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Oat and Chia Breakfast Bowl

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This has been my quarantine breakfast and I thought I’d share it with you today! I’m going to tell you exactly how I make my oat and chia breakfast bowl and then different ideas for topping and extras, so that you can make this too, using what you have on hand.

Oats: I use either old fashioned rolled oats or steel cut oats for this recipe. Sometimes I make just one serving for Greg and I for breakfast, and sometimes I make this in bulk, and just reheat for breakfast each morning.

Chia seeds: so, why add chia seeds instead of just using oats? I usually like to keep my recipes on the simple end, using whole every day ingredients that most people have on hand. While chia seeds may seem like an unnecessary ingredient, I find them to be a ‘worth it’ ingredient to keep on hand in my kitchen. Just one tablespoon of these tiny seeds added to my morning oats gives me an extra 3 grams of protein, 5 grams of dietary fiber and 3 grams of healthy fats. That one tablespoon packs a nutritional punch and helps me to feel more satisfied, keeps me full longer, and provides healthy fuel for my body. I recommend adding the chia seeds, but you could totally make this breakfast bowl without the chia seeds.

Cooking liquid: I use water or coconut milk or a combination of both. Use any type of milk that you like, or just water.

Toppings: I have been using chopped apple, cinnamon, peanut butter, hemp seeds and flax seeds. I highly recommend that combination, as it is both delicious and nutrient dense, but if you don’t like or don’t have some of those things, here are some other ideas to try: any fresh fruit (berries would be great in the summer, bananas would also be good), almond butter, chopped nuts (almonds, pecans or walnuts would be so good), dried fruit (cranberries, raisins or apricots would be great), coconut. One other thing to note is that I do not sweeten my oat and chia bowl in any way. If you like things to be a bit sweet, I would recommend a drizzle of honey or pure maple syrup on top.

Soaking the grains: one thing that I do before cooking these oats, or any grain, is soak them. This step is totally optional – you could definitely make this without soaking the oats and chia seeds – but here’s a bit of information on why and how I soak before cooking. I love getting nutrition info and inspiration from Sarah at My New Roots, and according to Sarah, soaking grains before cooking them helps them to be a more health-supportive food and source of energy. Soaking them helps with nutrient absorption and ease of digestion. Check out this post on her Instagram for more details on the how and why of soaking grains. Below, I’ll describe how I soak the oats and chia seeds for this recipe.

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Oat and Chia Breakfast Bowl

Oats, seeds, peanut butter and apples combine to make a warming, comforting, and nourishing breakfast bowl!

Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Keyword breakfast, gluten free, healthy, oatmeal, vegan

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 cup cooking liquid, water or milk of choice
  • 1 tablespoon chia seeds
  • 1-2 tablespoons peanut butter
  • 1 apple, chopped
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon hemp seeds
  • 1 tablespoon ground flax seed

Instructions

  1. OPTIONAL: put oats and chia seeds in a jar or container, cover in water and soak for 30 minutes to overnight.

  2. Drain oat and chia mixture and rinse well. Add oats and chia seeds to a pot over medium heat. Cover with water and bring to a light boil. Turn heat down and simmer until oats are soft and have absorbed all water. Add water and continue cooking until desired thickness/texture.

  3. OPTIONAL: I like turning off the heat, putting a lid on the pot and letting the oats sit covered for 5-10 minutes. This makes them creamier. 

  4. Add oats to a bowl and top with peanut butter, chopped apple, cinnamon, hemp seeds and flax seeds. 

Recipe Notes

The amounts listed above will make one generous breakfast bowl. Double, triple, etc. as needed.

This breakfast bowl is so customizable based on what you have/what you like. Try using other fruit, seeds, nut butters, etc.

Grain Free Apple Cobbler Cake

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I wasn’t sure what to call this dessert. My intent was to make a healthified apple cobbler. It came out more like a cake – but yet not really like a cake. So it’s an apple dessert. A grain free, maple sweetened apple dessert. This recipe uses minimal, whole ingredients. It uses: almond flour, eggs, pure maple syrup, coconut oil, some salt, vanilla extract, lemon juice, baking powder, and apples. That’s it. It’s simple to put together and we have been loving it as a weeknight dessert or snack.

