As much as I love the feeling of having a workout done before I start my day, the days when I save it for the afternoon sure have peaceful mornings. I made a point to get up at 5:30 today even though I’m running this afternoon just so I’d have tons of time. Moving about my house in the mornings makes me feel grown up! I made a pot of coffee too, which is the #1 grown up activity, and am finishing up a load of laundry before 8am 😎
I also made Pumpkin Coconut Pie Oatmeal!
I had the Chobani, pumpkin and Quaker Squares out on the counter to assemble a yogurt breakfast but literally when I had my hand on the lid I decided I wanted something warm and pushed the yogurt back to tomorrow’s lunch since you guys said expired yogurts have much more wiggle room than I thought.
But the pumpkin got opened. I apologize in advance that I will be eating a lot of pumpkin in the next week – this 28 oz can was HUGEEEEEEEE!
Today’s combo did not include banana (gasp!!) because the husband only got 4 bananas this week and I only have one left!! Normally I would have raced back to the grocery store – milk + banana are the two things we absolutely cannot live without….or can we!? This week we’re using vanilla soy milk from Costco (the kind that’s shelf stable and $12 for 12 boxes) and I am choosing pumpkin + apple for breakfast the other 2 days. While I may be rolling in bars and free samples this week, I am making a point to continue eating as I normally do during the challenge to make it fair. While all the samples are fair game for the Challenge (good strategy too, as M pointed out last night!) they can’t replace fresh foods. But I do think I should choose them more for afternoon snack to use them up not only when I am on the go.
OK, so back to oats!
- 1/3 cup Windy Hills Flax oats, 1/3 cup soy milk, 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 cup pumpkin (a lot!) (stirred in at end and pre-heated)
- 1/8 cup cottage cheese (stirred in at end)
- Pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 crumbled Coconut Cream LaraBar (While the flavor was great, LaraBars are a little weak on the chew factor so I have determined they’re not the ideal oatmeal topping since chew/crunch is my topping goal)
- Spoonful Barney Butter
- Shaved coconut butter (This was the perfect solution! The coconut butter is rather hard – just like wax. You can’t really “spoon” some out. So rather than melting it in a separate bowl and having to wash that, I just shaved some off with a fork, and it melted right onto the hot oats!)
+ coffee
I’m feeling so organized this morning. Last night’s 10 minutes of cleaning the floors (I also vacuumed), the laundry that is almost done and the uncluttered house because my spouse hasn’t been home make things neat 🙂
But I’m looking forward to having lunch with him today!!
We should get our organic tests back today 😳
zestycook says
Kath, the pumkin oatmeal looks awesome!! WOW. It sounds like your in strore for another great day.
zesty
ashley (sweet & natural) says
Cans of pumpkin were on sale for 99 cents at my grocery store last night, so I stocked up. I’ll be eating a lot of it now too!
P.S. I’m new to pumpkin oats and LOVE them. They totally bulk up the bowl. YUM.
caitlin says
my house is a disaster. i’m jealous!
Cassidy says
How long after you open a can of pumpkin & refrisgerate it is it good for?
Mara says
Where do you find coconut butter? It sounds like something I’d ADORE!
Beadie says
That is one good looking bowl of oats!
rhodeygirl says
do you use some kind of schedule for cleaning or just clean as necessary? i have a 10 minutes a day rule where i clean as fast as i can for 10 minutes each day but i seem to then never make the time to do big things like cleaning the hardwoods or dusting everything.
VeggieGirl says
Hooray for peaceful mornings & Pumpkin Coconut Pie Oatmeal!! 😀
But…
NO BANANA?!?!?!???!! **dies**
Megan says
Yummy pumpkin coconut oats. I never thought about adding LaraBar to oats. I am sure you did great on the test.
Charlie Hills says
Pumpkin Coconut Pie Oatmeal…?
[Insert Homer Simpson drooling sound here.]
Erica says
Isn’t it funny to have those moments when you suddenly realize how grown up you are? My husband and I recently started making a point of getting up at a decent time on the weekends (particularly on Sundays because we use to sleep in super late) and that makes us feel so grown up!
The breakfast looks fabulous!
Charlie Hills says
Oh, and sorry to spam your comments, Kath, but if anyone wants a chance at winning a copy of me wunnerful book, click on my name and follow the big announcement.
