Microwave Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Pie Spice Oatmeal

I’ve been eating Paleo again lately due to some digestive issues. However, oats are a very healthy grain that don’t seem to upset my stomach, even before a hard workout at my Carlsbad personal training gym.

The important things with grains is to experiment and see what works for you. I also like the “80/20 Rule” when it comes to Paleo—you eat 80% Paleo, and 20% food that may not be Paleo, but that your body tolerates well.

When you see recipes for grains online the servings are usually much bigger than they need to be. My rule of thumb is to eat no more than ½ cup of cooked grains at a time (the same would apply for any high carb foods like sweet potatoes).

In the case of oats, ½ cup cooked is about 85 calories with about 16.5 grams of carbohydrates, enough to give me some energy for a gym workout but not so much that it will undermine my physique.

Most oatmeal recipes include a lot of sweeteners in the form of maple syrup or honey. I like this recipe for microwave sweet potato and pumpkin pie spice oatmeal because you can skip all that. The sweet potatoes provide plenty of natural sugars.

Microwave Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Pie Spice Oatmeal

• ¼ cup rolled oats (I use gluten free)

• ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk, or other milk of your choice (plus more to taste)

• 2 tablespoons of roasted, mashed sweet potato

• Pinch of salt

• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or to taste

• 1 tsp ground flaxseed

• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (optional)

• 1 tbsp chopped pecans

Combine the oats, ¼ cup almond milk, sweet potato, and a pinch of salt in a cereal bowl. Cover and microwave on high for 2 minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. If you use protein powder, you will probably need to increase the amount of liquid in your oatmeal.

Calories per serving: Approximately 294 with protein powder