pumpkin oats

Ok, I admit it! It's not pumpkin, it's butternut squash, because pumpkin is so hard to come by here, and canned pumpkin is something us pasty white Irish can only dream of.

I made myself a batch of squash puree to make delicious oats, which from hereon we shall refer to as "squashy oats", which sounds both disgusting and unintelligible, but which I assure you is delicious, filling and nutritious. I suppose it's a breakfast meal but I (the eternal rebel) made it for lunch.

To make the squash stash, peel, deseed and cube a squash. Steam it for 25 mins until tender (or boil if you prefer, although you'll lose some nutrients...I haven't tried roasting for making a puree and although this would make the squash caramelised and tasty, the evaporation would probably be a poor start to a puree although, really, I don't know). Place in the blender and, well, blend. Put in a tupperware box for storing in the fridge. A complete and utter moron who has never seen the inside of a kitchen before could complete this step without any pain and receive an A+.

To make squashy oats, add half a cup of oats to a saucepan with half a cup of milk, half a cup of water and as much squash puree as you fancy (I used two heaped tablespoons). Add half a teaspoon of mixed spice, or nutmeg and cinnamon, or a combination of your favourite sweet spices. Throw in a few raisins if you like (I did). Cook the whole lot together until thick and creamy. Taste before you decide whether or not to add a little brown sugar - the squash really is very sweet (I added one teaspoon). Top with whatever you fancy - some sliced nuts or nut butter, cranberries, blueberries...whatever you like (I topped mine with peanut butter). Eat, feel very full, and then think about your next meal for the following few hours.

Scrap that last bit, that's terrible advice.

And I take back the name "squashy oats". I think I associate the word squashy with rotten fruit. Let's go with "fake pumpkin oats". Aye, that'll do Snowy.