Oatmeal "Arroz Caldo" - A new Fall Favorite Comfort Food

The air smells like Autumn - crisp and delicious. Daylights are shorter and early morning temperature started to drop (sometimes to single digit). The sunflowers are everywhere, my own way of telling  fall is near.

In the coop, my "girls" egg popping activity is slowing down due to shorter daylight. Surprisingly, Maleficent {my black anacona hen} who lays egg every other day is now popping these cream colored eggs every day. There must be something in the autumn air that she likes ....

I decided to garnish Maleficent eggs in my new fall favorite comfort food: Oatmeal "Arroz Caldo"! 

Arroz caldo (Filipino congee), as the name implies is simply rice soup usually garnished with chicken, hard boiled eggs and spring onions. It is a very popular breakfast in the Philippines specially on a cold rainy day. Since I am trying to get rid of some unwanted pounds, a good friend of mine suggested to use oatmeal  in my recipe instead of rice. So I did and I love it! Now, I can enjoy this comfort food without feeling guilty!

While slicing and peeling my ingredients, this beautiful cedar waxwing bird landed in the backyard. What caught my attention are its single bloody red dot on its wings and the neon yellow accent on the tip of ts tail. When I looked closely, the bird's eyes are accented with black coloring as if it is wearing a mask! Simply gorgeous.

Now back to my recipe.... it took me less than 30 minutes {yes, that's even counting the photo session with the waxwing bird!} to prepare this .... equally delicious but definitely a healthier version of  my favorite comfort food ....

Oatmeal "Arroz Caldo"

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons canola oil (or other vegetable oil)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 thumb-sized fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped 
1 onion, finely chopped
2 1/2 cups chicken stock  (add more if  needed)
2 cups shredded chicken meat (I used left over roast chicken breast)
1 cup instant oatmeal
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 hard-boiled eggs for topping
2 spring onions, thinly sliced for topping
Calamansi or lemon

Procedure:

In a large stockpot,  saute the garlic, onion and ginger in oil over medium heat. Cook until onion is translucent. Do not burn the garlic.
Add the oatmeal. Stir and coat the oatmeal with sautéed garlic, onion and ginger. 
Add the shredded chicken meat and cook for another minute while stirring.  
Pour chicken stock, and fish sauce. 
Cover the pan and simmer over medium to low heat. 
Stir frequently and simmer until the oatmeal are cooked. Add more chicken stock if oatmeal is getting too sticky.
To serve, ladle oatmeal "arroz caldo" into bowls and garnish with spring onions and hard-boiled egg.
Drizzle with lemon or calamansi (optional)