Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

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For all you fall lovers out there like myself, this one is a real treat. I love pumpkin anything. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin bread, pumpkin soup, and now pumpkin oatmeal. It’s a yummy filling and nutritious breakfast for those chilly fall mornings. So without further ado:

  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1 cup milk or water
  • 2 tbsp greek yogurt
  • 3-4 tbsp of 100% pumpkin puree (depending on how pumpkin-y you like it)
  • 2-3 tsp or to taste of sweetener (I used honey but maple syrup or coconut sugar would be splendid)
  • few dashes each of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves (You can use whatever you have on hand. Ginger and allspice would also be really nice.)

Cook the oats with milk or water for like a minute and then add everything else and stir. Cook until the liquid is absorbed and it’s nice and creamy. Throw all your favorite toppings on and devour! I put banana, apple, dried fig, crushed walnuts, and peanut butter. Enjoy!

Healing Naturally-My Story

Food affects our bodies a lot more than most people realize. It has the power to heal and restore, and the power to cause disease and illness. I discovered this first hand at around the age of 14. I had very bad digestion that affected my everyday life. I rarely went a day without getting a severe stomachache that would leave me in fetal position on the floor. It was mostly triggered by certain breads, cakes, and processed foods. I knew this was sort of a blessing in disguise since it kept me away from those foods most of the time (sometimes I would suffer just to eat it!), but I also knew that it wasn’t natural to have that pain so often and so severely. Most people would probably say I was gluten intolerant, but I didn’t get the stomachaches until about 14 years old and was perfectly fine before then. During the summer of 2011 I was a camp counselor for one week, well, almost one week. I ended up having to leave early because i got a severe stomachache after every meal. Literally every meal! I would eat plain oatmeal with raisins in the morning (the healthiest option there) and would be lying on a bench for like 30 mins in pain. Even the salad bar resulted in me being immobile! I didn’t understand what was wrong. My diet at home was not horrible but not very good. I ate a lot of white carbs, wendy’s, and pre-made “healthy” meals, but compared to my friends, I was pretty good. My mom has been into health and nutrition for as long as I can remember, so when she picked me up from camp and saw me in tears from frustration, she knew she had to do something. She put me on a pill called “DigestaCure” which is basically a “concentrated extract of long-chain immune modulating components from a cultured 20th generation Aloe botanical.” In other words, concentrated aloe in powdered form or something like that. It is not a drug and does not affect the body as drugs do, and it does not target symptoms but instead restores proper function to the struggling immune system. It is totally natural. This pill healed me in a matter of weeks! My skin totally cleared, my stomachaches disappeared, and I learned a lot. At the same time, I started to eat better, less processed foods, refined carbs, and white sugar. I cut out soda, fast food, and basically anything that wasn’t already found in nature. It’s now been about 3 years and I haven’t gotten one of those wicked stomachaches since! I can eat just about anything without pain, including the foods that caused it in the first place (white breads, cakes, etc.). I realized that symptoms are really only an outward sign of a deeper problem in your body. People are prescribed pills to cover up their symptoms like headaches, stomachaches, etc., but the root problem is never dealt with. The root cause is still there hidden under medication after medication. I realized that we already have the best doctor’s prescription right at our fingertips. God’s medicine is already here. It doesn’t have to be created in a lab or tested on animals. It has kept the human race living and thriving for centuries, so why mess with it? Food has proven its healing properties over and over again with countless stories of lives changed through diet. It is an amazing thing that your body is capable of healing itself if you just give it what it needs. After all, God does know best. 🙂