I must say I am SOOOOOOOOOO incredibly honored AND excited that Trying To Heal has selected me for this week’s Blogger Secret Ingredient contest!  She asked me yesterday so I was completely racking my brain all night thinking about what to choose as the “magic ingredient“.  With the help of Bill, I came up with an ingredient that I’m really excited about – I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!

Before I “announce” the ingredient, let’s do a quick recap of the BSI’s…

• Melissa from Trying To Heal BSI:  Sweet Potatoes
• Meghann from The Inner Workings of a College Graduate BSI: Eggplant
• Erica from Itzy’s Kitchen BSI: Pears
• Gina from Fitnessista BSI: Cranberries
• Week 7: Who: Shannon from Tri to Cook BSI: Lentils
• Week 6: Who: Sabrina from Rhodey Girl Tests BSI: Polenta
• Week 5: Who: Jenn from EatingBender BSI: Butternut Squash
• Week 4: Who: Andrea & Erin of CareToEat BSI: Apples
• Week 3: Who: Rose of OnALobsterPlacement BSI: Mushrooms
• Week 2: Who: Heather of HangryPants BSI: Tomatoes
• Week 1: Who: Christie of SportsNutritionLiving BSI: Quinoa

Just as a reminder, here are the rules:

1.  Recipes can be submitted by linking to the blog or e-mailing me (loveofoats@gmail.com) with a link to your recipe.
2.  If you do not have a blog, you can still participate by emailing me your submission (complete with the recipe instructions & pictures).
3.  Please submit your entry by Sunday, November 23rd at 7pm (Eastern Time).  I will do a recap on Saturday of all the submissions received thus far.

Now the goodies!  The prize for winning the BSI contest this week will be: an official “For The Love Of Oats Oatmeal mix-in kit”.  I will come up with an assortment of yummy mix-ins for the winner to top their oats (or yogurt) with!

So, without further adieu, “ALLEZ CUISINE” (for those of you Iron Chef watchers), the blogger secret ingredient is…

PUMPKIN

It was important for me to pick an item that most bloggers would already have stocked in their pantry AND an item that reflects the existing fall season AND the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.  I hope you all like my choice of ingredient and I can’t wait to read and decide on the winning entry!

Just to note:  I will accept entries using ANY part of the pumpkin either the flesh OR the seeds.  I love both as you know so I couldn’t decide between the two!