Still not orange

This past week I've had something orange to eat just about everyday, whether it's pumpkin in my oatmeal, sweet potato fries, or carrots. It leaves me wondering just how much beta carotene you need to consume to actually turn orange, not that I'm going to do that experiment. Before you ask, yes, you can turn orange from eating too much of the vitamin A precursor beta carotene, but I'm full proof that this has to be a fairly large amount of orange goods.

I wasn't always a huge fan of plain oats, don't get me wrong, I've always found oatmeal a more filling alternative to dry cereal, but from childhood on I always stuck to the flavored instant packet variety. Once I started limiting refined sugars from my diet instant oatmeal seemed too sweet and I became a lover of plain. From time to time I do like to jazz up my oats with nuts, peanut butter, fruit, maple or agave syrup, dried fruit, and PUMPKIN!

In the mix for pumpkin oats:

1/3 cup oats

2/3 cup water

1/3 pumpkin

dash cinnamon

splash of vanilla soymilk

drizzle pure maple syrup

Basically boil water, add oats, cook for 2-3 min (if quick cut oats). Add pumpkin and cook for 2 more min over low heat. Take off heat and stir in cinnamon. I like to add the milk for the vanilla flavor, creamier texture, and to cool down the oats quickly so I can gobble up their yumminess.

Nicole