Give your microbiome a natural boost with gut-soothing pumpkin and powerful probiotic yogurt to make delicious oatmeal! This fall-inspired breakfast is warm and cozy—just the recipe you need in these colder months.
Pumpkin oatmeal that strengthens the microbiome
Since I’ve been craving pumpkin lately, I felt inspired to create this Pumpkin Oatmeal! Pumpkin is great for the gut lining, so I developed this recipe – and all of its ingredients – with supporting a healthy microbiome in mind.
Ingredients (for 1 person):
- 2 cups sprouted gluten-free oats
- 1 can of organic pumpkin puree
- Organic vanilla
- Organic honey
- Liquid licorice (can be omitted if you don’t like licorice)
- Cinnamon
*Note: You can also use stevia or luo han guo (also known as monk fruit) if you want to skip the sugar.
Cinnamon acts as a natural anti-inflammatory on the digestive system and licorice can also aid digestion. When you use Manuka honey, you also get antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties!
The night before – or at least 12 hours before cooking the oatmeal:
In her recipe for soaked oatmeal and oatcakes, Jini recommends soaking the oats beforehand. Ever since I learned this, I have done it always I soaked my sprouted gluten free oats in plain water overnight! This pre-digests the oat flakes so that they are very easy to digest – and also cook very quickly:
1. Add 2 cups of oats to 3 cups of filtered water in a bowl
2. Add 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice (or whey is ideal if you have it)
3. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight or at least 12 hours
When it’s ready to eat:
Add your soaked oat mixture (with the water – don’t drain!) and cook with a little organic cold-pressed oil, ghee or organic butter to prevent them from sticking to your pan. According to Jini, it should only take about 5 minutes since the oaks are already broken down.
Once the oatmeal is cooked, add the can of pumpkin and stir slowly. Then add all the other ingredients – I added 1 tbsp each of vanilla, honey, licorice and cinnamon, but add according to your desired flavor! Keep stirring the pan so the flavors really blend and blend together. If your oatmeal becomes too sticky in the pan, simply add a little water if necessary.
I let the oats rest and cook them in all that deliciousness on low heat for about 15 minutes. You will see the oats bubbling a little, but keep stirring so they don’t burn.
Probiotic yogurt topping
What really gives this recipe the finishing touch is the powerful probiotic yogurt topping. I love making this recipe from Natasha (Founder of Natren) at home and I happened to have some on hand when making this recipe – so I had to incorporate it!
I simply put a dollop of this yogurt on my oatmeal and ate it! The yogurt itself is tangy, which I think balances the sweetness of the oats well, but if you’re looking for something sweeter, you can drizzle more organic honey on top.
Here is the video where Natasha shows you step by step how to make this probiotic yogurt at home. If you have a sweet tooth, you can use whipped cream instead, but you’ll be missing out on the powerful probiotics this yogurt brings to the table!
You can, of course, use store-bought yogurt – but it won’t be as strong as Natasha’s homemade recipe. The extra time is worth it, I promise!
You can also add any other toppings you want. If you’re looking for ingredients with more health benefits, you can try sprinkling some sprouted chia/flax seeds on top for extra omega fatty acids.
I hope you reap all the benefits of this microbiome-boosting (and delicious) sweet treat. If you decide to try this recipe, please comment below and let me know how it turns out! You can also email me pictures of your amazing pumpkin oatmeal creations.
Enjoy!
PS: If you LOVE pumpkin as much as I do, check out these Pumpkin Bread Pudding Bars too. 🙂
Linsy is Jini’s assistant. From a highly sensitive/reactive case of ulcerative colitis to a fully medical and surgical treatment using all-natural methods, Linsy truly understands first-hand the interplay of mind/body/spirit on the healing journey.
