What’s Up Wednesday: Honey-roasted Pumpkin

Just a quick little post today to show you one of the ways I’m eating up my three squashes that I used for Thanksgiving decorations! 

This is the first one: Honey-Roasted Pumpkin to use on my steamed oatmeal for breakfast.

Now, you don’t have to think that it sounds good. Just take my word for it that little cubes of pumpkin on your oatmeal is yummy. Delicious. And super-filling! Adding this Honey-Roasted Pumpkin to your breakfast will keep you healthy and full all morning long.

You can even dress up your instant oatmeal packets with honey-roasted pumpkin if you like. Instant has a place in our world, even mine! I buy Ralston Unsweetened Instant Oatmeal so I can eat it plain or add just a tiny bit of brown sugar in my quest to keep my sweet tooth dormant. Ha! I think it tastes better than some of the other popular brands, too. 

I made enough steamed oatmeal to last hubby and me for the rest of the week. We reheat our precooked oatmeal with few drips of water in the bottom of our bowl: break the cold cooked oatmeal apart, add about 1/2 tsp. water, cover it with a plate, and microwave it on half power until hot and steamy again. We really like the texture of the thicker rolled oat flakes cooked this way.

I heated my pumpkin in the steamy pan as the oatmeal finished cooking!

How to make Steamed Oatmeal

In a 1 qt or 2 qt pan, bring 2 cups of water to a rapid boil. Without stirring, slowly distribute  1.75 to 2 cups of old-fashioned oat flakes over the heaviest boiling areas, keeping at least some part of the pan boiling at all times. If the last bit of oats won’t submerge after things come back to their busiest boil, use a fork to gently wiggle them under. Resist the urge to stir or you will create that gluey texture, and it won’t cook as nicely.

Cover with a tightly fitting lid and put on the lowest heat possible for 10 – 20 minutes. At the 10 minute mark, check the bottom of the pan for remaining liquid and adjust the heat a little bit if needed to steam off any remaining liquid into the oats and to make sure they aren’t scorching. Low heat is so different from stove to stove, you know. If you want more tender oat flakes but your water has evaporated too early, add 2 Tbsp more water and put the lid back on.

When the steamed oatmeal is done, it is a flaky just-moist texture and not gluey at all. I compare it to cooked rice. It’s like the opposite of instant oatmeal in every way. Even people who don’t like oatmeal because of its texture will eat this oatmeal! Refrigerate the leftovers to reheat for future breakfasts.

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On to the pumpkin recipe! Isn’t that the cutest little pie pumpkin ever? He’s about 8″ across, just right for decorating with and then eating later!

A note about cutting big squash in half — don’t. Cut them just off-center so that you are not trying to pound your knife through the hard stem and blossom ends! If you are roasting the whole squash to eat for a meal, this does mean that the smaller half will be done sooner than the larger half. Better to take half out of the oven early than visit the ER because you cut your thumb off or something ;) Just sayin’ 

Honey-Roasted Pumpkin… 

… and the other half of the pumpkin — black pepper roasted pumpkin. The pieces of this were amazing in a brothy vegetable soup!

 But back to the topic! Here’s the recipe for Honey Roasted Pumpkin!

And here’s my bowl of Honey-Roasted Pumpkin with Steamed Oatmeal. Mmmmmm! Breakfast! 

A little butter on my oatmeal, a tiny drizzle of heated honey to sweeten the deal… delicious!

Happy Merry!

Gail