Pumpkin Cinnamon Oatmeal

I probably shouldn't be sharing this since I'm studying to be a dietitian and all, but about 5 times a week, I literally have to force myself to eat something other than cereal for two meals a day. I'm either too tired, too busy,or not hungry enough to feel like eating anything besides Cheerios and  skim milk. But because I know that this habit does not lead to the most balanced diet, I usually force myself to have something else. Yesterday at lunch was one of those time. I was busy and hot and tired, and was all set to sit  down and have my third bowl of cereal for the day when I laid down the law...with myself. I had oatmeal instead.

So, some of you may recall a few weeks ago when I  blogged about my favorite oatmeal, Quaker Weight Control, with my favorite being the Cinnamon kind. Well apparently you can no longer get just the cinnamon kind :( they only sell the variety pack with maple and brown sugar, cinnamon and banana bread...or the maple by itself. I have a suspicion I would like the banana bread kind, but I'm not the biggest maple and brown sugar fan, so I  won't buy the mixed pack. Sooooooo that left me stranded in the oatmeal aisle. And I was forced to choose a new kind. I had a bad experience with plain oatmeal last  year, so I was leery of buying it again....but seemed to be the healthiest of my choices (lowest sugar, lowest sodium)...so I thought I'd give it another try.

My theory is that the  reason it was so bad last year is because I made it with water. I've always made my oatmeal with water and it's never been a problem. But when you have just plain old oats, and all you add is water...there's really not a lot flavor going on. So this time, I tried making it with milk. Then I dumped a bunch of cinnamon on it, and  ate it with some yogurt. And it wasn't bad at all!! Milk has natural sugars in it so I think that helped, but because it was skim milk, it was still healthy.

So yesterday, after I made the pumpkin cornbread, I found myself with about 1/4 can of  pumpkin left. Isn't  that annoying?! Since it was about lunchtime, I decided to give in to the idea of pumpkin oatmeal that was forming in my head.

I cooked  the Quaker original instant oatmeal with milk as directed. Check out the nutrition facts. Low fat, low sodium, low sugar,  with some protein, some fiber and  lots of iron...

 Then I stirred in about a tablespoon of pumpkin and topped it off with cinnamon (did you know cinnamon is good for your metabolism?)

Stir it all together and enjoy. I enjoyed mine (*Warning, this may offend your tastebuds) with raspberry yogurt. I couldn't help myself. I love the hot and cold together in each spoonful. I might add some more pumpkin next time since I couldn't taste it all that much....but what a great way to sneak in some extra veggies ;)


So tell me- do you like oatmeal? What's your favorite way to eat it?

Enoy!
--Lindsay--