Nectarine Almond Spice Oatmeal

It's been awhile since I've experimented with hot oatmeal. It's been hot. I've been tired. I'm not in my own kitchen. My mom feeds me well. I could keep making excuses, but I decided that I need to start experimenting again. I like oatmeal. It brings me joy to experiment with new flavors. I have the opportunity to use new and difference ingredients now. So, without further ado, this oatmeal inspired by nectarines from Sprout's and affordable almond butter from Costco.

Sweet, sticky, summery, spicy...Mmm!

Ingredients:

1/2 c quick oats
1 c water
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1 white nectarine, diced
2 T natural almond butter
Spices (I used Trader's Joe's pumpkin pie spice, a nice blend of cinnamon, ginger, citrus, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom.)

Directions:

1. Bring water and oats to a boil and reduce heat to medium.*

2. When oats reach the desired consistency, stir in the applesauce. Simmer oatmeal on low until some of the liquid from the applesauce absorbs and the oats become thick and rich.**

3. Transfer oatmeal to a bowl and top with the nectarine and almond butter. Add spices to taste. (I prefer to separate my almond butter and fruit so that I can handcraft each delicious bite of oatmeal. I sprinkled the pumpkin pie spice only over the almond butter.)

*Since it's summer, I microwaved my oatmeal.

**Add applesauce to microwaved oatmeal to cool it down.