Thank you. We now return you to your regularly scheduled commenting, already in progress.
Maggie says
Those look SO full of chew today.
I like the 10 minutes of cleaning thing – I try to do it at night. It makes me feel so happy to wake up to a clean house.
Happy Wednesday!
Andrea (Off Her Cork) says
We stopped using/drinking milk for a little while now. However I realized I still needed something for small things like maybe mashed potatoes, pancakes and so on. What I started using was half & half. I know it’s fatty but it’s only a splash every so often so I can live with that. But the bonus is that it has an amazingly long shelf life once opened. Whereas milk needs to be used up in like a week or so, the half & half literally lasts me for weeks open and I have yet to have a container go bad on me. I love it!
I love mornings like that as well! It makes me feel all productive. 😀
Runeatrepeat says
It is very weird when I do things that I consider “grow-up”. It’s kind of un-real since sometimes I still feel like a kid.
Megan says
Yay, for feeling organized! I agree with you about waking up and doing household things- it definitely makes you feel grown up. You get a sense of “I cleaned this” or “I helped make my kitchen look pretty”… love that! It is a productive feeling, like Andrea said above.
Good luck with you test grade!!!
Bridget says
Your first paragraph cracked me up…anytime I get up, make a pot of coffee and put some laundry in the washer, I always think “this is exactly what my mom is doing right now!” It also usually inspires me to eat a piece of fruit right away because that’s mom’s other first-thing-in-the-morning activity 🙂 Makes me feel very grown-up.
Have a great day!
Erin says
Quiet mornings at home are very peaceful, you’re right. Glad you got some stuff done. 🙂
Betsy says
i’m an early riser too and i also totally feel really grown up when i’m doing apt stuff that early. and i remember when i made my first pot of coffee when i was in college, i felt so adult!
Oh She Glows says
wow $12 for 12 boxes…that is a steal!! I must check this out.
Glad your AM routine was productive!
HangryPants says
I’m pretty sure I am going to turn into a pumpkin after this week! I just love it so much. You should try pumpkin + banana in your oatmeal. It’s deeeelicious.
SmA033 says
i had pumpkin oats today too! But i filled it w/a bunch of cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice & raisins. Oh, and i shouldn’t forget to mention that i topped it w/a trail mix that had dark chocolate chips, white chocolate chips & butterscotch chips….drool….
i’ve been meaning to ask you kath– when you were losing weight & now in your maintenance stage, did you ever do any ab exercises??
Teddy says
I’m sure you did fantastic on your test and i look forward to hearing about it!
coco says
mmmmmmmmmmmm………. so yummy~~~~~ pumpkin + coconut is so good~~~~~~
Mel says
Making coffee makes me feel grown up too. There is just something about it! 🙂
I’m sure you did great on your test!
Madison says
i personally won’t mind all the pumpkin that will come up on your blog this week ;D
Krista says
Your oats sound spectacular! 🙂
Katie says
That looks great! There are so many possibilities with coconut, I’ll have to pick some up. Do you use sweetened or unsweetened flakes?
seelee live (for the love of peanut butter) says
You do seem so on top of things indeed Kath! It’s SUCH a good feeling. I have a question, do you suggest creamy or crunchy Barney ButteR? I am looking into buying some-just don’t know which to choose?!!
BethT says
I agree – I really dig my morning routine which makes it HARD to work out in the a.m.! Maybe I should just resign myself to the fact that I’m not a morning work-outer 🙂
Rose says
That bowl of oatmeal is beautiful!
I know what you mean about doing things around the house in the AM and feeling like an adult. That’s how I feel on the weekends! 🙂
TracyJ says
Has anyone tried PB2- the powdered peanut butter? I was thinking about buying it…
jess says
They ONLY sell the 24 oz. cans of pumpkin at my store and I keep holding off buying one because I have no idea how I’d use it all- I cannot Wait to see what you do because hopefully it’ll give me some good ideas 😉
Heather says
Don’t apologize for lots of pumpkin dishes- LOVE them!!!
That’s a really great deal on soymilk… reason #19853 Costco is better than Sam’s (hello, Costco- you listening?? Come to Dallas).
Great job on getting organized this morning!
nancy says
Hey Kath,
I was wondering about Coconut Butter also. What exactly is it? Does it have a lot of sugar in it making it add sweetness to the oats? Also, where can you find it? I noticed you dont add brown sugar to oatmeal as much anymore and thought this might be why.
