Yummy Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal

As some of you may or may not know, I have a couple of early morning clients, the earliest client I train is at 4:45am.  This is one of my favorite times to work, believe it or not.  I am a morning person, always have been.  I rise about 4am and fix myself a cup of coffee and heat up some of this yummy baked pumpkin oatmeal and it is a comforting and nourishing start to my day.  It has a nice balance of protein from the cottage cheese and carbs from the rolled oats, along with just enough sweet from the Stevia and cinnamon spices.  This morning I topped it off with a little whipped cream, it was a tasty way to start the day. 



So here is the recipe I adapted it from a recipe I saw on  http://jen-fits-playground.com/2010/10/pumpkin-pie-baked-oatmeal/  I changed mine up a bit to reduce the sugars from the dried fruit, feel free to use either recipe.  Either way, it is quick and easy to prepare, the longest part is the time in the oven, give it a try, its yummy!

 

Here are the ingredients:

1 c. canned pumpkin

1 c. rolled oats (I use Bob's Red Mill)

1 c.  cottage cheese (low sodium if possible)

1 c. water 

1/2 t. ground ginger

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. ground cloves

1/4 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

Stevia or sweetener to taste I put half a dropper of the liquid stevia, but I don't prefer it to be real sweet (you can always add more sweetener, a few drops of maple syrup? after it has baked).

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place all ingredients in a baking dish (like a Pyrex dish or pie dish) and stir ingredients together.  Place in oven for 30 minutes and serve with a hot cup of coffee or tea, enjoy!

I love this cottage cheese, instead of a ton of sodium, they replace a portion of it with potassium!

 

This is what I use for baking and in my coffee, liquid stevia, I love it! Purchased on amazon.com