Pumpkin Oatmeal

We always have a lot of pumpkin on our hands after Halloween.  I like roasting pumpkin seeds with some olive oil, cumin, and salt for a crunchy snack or topping for salads or vegetables.  Then I'll steam and puree the pumpkin flesh and make large batches of pumpkin bread, stir pumpkin into chili or black bean soup, and savor warm pumpkin oatmeal on chilly mornings.

Pumpkin is one of the most nutritional fruits available year-round.  Sidebar: did you know pumpkin is actually a fruit, not a vegetable?  The rule is — if it has seeds, it's a fruit.  So technically, these are all fruits: cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, bell peppers, green beans.  But modern society refers to all these fruits as vegetables.

Getting back to our friend the pumpkin, there are so many reasons to eat pumpkin as much as possible.  It is low in fat and calories, and packed with antioxidants, fiber, and vitamins C and E.  It boosts immunity, reverses skin damage, and reduces the risk of heart disease.  Both the seeds and flesh are highly nutritious, so take advantage of the plentiful pumpkins this time of year.  And when the season is over, go for canned pumpkin as well.  It's one food item that is just as nutritious canned as fresh.

We'd love to hear other ways you use pumpkin, so please share favorite pumpkin ideas by commenting below!

Pumpkin Oatmeal

1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup milk or soy milk
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or more if you like more spice)
Dash of salt
1 Tbsp chopped nuts
1 Tbsp dried cranberries
Honey or maple syrup to taste

1. Place milk, oats, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove from heat and place in bowl.  Stir in nuts and cranberries.  Sweeten with honey or maple syrup to taste.

Serves 1


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Comments

  • 11/9/2009 interesting facts wrote:
    YUMMY!!!I love pumpkin oatmeal! I've been putting canned pumpkin in my oats for several weeks now. I was adding 2 tsp. organic brown sugar, but I've switched to sticking half of a frozen banana in the microwave for one minute, 'til it's melted, then adding in the oats/pumpkin/water/spices. That way I'm eating naturally sweetened oatmeal, plus getting veggies AND fruit in my first meal of the day!
    Reply to this
  • 11/9/2009 Rachael wrote:
    I made puree out of my pumpkin ~ season and froze it to be used in my famous pumpkin bread pudding recipe for Thanksgiving
    I detailed it here:
    http://www.glassofwin.com/?p=288
    Reply to this
  • 11/9/2009 Katie wrote:
    I don't know what the dish is called, but I had a pumpkin dish at a Moroccan restaurant that was super yummy. It was spiced with cumin and cinnamon, and topped with spicy ground beef and a big dollop of yogurt. Scrumptuous!
    Reply to this
  • 11/9/2009 Catherine Davis wrote:
    Looks terrific. I love pumpkin and oatmeal is such a healthy way to start the day. Great idea to combine the two! I wouldn't have thought of it myself, and it makes me think to use pumpkin more often than just during the holidays.
    I also love roasting the seeds. We do a few different varieties. Some with just salt & pepper, some with curry powder, and we even did some with green tea powder. They were all great.
    Reply to this
  • 11/9/2009 Cheri wrote:
    Yummmm. Pumpkin is so good. My husband loves oatmeal, so I can't wait to try this out to see if he'll like it. I posted about pumpkin recipes last week too. Check it out - http://parlancer.blogspot.com/2009/11/meatless-monday-pasta-with-mushrooms.html.
    Reply to this
  • 11/10/2009 Vince Quackenbush wrote:
    Vegetable has no botanical meaning.
    Fruit, on the other hand, does. Fruit is the swollen mature ovaries of an angio sperm. Something can be a Fruit and a vegetable. Fruit vs Vegetable? Meaningless!
    Reply to this
  • 11/12/2009 air mattress wrote:
    I'm not all that big of a fan of pumpkin on its own, but might just try this. I particularily like the sound of pumpkin bread.

    Briany
    Reply to this
  • 11/25/2009 Catherine wrote:
    Sorry, this was awful. When I started to add a lot of sugar it started tasting good I guess, but it needed a lot more than I use in oatmeal without the pumpkin.
    Reply to this
  • 12/1/2009 Michelle wrote:
    I make triple batches of this, subbing raisins for cranberries, adding more pumpkin pie spices and topping it with walnuts and brown sugar. Delicious! I portion it out into cottage cheese containers and freeze. Thaw it overnight and I have a wonderful breakfast, ready to go.
    Reply to this
  • 1/16/2010 how to build muscle fast wrote:
    Im always eating oatmeal because its good for you and I know pumpkin is too, I never heard of this recipe. Sounds delicious and is healthy. Ill have to try this. Thank you!!
    Reply to this
  • 1/18/2010 Road Accident Compensation wrote:
    Pumpkin provides vitamin A, potassium, protein and vitamin C. Pumpkin is also low in calories. For every pound of whole pumpkin, you can expect to get one cup of pumpkin puree which holds much nutritional value.
    Reply to this
  • 2/25/2010 Mens Ties wrote:
    I just made this and didn't read the directions of "combine oats through salt" so I skipped all the spices...opps. BUT I did buy pumpkin pie ready puree that had a lot of the spices already in it. To say the least, it turned out SO good! Can't wait to make on a cool fall morning with a hot cup of coffee!
    Reply to this
  • 5/8/2010 Pepper Spray wrote:
    Oatmeal is the best, and pumpkins are low in calories, yummmy! Thank you very much for this!
    Reply to this
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