Hope you do well on the exam!
runjess says
Oh no no, you are not a grown up unless you are racing around frantically in the morning trying to get to work 😉
Or maybe you’re more like a retired person. Either way, sounds nice.
debby schnabel says
Your pumpkin oatmeal looks prettier than mine that I had yesterday. But I sure enjoyed mine. I used steel cut oatmeal (I heard bits and pieces about the contrOATversey in Chicage…) and I use Unsweetened Almond breeze because I love the taste and I love that it is only 40 calories per cup.
Have you tried Flax Plus granola? It is my favorite, again because it seems to be lower in calories, but also I just love the flavor. I think it has a lot of cinnamon. Anyways, its good for a crunch.
jen says
it’s funny the different uses for pumpkin. i use mine for coolant! (ew, yes just like a car). when i make oats before work, i don’t have enough time for them to cool off enough not to scald myself so i use the pumpkin out of the fridge to make the edible. 😉
Julia (Santa Barbara Dreaming) says
That is one absolutely terrific sounding bowl of oats. Pumpkin and coconut? I MUST give that a try!
You’re so lucky you got all those larabars yesterday; they are so yummy! 🙂
I don’t think I’ll be able to drag myself out of bed super early to do anything if the world depended on it, haha 🙂 Happy humpday
Emily says
Kath–just wondering if you’ve heard of/read The End of Food by Paul Roberts. I heard him speak a couple of nights ago, and he was fascinating! His work runs in the same vein as Michael Pollen, and he spoke about innovation in the food system turning our diets into a consumer commodity. He made some very interesting points about the connection between rising food costs and the energy crisis and a broadened deffinition of sustainability–I think you’d like it!
Chelsea says
Good luck with the test! Hopefully there was a big curve and you did better than you thought!
Kath says
Cassidy ,
No idea but prob. 1-2 weeks.
Mara ,
Whole Foods or here:
http://astore.amazon.com/kaearefo-20?_encoding=UTF8&node=1
rhodeygirl ,
I just clean when things look dirty…
Charlie Hills,
CONGRATS on the book!! I someone with it this weekend in Chicago and didn’t realize it was yours!!
SmA033 ,
Yes, I do abs about once a week. Should probably do more.
HangryPants ,
I do always put banana + pumpkin together but today I had to omit b/c of the shortage.
Katie ,
Unsweetened and reduced fat from EarthFare.
seelee live,
I haven’t tried the creamy, but I’d imagine the taste is the same. Just judge based on if you like crunch or not.
BethT ,
Perfectly fine! Just like my resignation from steel cut oats 🙂
nancy ,
See the info here:
http://astore.amazon.com/kaearefo-20/detail/B000WV153I
Emily ,
Sounds like a great book – Xmas list!!
Kath
Jennifer says
Man, I wish I liked pumpkin as the rest of ya’ll. The smell makes me ill, so the only way I’d eat it is in baked goods.
Halie says
Love today’s oats! Pumpkin and coconut! Yum!
Grounded Fitness says
I find that the older i get, the more time i need in the morning to get going. if i dont have a coffee/email/blog/today show hour in the morning, Im not 100% the rest of the day
Kelly Turner
www.groundedfitness.com
Sam says
Yum! I can’t wait to have pumpkin oats when I go home for Thanksgiving (I’m a college student). I have a kitchen but I think my roommates would think I was weird making pumpkin oats 🙂
Sam says
By the way I made an interesting bowl of oats this morning. 1/3 cup oats, soymilk, and water, some slivered almonds, walnuts, a banana and cinnamon all cooked then on top I had about 1/2 cup greek yogurt and a shopped up pear. It was pretty good, I am really liking the greek yogurt on top of oats.
jen says
random call for suggestions.
i’m having thanksgiving with the boy’sextended family. i won them over with chocolate cherry cinnamon brownies fos his b-day. (dubbed O-brownies, cause their that good. you can guess what the capital O stands for…;) )
anyway, i’m trying to decide something I could bring for his large (like 20-30 people) family. the brownies ain’t gonna cut it. and i don’t like pumpkin pie.
any suggestions. my family is 4 so i’m used to tiny batch recipes. doubling the brownie recipe, with the good quality 3 chocolates and dried cherries is tooooo expensive. any fav recipes you could point me to?
