Pumpkin oatmeal

I've been trying to eat healthier within the past...year or so, since whatever I eat, the little mister eats too! So that means more vegetables and fruits, more whole foods and less processed. That also means trying a lot of new things! I've never been a vegetable eater, and still have a really hard time eating them raw. Recently though, I've found that they are really good when they are roasted, or hidden in something else! Back to the roasted (I'll get to the pumpkin oatmeal in a minute!), one night I came home from the grocery store with yukon gold potatoes, carrots and a sweet potato. The carrots and yukon gold potatoes were nothing unusual, but the sweet potato was! I was going to roast them all up with some minced garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper. So I diced them all up, mixed them together with the seasonings and popped them in the oven. They smelled really good while they were cooking, and after about 35 min. or so the timer went off. They looked beautiful, but how were they going to taste?? AMAZING! Mike and I ate pretty much the whole pan in one sitting, and I couldn't wait to make more the next day! After the next batch, I actually made them into a super easy soup...(just blend them up with some chicken stock until you get the consistency that you want), with homemade croutons! It was so good, and I think that it will become a weekly meal in our house this winter!

Now, onto the pumpkin oatmeal. I always thought that I didn't like pumpkin until this past week or so when I told myself that I would try it. It's so good for you-full of fiber, vitamin c, and low in all of the bad things! So here's a recipe that I tried, and adapted a little bit:

Pumpkin oatmeal:

1/2 C milk

1/8 C brown sugar (You can use honey, it will just make it stickier)

1/8 C pumpkin puree (a few spoonfuls)

1/2 tsp vanilla

a few sprinkles of pumpkin pie spice (or just cinnamon)

1/2 C oats

1 tsp peanut butter (optional)

dried fruit and nuts

maple syrup, for serving

Mix milk, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and spices in a pan until boiling. Stir in oatmeal and cook until creamy. Add peanut butter.

Sprinkle with nuts and dried fruit and serve with maple syrup!

Enjoy!