Oatmeal With Butternut Squash

I know many people out in internet land like adding pumpkin to their oatmeal.  I do to!  However, it is never sweet enough and I never seem to get the right ratio that my oats ends up being very soupy.

I have stared addeding butternut squash to my morning oatmeal.  This shouldn’t surprise you since I recently started adding butternut squash to my enchiladas.  Why not add it to my oatmeal?  What I love about adding the squash is that I get an extra veggie serving and I stretch the amount of my oatmeal.

My oats are cooked on the stove as per the old fashioned method.  I chop up an apple to add sweetness and also bulk.  I love how the apple cooks down by the time my oatmeal is done.

I add 1 ¼ cup water and one chopped apple.

I have started using a mix of old fashioned oats and cream of wheat.  I found this whole grain variety at Walmart.  I use 20 grams oats and 10 grams cream of wheat.

I also add some chia seeds (in the container on the right).  Chia seeds, yes think Chia pet, are a good source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids.  Unlike flax seed, you can eat chia seeds whole as your body can digest them better.  I like how after cooking they become really plump.  The container on the right is my brown sugar.

Once the water and apple comes to a boil I add my oats, cream of wheat, and 1 Tbs of chia seeds.  I also sprinkle some cinnamon in.  Turn the burner down to low and let it simmer, stirring occasionally.

Since I add 1 ¼ cup water my oats are soupy.  That is to account for when I add the butternut squash.  Usually I will just steam the squash ahead of time and then mash it.  Today I had left over roasted squash so I used that.  I re-heated it for about 30 seconds, mashed, and added 1 tsp of brown sugar and some cinnamon.

Close to the end of cooking time I add in my squash.  It thickens right up!  I also add another 1 tsp of brown sugar and a Stevia packet.

I top my oatmeal with honey and peanut butter.

As a special treat today, I had a left over peanut butter jar that was mostly used except for a little on the bottom.  I let my hot oats cool a bit and then put it into the jar so I could scoop up the last bit of peanut butter.

Delicious!