Meatless Monday: Trail Mix Oatmeal
By Stacy Kennedy, MPH, RD, CSO, LDN; Reboot Nutritionist
Yes, your mom was right, breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Start your day off right with this hearty, healthy breakfast. Kids who eat a nutritious breakfast are less likely to be overweight and eat more fruits and fiber-rich foods throughout the day. Kids who don’t eat breakfast have lower math scores and slower memory recall. And eating a healthy breakfast isn’t just good for kids. It is one of the key behaviors needed to maintain a healthy weight in adults.
I love cleaning out my fridge and combining delicious leftovers into a new meal! I already had almond paste and dried cranberries on hand so this was a quick and easy weekend breakfast. I like to make extra on weekends so in the rush of getting everyone out the door on time Monday morning, it’s easy to have a healthy, nutrient-dense, protein and fiber rich breakfast to get all our days off to a good start!
Ingredients
- 2-3 cups water
- 1 cup (150 g) gluten free oats
- 1/2 cup (60 g) pumpkin (from a box, BPA-free can or made fresh from a sugar pumpkin)
- 2 tbsp almond butter
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries (I dried fresh cranberries in a dehydrator); if you get already dried, packaged cranberries look for ones that are sulfite free without any added sugars)
- 3/4 cup almond paste (leftover from making homemade almond milk)
- 1/4 tsp sea salt (more as needed to taste)
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon, plus more for garnish and to taste
- 1/4 cup (25 g) raw almonds for garnish
Directions
- Bring water to a boil, add a little salt.
- Pour in oats and reduce heat to low.
- Cook for 10 minutes.
- Add pumpkin, almond paste, almond butter, cinnamon, cranberries and the rest of the salt as needed.
- Cook until desired consistency is reached, about another 10 minutes. Add more water as needed. I needed almost another cup during the cooking process.
- Cover pot and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Scoop into bowl, garnish with raw almonds and cinnamon.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 500
Fat: 26g
Trans Fat: 2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 20mg
Carbohydrates: 65g
Fiber: 10g
Sugars: 27g
Protein: 16g