Sweet Potato and Apple Oatmeal

I woke up at 5 A.M. this morning so I could eat, digest, stretch and go for an 8-mile run. Now that my runs are getting longer, I've decided to prep a little more instead of waking up, heading straight out the door and having to deal with sleepy legs. I left around 6:30 while it was still dark. I actually think the darkness made me a bit dizzy because it kept me from having good depth perception. As the morning wore on though, I started to feel better and picked up my pace even. It was a great run overall and I was definitely in need of a good second breakfast afterwards to keep me full the rest of the morning.

This oatmeal was just what I needed. It's sweet, subtly savory and oh-so-filling. And, might I add, delicious.

I had bought a couple of sweet potatoes and a big bag of apples a few days before leaving town with high hopes that my husband and I would eat them all before leaving. Wrong. It was the day before we were supposed to leave and it looked like we hadn't made a dent in the bag of apples and I still had one sweet potato left. So I started looking up recipes that I could use both in and found a recipe for these oats. I tweaked a few things and was very pleased with the result. The sweet potato gives these oats a beautiful fall color too. I hope you try this combination!

Sweet Potato and Apple Oatmeal (Makes 1 serving)

Ingredients:

· 1 cup water

· ½ cup old-fashioned rolled oats

· ½ small apple, chopped small

· 1 small sweet potato, cooked and mashed*

· 1 teaspoon brown sugar

· ½ teaspoon cinnamon

· Splash of vanilla extract

· Optional: ground flaxseed, chopped nuts, almond milk

*I usually clean my sweet potato, poke holes in it with a fork and cook it in the microwave for four minutes. Then I cut it in half, scoop out the flesh and mash it.

Directions:

1. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Add the oats, chopped apple and, if using, ground flaxseed. Reduce the heat to medium-low, stir well and let cook for about 3 minutes.

2. Add in the mashed sweet potato, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla extract and mix until the sweet potato is well incorporated. Let cook about 2 more minutes or until it reaches your desired consistency. 3. Pour oats into a bowl and top with nuts and almond milk. 4. Eat your fill!