spiced oatmeal pudding

Oatmeal and cottage cheese. My day starts with a good bowl of oatmeal and ends with a serving of cottage cheese.

Oats are packed with fiber, can lower LDL, a good source of protein and are slow releasing, complex carbs to give you energy throughout the day. Cottage cheese is low in calories, fat, carbs and high in casein protein which is a slow digesting protein.

Lots of people think eating healthy is boring and tasteless but I'm on a lifelong mission to prove to people that healthy food is good food and it's just as exciting. Combining these two superfoods together, a delicious Spiced Oatmeal Pudding can be made.

This dish is rich, creamy and full of flavor which healthy foods often have a streotype of not having. The pudding is extremely simple to make and even the most novice cooks couldn't mess this up. Just mix, and pop in the oven for 1 hour. It really is easy as that.

Spiced Oatmeal Pudding
Adapted from Inn Cuisine, Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
- 1 cup cooked oatmeal, made with low-fat/fatfree milk
- 1 cup low-fat/no fat cottage cheese
- 1 large egg
- 0.5 cup skim milk/fat free milk
- 3 tablespoons of sugar
- pinch of nutmeg
- pinch of allspice
- ground cinnamon and brown sugar to garnish

***PREHEAT OVEN TO 325°F***

1) In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg and sugar together until smooth. Taste the cooked oatmeal and adjust salt slightly. The cottage cheese will add saltiness so don't go overboard.
2) Add the cottage cheese, cooked oatmeal (slighlty cooled) and the milk. Oatmeal must be slightly cooled because if it's too hot and it goes straight into the bowl, it'll curdle the egg and we don't want that to happen.

3) Throw in the nutmeg and allspice. Stir together until incorporated.
4) In a lightly oiled baking dish, pour in the custard mixture.
5) Pop into the oven for about 1 hour until the edges are browned and the center is set. Check on the pudding at about 45 minutes in as the baking times will differ based on the oven and the baking dish.
6) Serve with dusted cinnamon and brown sugar crumbles.