Have you been having as much fun as me, making a gazillion pumpkin goodies? Then do you also have just a little canned pumpkin left over? It's enough that I don't want to toss it, but not enough to make another batch of cookies. How about a smoothie? My 18 month old and I shared the first one this morning and it was a huge hit! I added oats to give it body and make it more fulfilling, like a meal. It gives it some texture, so if you don't like that sort of thing when you wake up...leave it out.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup old fashioned oats, uncooked
1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk (try to get it with added protein)
2 Tablespoons real maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon (more to taste)
a pinch of nutmeg (freshly grated if you have it)
5-6 ice cubes

Directions:

In a blender, pulse the dry oats until they are a fine powder. Add the pumpkin, yogurt, almond milk and maple syrup. Combine and then add the spices and ice. Taste and add more spices if necessary. As with all smoothies, you can experiment and add other ingredients like protein powder, chia seeds or other healthy stuff to fit your dietary needs.

makes one serving

281 calories, 2.4g fat, .2g saturated fat, 75mg sodium, 55g carbohydrates, 3.5g fiber, 34.5g sugars, 11.2g protein