Pumpkin Oatmeal

Welcome to day 2 of Pumpkin Week! Todays' dish is pumpkin oatmeal. This is one of my favorite breakfasts for this time of year. If I have time, I bake it after cooking it on the stovetop and make sort of a casserole. I usually top half of it with pecans and the other half with pumpkin seeds, making his and hers oatmeal, since Dennis doesn't like pecans.

Pumpkin Oatmeal

1 cup rolled oats

1 banana, cut into chunks

1 cup canned pumpkin 

2 cups milk of choice (I use hemp milk)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons cashew or almond butter

handful of pumpkin seeds

Boil oatmeal in milk. Turn down heat to medium and stir in the pumpkin, banana, spices and seeds. Cook together for a few minutes until oatmeal has thickend. Turn off the heat and then stir in the nut butter.

Baked Oatmeal

Once oatmeal has been cooked, transfer to a casserole dish. Sprinkle chopped pecans or pumpkin seeds on top. Bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes.

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Vegan Adventures in Miami - Honorable Mention: Starbucks

Miami Beach isn't the most vegan friendly place in the US, but it cold have been a lot worse. I did research before we left, and I was armed with the VegOut app on my iPhone. I packed dried fruit, granola, and peanut butter Lara Bars to snack on. On Saturday, Jessica and I walked over to Whole Foods - which was about a thirty minute walk from our hotel - to pick up more snacks, iced green tea and coconut water. I ate some really delicious food while in Florida, so I have no complaints. I ate many of the things that I'm supposed to avoid on my elimination diet, because I knew it would be even more difficult to find vegan, allergen-free food, although I did manage to avoid wheat the entire time. The only reaction I had was itchy eyes and a little bit of itching in my mouth from eating nuts. I was really happy not to have a reaction to tofu or corn!

Eating breakfast in restaurants is difficult as a wheat-free vegan though. Starbucks to the rescue! I usually like to skip chains and opt for independent coffee and tea houses, but I wasn't able to find any in Miami Beach. There are three Starbucks on the Lincoln Road Mall, and I know that if nothing else is around, I can get good oatmeal there. They also have a variety of fruits, and they just switched to whole leaf tea bags. So Jessica and I had breakfast there on Saturday and Sunday. We both also drank copious amounts of tea while in Florida, so we were in Starbucks often. Sadly though, none of the three locations carried the healthy snacks and gluten-free cookies that the Starbucks here in NJ have.


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