This apple cobbler cake has an incredibly moist and dense crumb. It is perfectly sweetened and the touch of lemon juice comes through pleasantly. The apples soften just right – they’re soft and pillowy yet still hold some crunch. You can eat this while it’s still warm, but I wouldn’t recommend it – it falls apart a bit when it’s still warm. It’s texture becomes amazing once completely cooled and that is how we’ve preferred to enjoy it.

Something to note. I absolutely love this dessert. It’s delicious and it makes you feel good + nourished after eating it. That being said, if you’re looking for a decadent, indulgent fall dessert, this is not what you’re looking for. This is for anyone who wants a dessert that’s grain free and naturally sweetened. We haven’t always eaten grain free and I don’t know that we always will, but right now that’s what we’re going with. As far as sugar, I’m doing all of my baking these days with either pure maple syrup, honey or dates. I love classic homemade desserts using all out sugar and flour, but this just isn’t that. This is whole food nourishment that tastes like dessert and I am loving it :).




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Grain Free Apple Cobbler Cake

Ingredients

  • 2 medium apples, sliced
  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
  • 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8 or 9 inch baking dish by rubbing it with a bit of coconut oil.

  2. Layer most of the sliced apples on the bottom of the baking dish, saving a few apple slices for the top, if desired. Set aside.

  3. In a small bowl, mix together almond flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the coconut oil and maple syrup. Add the eggs, vanilla extract and lemon juice and whisk until well combined.

  5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until just combined. Pour batter into baking dish, covering the sliced apples. Top with remaining sliced apples.

  6. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool completely before cutting and eating.

 

Grain Free Peach Crisp Bars

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These peach crisp bars were created out of my desire to have a dessert/snack using end-of-summer peaches, and that were free of white sugar and flour. This recipe is for all of you like me, who want dessert, but also want to be healthy. These peach crisp bars:
-are grain free
-have no added sugar (they’re naturally sweetened with dates)
-utilize delicious end of summer peaches
-are tasty and filling
Let’s talk about what makes them so excellent.

The crisp
The crisp part of this dessert is made simply out of five main ingredients: whole pecans, almond flour, (unsweetened) coconut, coconut oil (you can use butter, too) and dates. There’s also a bit of salt and vanilla in there. It’s extremely easy to prepare – all of the ingredients are added to a food processor and mixed until crumbly.
A note on the dates – here are the dates that I use and highly recommend. These dates are perfectly textured and the pits are easy to remove. They blend up into a perfect date paste which is what I use in this dessert. To make the date paste, you simply place the dates in your food processor and process until they come together to form a ball of paste. That is the only sweetener used in this recipe.

The peaches
I kept the peaches super simple for this – they are diced and then mixed with just a bit of arrowroot starch, in order for the peach layer to thicken while baking. I use arrowroot starch but you could just as easily use another starch, like corn starch. You don’t have to do this, but I like smashing the peaches up a bit with the back of my spoon while mixing together the peaches and arrowroot. 

I love this dessert because it’s wholesome, it’s healthy and I can eat it without consuming lots of sugar. It’s a great dessert but would also make a wonderful snack, or even breakfast!










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Grain Free Peach Crisp Bars

Ingredients

Peaches

  • 4 cups peaches, diced
  • 2 tablespoons arrowroot starch

Crust/Crisp

  • 6-8 dates, depending on your preferred sweetness
  • 1 cup pecans
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 6 tablespoons coconut oil, or butter

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8x8 baking dish by lining with parchment paper or greasing well. Set aside.

  2. Add the diced peaches to a bowl and sprinkle the arrowroot starch on top. Mix well, even smashing some of the peaches with the back of your spoon. Set aside.

