritious smoothie.

» Spread oats out on a baking tray and toast under a hot grill or in a hot oven for a few seconds till golden and add into your favourite muesli or cereal.

»For breakfast, I often have a bowl of natural yoghurt with a sprinkling of oats and a drizzle of honey;

sometimes with sliced banana too; it's filling and made in an instant .

» Add a couple of handfuls of oats to your flour when making brown or white soda bread.

Crunchy nutty muesli Makes about 1.5kg This is great with milk or with natural yoghurt in the morning. Feel free to substitute some of the ingredients - you could use some rye or barley flakes instead of some of the oat flakes; add chocolate chips, dried cranberries, whatever takes your fancy. This makes loads and it keeps really well for up to a month in an airtight container.

125g butter 150ml honey One tsp vanilla extract 500g oat flakes 100g flaked almonds 100g chopped cashew nuts 100g desiccated coconut 100g pumpkin seeds 100g sunflower seeds 200-300g dried fruit, like chopped dried dates, figs or apricots, raisins, sultanas Preheat the oven to 170ºC, gas 3. Put the butter, honey and vanilla in a small saucepan, and put on the heat to melt together. Put the remaining ingredients, except the dried fruit, in a large bowl and mix. Stir in the melted butter and honey mixture and stir really well to make sure it is evenly combined. Spread the muesli out on a large roasting tray and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the nuts and grains are a pale golden brown, but do stir it in the oven every five minutes or so, so that it browns evenly.

Remove the tray from the oven and leave the muesli in the tray to cool, again stirring every now and then.

If you transfer it into a deep bowl at this stage while it is warm, it will go soggy. When it has cooled down, add the dried fruit, stir and put into an airtight container to store at room temperature.

Apple and oat crumble Serves 6 I love adding some oats into a crumble - it is delicious with a strawberry and peach crumble in the summertime, or in an apple crumble now.

Three-four large cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into big chunks One tbsp water Two-three tbsp sugar For the crumble:

150g plain white flour 25g porridge oats 75g butter 75g light brown or light muscovado sugar One tsp ground cinnamon - optional Preheat the oven to 180ºC, gas 4. Put the apple chunks, water and sugar into a saucepan over a lowish heat and cook until the apples are soft and in a pulp, about 10 minutes. While it is cooking stir it every minute or so to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Taste and add more sugar if it needs it.

Transfer the apple pulp into individual bowls or one big pie dish and allow to cool slightly.

Next make the crumble:

rub the butter into the flour, just until the mixture resembles very coarse breadcrumbs (rub it in too much and the crumble will not be crunchy), add the oats and the sugar.

Sprinkle this crumble mixture over the slightly cooled apple and bake for 15 minutes for small crumbles or 30-45 minutes for large crumbles or until the crumble is cooked and golden. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Oaty brown bread Makes one loaf This recipe is so versatile:

add into it whatever seeds you like, throw in a small handful of bran or wheatgerm, or replace the treacle with brown sugar or honey.

225g wholemeal flour 200g plain flour 75g oats One handful of seeds, like sunflower, sesame, pumpkin, hemp One tsp salt One tsp bread soda (bicarbonate of soda) Two eggs Two tbsp sunflower oil Two generous tsp treacle 350ml approx buttermilk Extra oats for sprinkling on top Preheat the oven to 220ºC, gas 8. Put the flours, oats, seeds and the salt into a large mixing bowl. Using a small fine sieve, sift in the bread soda, then mix the dry ingredients with your hands. In a measuring jug, whisk the eggs, add in the oil, treacle and the buttermilk. Make a well in the centre of your dry ingredients and pour in all but 25ml of the liquid.

With your hand outstretched and firm like a claw, mix in one direction, around the bowl until the ingredients come together to form a soft and quite sloppy dough. Add the remainder of the liquid or more buttermilk if it looks too dry.

Transfer the mixture to an oiled loaf tin, 13 x 23cm, and sprinkle the top with oats. Put in the centre of the preheated oven and cook for 15 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 200ºC, has 6, and cook for 40-45 minutes more.

The bread is cooked when it sounds hollow on the base. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Handy hints: If you want a slightly soft crust on your bread, cover it with a clean and ever so slightly damp tea towel when it comes out of the oven, and allow to cool.

»If you live on your own and reckon that you will never get through a whole loaf of bread before it goes stale, just cut the loaf into slices and put in the freezer. Take out a slice or two as you need it.

Oatcakes Makes about 18 Crisp, crumbly Scottish oatcakes have been made for centuries, and are great to serve with cheese and salamis as an alternative to bread or crackers, but are also delicious with butter and jam or honey.

225g porridge oats 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp baking powder Three tbsp olive oil, or melted butter 100ml boiling water Preheat the oven to 160ºC, gas 3. Put the oats in a food processor with the salt and the baking powder and whizz till the oats are quite fine. With the motor running, add the olive oil or butter, then add just enough boiling water to bring it together to form a dough - you may not need all the water. Turn off the food processor and put the dough onto a work surface sprinkled with a little flour or oats (or put between two sheets of cling film) and roll out till it is about three or four mm thick. Cut into rounds or squares.

Place on a baking tray sprinkled with some flour and cook in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes till pale golden and crisp.

Remove from the oven and let them sit for a couple of minutes on the tray, before transferring to a wire rack to cool. These will keep for about five days in an airtight box, or they can be frozen too.

White chocolate and raisin oat cookies Makes about 24 These biscuits are great for lunchboxes. I often make twice this recipe and store some in the freezer.

125g butter, softened but not melted 125g light soft brown or light muscovado sugar One large egg, beaten One tsp vanilla extract One tbsp milk 75g raisins 75g-110g white chocolate chips 150g porridge oats 110g self-raising flour Preheat the oven to 180ºC, gas 4. Put the butter in a large mixing bowl and soften completely with a wooden spoon. Beat in the sugar, and then the egg, followed by the vanilla and the milk. Add the raisins and the chocolate chips, and then stir in the oats and the flour and mix to a dough.

Put balls of dough the size of a walnut on a baking tray, spaced well apart and cook in the preheated oven for 1215 minutes until light golden. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

BOOK OF THE WEEK Breakfast, Lunch, Tea is the first cookbook by Rose Carrarini, who co-founded the much-imitated delicatessen, Villandry, in London in 1998, and now serves her signature simple, fresh and natural food at Rose Bakery in Paris.

This book includes recipes for over 100 of Rose Bakery's most popular dishes, from sugar-free granola and ricotta pancakes to afternoon treats like hazelnut brownies and orange almond cakes, as well as soups, risottos and other dishes.