Baked pumpkin oatmeal #2

Dinner was nothing special last night.  When Brad and I got home after work we were both starving.  So we bypassed a run and went straight to dinner.

He had more of the Beaufort boil and I had leftover black beans stirred with Greek Yogurt and salsa.  I added another big dollop of salsa and had a not-so-tiny piece of jalapeno cornbread.  My plate could have used some green, but it was just what I wanted.

I cannot run after a real meal, so Brad and I decided to go on a four mile walk with Rascal.  The evening was pretty uneventful, so let’s skip to breakfast.

Oh my word.  Make this now.

I made a second attempt at baked pumpkin oats and ding ding ding, we have a winner.  I basically followed my “lessons learned” and added an extra 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon and Stevia to offset the bitterness of the pumpkin.

-1 cup of oats
-1/2 cup almond milk
-1/2 cup organic canned pumpkin
-1 ripe banana, sliced
-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
-1/4 tsp. salt
-1/2 tsp. baking powder
-Stevia (I used 6 tiny spoonfuls of TJ’s brand, which is about 1/16 tsp. so a little over 1/2 tsp.)

Stir all ingredients together, mashing the banana with a fork.  Stir well so that the baking powder and salt is well mixed into the batter.  Fold multiple times until the pumpkin is mixed evenly through the batter.

Spray two ramekins with cooking spray and pour equal amounts of batter in each.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes.  Top with AB and one slice of banana.  Drizzle with a bit of honey.

This was amazing.  Brad says he gives it two thumbs up.  The extra cinnamon really upped the spiciness.  There is cinnamon in pumpkin pie spice, but we love cinnamon so I thought we could use a bit more.

Even with the cooking spray, the oatmeal still bakes onto the sides of the ramekin pretty well.  No matter.

We call this the Rascal cycle of the dishwasher.

This almost kept him as busy as a Kong toy filled with PB.

I didn’t want to make a big deal about it, but I have a job interview today.  I’ve been looking for a new job (with the blessings of my employer) since March.  The market in which I work right now is tough and I haven’t had a lot of leads.  I’m really excited about the prospect of this job and the entity for which I would be working.

Wish me luck!  I’m going to need it!