  3. Add dates to a food processor and process until they form a ball of paste. Remove and set aside.

  4. Add pecans, almond flour and coconut to the food processor. Pulse a few times. Add the salt, vanilla extract, coconut oil and date paste and process until mixture is well combined and crumbly.

  5. Add about 2/3 of the crisp mixture to the bottom of prepared baking dish. With a spoon, smooth out the crust evenly. Top the crust with the peaches. Crumble remaining crisp mixture over peaches.

  6. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until peach layer is bubbling and the top is slightly browned. I recommend letting it cool completely before serving.

Nourishment Lately 3.4.2018

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smoothie
{smoothie bowl breakfast, 3/3/18}

Here are some things that have been nourishing me lately!

This salt and pepper roast chicken. I have very little experience cooking meat, so when we started eating it regularly, I turned to NYT Cooking and have been loving this simple salt and pepper roast chicken. I’ve been roasting a whole chicken just about weekly and have been keeping it pretty simple like this – except I’ve been stuffing lemon and garlic into the cavity and adding some other seasoning (thyme and turmeric are my favorite so far).

Popsugar Fitness. I know I’m late in discovering this, but I have been loving Popsugar Fitness videos lately, especially the ones using weights. 

Smoothie bowls. See above! I have been obsessed with smoothies for breakfast for a long time, but mostly just during the summer. I have been craving smoothies lately though, so on weekends I’ve been making smoothie bowl creations. My current obsession is: 1 banana (save a little to slice on top), handful of frozen berries, ~1/4 cup hemp seeds, 1 spoonful of peanut butter, 1 spoonful of yogurt, handful of spinach, small splash of almond milk. I’ve been serving it in a bowl, topped with sliced banana, granola and a drizzle of peanut butter.

These dark chocolate hemp energy bites. I crave chocolate all the time, and these energy bites are a perfect way to healthfully satisfy that craving. They are super easy to make and hold up well if not refrigerated all day.

Comment on this post and let me know – what recipes, food, thoughts, ideas and things have you been loving lately?

Peanut Butter + Jam Baked Oatmeal

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As I type this, a bowl of this peanut butter + jam oatmeal sits in front of me for breakfast, as it has for countless days now. Each bite that I take is warm + comforting, especially as I look out the window to the gray morning sky and white ground.

That’s how this oatmeal came to be. A yearning for something warm. I’ve had a smoothie for breakfast almost daily for the last two years, but one cold Saturday morning recently, a smoothie just wasn’t going to do. I thought oatmeal sounded like a good idea, but I wanted it to be extra comforting, extra warm, extra special. Introducing: the breakfast that happily broke my two and a half year smoothie streak.

Let’s talk about it. The peanut butter and jam, it’s not in your face flavor wise, but I’d say that you do have to appreciate those flavors to enjoy this oatmeal. More than anything though, the coming together of the oats, milk, peanut butter and applesauce creates something special. The combination creates the creamiest oats I’ve ever had, no kidding. These creamy oats have a pleasant hint of peanut butter flavor, with a sweet/tartness coming from the jam and some crunchy texture from the toppings. I’d say that no one single flavor sticks out, everything just comes together in all the right ways.

If you plan to make this, here are some more details:

The peanut butter. If you like peanut butter, you will like this oatmeal. If you don’t like peanut butter, you still might like this oatmeal. If you LOVE peanut butter, you might actually want to add more than I suggest. The peanut butter flavor is not overpowering. Use an unsalted peanut butter if possible. If you do use a salted peanut butter, decrease the amount of salt that you add to the oatmeal. I have noted this below the recipe as well.

The jam. I thought that the jam would add sweetness, which it did, but it also adds tartness, an unexpected flavor that I love. Try to use a jam that has lemon juice in it, as that helps to add the right amount of tartness to these oats. I have been loving strawberry and blueberry jam but use what you love.

The applesauce. It acts as the main sweetener, with no other sugar added to these oats. And I will be honest, this is not a sweet dish, but that is how I prefer it. If you like things a little sweeter, you may want to use a sweetened applesauce (I use no sugar added applesauce) or you may want to add some other form of sweetener. Play around, find what you like. 

