Baked oatmeal. AKA the easiest thing to whip together for a delicious and sustaining breakfast for the whole week. I love a quick breakfast and this is that and so much more. Everything about this recipe makes me so excited to wake up. The texture is soft but also chewy and the flavor is the best of fall (read: pumpkin pie). For a quick and easy breakfast that meets all the flavor requirements, why wouldn’t we have this on repeat all season long?!
The Most Important Meal of the Day
Breakfast has held this title for as long as anyone can remember. Always touted as the most important meal, breakfast has reigned supreme in this regard. However, lately intermittent fasting has been getting a lot of attention. If you’re unfamiliar with this eating pattern, it essentially is a time restricted eating window that boasts major health claims like decreased blood pressure and cholesterol and improved brain function. It also has attempted to revoke breakfast’s coveted title as the most important meal of the day.
That being said, intermittent fasting (though boasting significant health claims) is just another diet that is claiming more than it can offer. Anything with ‘restriction’ in the literal description of the diet definitely poses red flags for me. Having to set rules around when you can eat can create a just as disordered relationship with food as rules around what you can eat. Not to mention it can make us detach from our fullness and hunger cues leading us to stop listening to our bodies. This also goes directly against the tenets of intuitive eating discussed in last week’s post. You can learn more about the potential dangers of intermittent fasting here, from Nashville registered dietitian Dylan Murphy. As well as here.
As with any diet, stop and ask yourself these things before pursuing it:
- What am I trying to gain from this
- Am I trying to fill other voids in my life by creating food rules or trying to make my body smaller
- Will this create disordered patterns
- While on this diet can I listen to my body and feed it what it needs when it needs it
- Does this diet give food moral value of ‘good’ or ‘bad’
- Is restriction any part of this diet
While this list is by no means exhaustive, if yes was an answer to any of these questions, think twice before starting. Your reconsideration may be the difference between you and a healthy relationship with food.
As I mentioned last week, intuitive eating is a great first step. Learn more here (also plugging the disclaimer here as a reminder).
Abundant Ingredients
I loveeee the ingredients that go into this recipe. They are so comforting and remind me of all things fall. Cloves and cinnamon are the standouts for me (next to the pumpkin obviously). Both of these flavors always remind me of the holidays and all I have to cherish and be thankful for. It makes me recognize the emotional capacity of food and how that can be recalled in both positive and negative ways.
Back to the ingredients. 10 total, many of which are spices or pantry staples. Super easy and inexpensive (win and win).
The (Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal) Process
Truly so simple. I feel like I say that every week, but I mean it this time, okay?
All it takes is combining the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls and then together. After that, add to a greased dish and pop it in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes. Once it ‘s finished cooking you have a baked pumpkin spice breakfast (boasting all the seasonal flavors) on lock for the week !!
Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup quick oats
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup whole milk greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 can pumpkin
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a baking dish (9x11 or any similar size) with butter
- Add all dry ingredients: quick and rolled oats, baking powder, salt, allspice, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice, to a bowl and mix
- Add all wet ingredients: eggs, pumpkin, vanilla and yogurt to a separate bowl and mix
- Combine wet and dry ingredients and add to greased baking dish
- Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until firm (mine finished at 25 minutes)
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