New Recipe of the Week: Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

I've decided to devote this month's Recipes of the Week to all things autumn!! The leaves are falling, the mornings are crisp, and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I don't know about you, but this season has me craving hearty, warm, and comforting foods!

Until now, I've only posted recipes for dinner foods so this week recipe is a breakfast one.....although it's so yummy it could be a dessert! This recipe for Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal delivers a hearty breakfast as well as lots of good-for-you foods. We all know that oatmeal is a great source of whole grain that promotes heart health.

What you might not have known is that pumpkin also contains many health benefits. Besides carotenoids, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which are all antioxidants, pumpkins have a lot of common nutrients, like iron, zinc, and fiber. Iron, of course, is needed by red blood cells which is really important for runners. Some runners can have low iron levels due to foot strike hemolysis where the pounding of running actually causes red blood cells to break.

You can use either traditional oats or steel cut oats in this recipe.....just don't use the flavored instant stuff!

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

Cooked oatmeal

Canned pumpkin

Brown sugar

Pumpkin pie spice (or a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc if you don't have pumpkin pie spice)

Nuts (I like almonds or pecans)

Cook one serving of plain oats according to your liking either on the stove top or in the microwave (the pumpkin will add some moisture so I like to cook mine a little thicker to accommodate). Mix in ~1/2 cup of canned pumpkin and briefly put in the microwave to heat the mixture (not necessary if your pumpkin is at room temp). Mix in a sprinkle of brown sugar, some pumpkin pie spice, and a handful of nuts.

Feel free to add more or less of anything to make it your own! Enjoy :)