Katy G. says
Hey Everyone,
I found this article from CNN ranking the healthiest grocery stores in America. I thought it was pretty neat. Enjoy, Katy
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/11/11/Healthmag.healthiest.grocery.stores/index.html?eref=rss_health
Katy G. says
Hey Everyone,
I found this article about the healthiest grocery store in America. Pretty neat!
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/11/11/Healthmag.healthiest.grocery.stores/index.html?eref=rss_health
p.s. sorry if this gets posted twice.
Beth says
1) why on earth would you want to fee grown up?! :-p i am busy trying to become a kid again!!
2) that can of pumpkin was canned in my hometown!!!!
Katy G. says
My comments are not being posted. I wanted to share an article on CNN listing the 10 ten grocery stores in America. I think it is the link that is getting my comments spammed. I encourage everyone to check it out though. It was awesome reading about the programs to encourage healthy eating that stores have initiated.
Erin says
How is the challenge going Kath? Is your pantry looking barren yet?
Erin says
P.S. love the new header! (I think it’s new?)
Jennifer says
I saw the article on the 10 healthiest and had to crack up at their high-ranking of Safeway. We have one across the street from us and it is TERRIBLE.
KT says
Jennifer- I totally agree, I hate it when I have to go to Safeway for something, I always feel icky when I leave it 🙂 I live in Vancouver and when I was there last week the ONLY produce I could find that wasn’t from the US was apples.
Kath- I was just curious if you’ve ever learned anything in your courses about caffeine blocking iron absorption? Not sure if I read this somewhere reputable or if I just made it up… I was just curious b/c I always try to take my multivitamin in the afternoon but it would be way more convenient to take it in the morning 🙂 thanks!
Katrina says
Kath-
Oh My Goodness. My five year old’s preschool class had a field trip to Great Harvest today. I had never been to one. I thought of your husband while we were there, just baking away. The smell of that place is THE best smell ever! Our Baker Bob does such a great job with the kids and they all get to knead dough, etc. What a fun trip! I never got to go on field trips like that when I was little!
You’re sure lucky to get all that free stuff he brings home! And just for visiting, they gave all the kids a coupon for a free loaf of bread on their next visit! I can’t wait to go back there!
Kath says
Katy G.,
Sorry you got trapped in spam! I’m not sure how to get around it. Maybe put breaks in the link like “dot com” or something?
Erin ,
Challenge is going really well. We’re up to $42 I think?? We’re overflowing with bars + bread and really low on dairy and fruit and veggies. But a month ago we’d be overflowing with everything at this point and probably wasting food that went bad before we could eat it.
KT ,
I don’t recall studying that yet (that will come with Advanced Minerals), but I have heard about that study. My guess would be that if it does block it it’s not a significant amount, but I’m really not sure.
Katrina ,
Yum, yum!
Kath
Jennifer says
KT- It’s sad that Safeway sucks all over.. I’m in D.C. and I also feel icky every time I leave that place. Also, that my head will explode.
Shelby says
Spectacular!!!
Jennifer says
Kath! You’re site is awesome! You have some amazing recipes I can’t wait to try. I recently started my own blog to help myself and hopefully inspire others to change their way of thinking about food. Thanks for all the great blogging:) I look forward to following your posts!
Jennifer
Jenn says
Hehe, pumpkin in a can weirds me out! We don’t have it over here, if you want pumpkin you get a real one and cook it!
Andrea says
I found this out through pure laziness – I bought the big cans of pumpkin at costco, and after I opened the can, I just stuck the can and what was left in the fridge, open and everything – I didn’t take the lid all the way off though. Surprisingly, the pumpkin doesn’t dry out and the pumpkin doesn’t absorb any of that funky fridge taste. Just FYI in case you’re anything like me and hates to dirty a dish if you don’t have to.
Aggie says
That breakfast and that frittata look fantastic!!
Laura says
KT,
I’m a Nutrition/Dietetics student and am actually in Advanced Vitamins/Minerals class right now. Iron absorption is inhibited by polyphenols, such as tannins that are found in tea & coffee. In addition, iron absorption is also inhibited by oxalic acid (found in dark green leafy veggies), phytates, and certain other minerals. Hope this helps!
KT says
Wow thanks for the answers! hmmm so I will take my vitamins with no tannins or dark greens 🙂