Fortified Pumpkin Oatmeal

We've got pumpkin fever in this house! Yesterday we went to Bates Nut Farm for some good ole fashioned fun. I think we bought more at the store than we should have but there are a few items I was thrilled to find and can't wait to use like Pumpkin Scones, Pumpkin Pie Almonds and Maple Pumpkin Butter.

Since we didn't have any English muffins on hand we couldn't crack into the Maple Pumpkin Butter but thought it would make a perfect topping for our Fortified Pumpkin Oatmeal.... and I was right!

This is just one more thing to use your leftover canned pumpkin puree with if you buy the big cans like I do and never need all of it. You only want to store that in an airtight container in the fridge for about 2 weeks. I try to use mine up sooner than that. Maybe one day I'll get it together enough to buy smaller size freezer ziploc bags and store what I don't use in the freezer.... but for now I don't have to worry about it because we have been on a Pumpkin Craze!

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups organic milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups oats
3 tbsp raw shelled hemp seeds

Kitchen tools:

Medium pot
Liquid measuring cup
Dry measuring cups
measuring spoons
Stirring spoon

Combine first 5 items in a medium size pot over medium-high heat, stir ingredients and watch for the mil mixture to boil, it will happen pretty quickly. When it begins to boil, add oats and hemp seeds. Reduce heat to low, give a good stir and cover for 3-5 minutes stirring occasionally.

After spooning the oatmeal into the bowl I warmed just a couple teaspoons of the Pumpkin Maple Butter in the microwave to drizzle over the oatmeal and I was delighted with the addition.

We like to keep it healthy in this house, but I've got a sweet tooth so we try to find a balance. That's why I use organic milk and add the hemp seeds for protein. This is a breakfast treat I look forward to making again and again. Adding the Maple Pumpkin Butter sweet topping to perfect this autumn breakfast was just right.

What are your favorite fall breakfast treats?

Fortified Pumpkin Muffins

Sometimes I want something with pumpkin flavor that is sweet - but don't want all the guilt of eating a traditional pumpkin dessert or pastry. That's when we make my fortified pumpkin muffins!

Years ago after getting Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious, I began to take extra effort to incorporate purees where I could and see if there were other things I could do to make something a little healthier for the entire family.

When October rolls around, one of the first pumpkin things I buy is a box of pumpkin bread mix at Costco. If I can keep it easy and not make it from scratch that's just what a busy mom's gotta do sometimes.

Here's how we adapt the box instructions to add a little bit of goodness to make these muffins even better...

Ingredients:

Ingredients:

1 pkg of pumpkin spice quick bread mix
2 organic eggs
1/3 cup Nutiva  organic virgin coconut oil, melted OR 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
3 TBSP of Nutiva organic shelled hempseed
a few shakes of pumpkin pie spice
60 Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels (so much better than that "other" brand)
about a tsp of Nutiva coconut oil to grease the muffin tin

Kitchen Tools:

Muffin tin pan
Medium mixing bowl
Small dish for cracking eggs
Scissors
Spatula
Ice cream scoop
Liquid measuring cup
Regular measuring cup


Directions:

Turn oven to 400 degrees
Grease muffin tin with coconut oil. I use a sandwich baggie.
Mix the first 5 ingredients in the mixing bowl. When it is pumpkin season I use the pumpkin puree if I have it, otherwise I use Nutiva coconut oil in place of any vegetable oil that is called for in any baking recipe.
Scoop batter into muffin tin evenly to make 12 muffins.
Top each muffin with 5 dark chocolate morsels.
Put into the oven and bake 18-22 minutes

As soon as they come out my kids are grabbing for these! See how one is missing before I got a chance to take a photo?

I am happy to have learned that Nutiva has a whole line of super foods that I look forward to using to fortify more of our meals and snacks. We've been using their coconut oil for a number of years and I really had no idea all of the other products they make until they became a sponsor of ShiftCon, an Eco-wellness blogger conference.

Do you have any tricks in your apron pocket to give foods a boost in health benefits?