The oats. Use old fashioned or rolled oats. I thought about trying this with steel cut oats because I do love them, but I am just obsessed with the original version made with rolled oats, so why mess with something that works. Like I said above, these are the creamiest oats I’ve ever had so I don’t plan to change it up.

The milk. I have no doubt that these oats would work and be great with any kind of milk. I always use original unsweetened almond milk, but use what you love. 

Toppings. I really like to serve this with an extra dollop of jam and something crunchy. The extra jam, just because I love it and you just can’t have too much and the crunchy toppings for texture. I have been doing a sprinkle of hemp seeds but so many different things could work here. Another kind of seed, a variety of chopped nuts or a combination of both. Play around with it, find what toppings make you happy.

A few more notes:

This can be made into a single serving recipe, as that’s how I made and enjoyed it the first few times. I will list that recipe below as well. If you do make the four serving version, keep in mind that it does reheat very well. As I am the only one who will eat this in my house, that’s what I do. I just microwave the leftovers with a splash of almond milk for two minutes. Also, as far as what you bake this oatmeal in, there are options. In the recipe below, I state to cook it and then also bake it in an oven proof pot, like a dutch oven, like I did for the batch you see in the photos. I have done that successfully, and it’s nice to use only one dish. I have also successfully used an eight inch enamel cast iron skillet. If you don’t have something that can go from stove top to oven, just cook the oats in a regular pot on the stove and then transfer to any kind of baking dish for the oven. One thing to note is that you may want to lightly grease the dish that you bake it in to prevent sticking. 

I hope that these oats bring you as much happiness, comfort and warmth as they have been bringing me!

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Peanut Butter + Jam Baked Oatmeal
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Ingredients
  1. 2 cups rolled oats
  2. 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil (or butter)
  3. 1/2 teaspoon salt*
  4. 2 cups water
  5. 2 cups milk of choice (I always use almond)
  6. 1 cup applesauce**
  7. 1/2 cup peanut butter
  8. 1/3 cup fruit jam or preserves (I like strawberry and blueberry)***, plus more for serving
  9. Crunchy toppings (I like hemp seeds and chopped nuts)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Place the coconut oil (or butter) in an oven proof pot over medium high heat. Once hot, add the oats and toast, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. They are done when they smell toasted. Transfer the oats to a bowl, add salt and set aside.
  3. Add the water and milk to the pot and bring to a light boil. Once lightly boiling, add the oats, stir, turn the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 7-10 minutes, or until oatmeal has thickened but is still very creamy. Add the applesauce and stir. Add the peanut butter and stir well until everything is combined.
  4. {If you are not using an oven proof pot, transfer the oatmeal to a baking dish now}.
  5. Turn off the heat, spoon the jam on top and lightly swirl it into the oatmeal.
  6. Bake for 25 minutes, or until oatmeal is lightly bubbling and lightly browned on top.
  7. Serve, topped with a dollop of jam and crunchy toppings of choice.
Notes
  1. * The peanut butter that I use is not salted. If you use peanut butter that is salted, you may want to decrease the amount of salt that you add to this recipe.
  2. ** I use no sugar added applesauce. Keep in mind that because applesauce is the primary sweetener in this recipe, the type that you use will affect the sweetness of the oatmeal. The no sugar added applesauce makes the oatmeal just right for me, but if you like things a little sweeter, you might want to use a sweetened applesauce.
  3. *** Try to use a higher quality jam or fruit preserves that is as close to just fruit as possible. I think that the good stuff is worth it and makes a big difference in this recipe.
The Dreaming Foodie https://www.thedreamingfoodie.com/
 

Peanut Butter + Jam Baked Oatmeal - single serving
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Ingredients
  1. 1/2 cup rolled oats
  2. 1/2 teaspoon coconut oil (or butter)
  3. 1/8 teaspoon salt
  4. 1/2 cup water
  5. 1/2 cup milk of choice (I always use almond)
  6. 1/4 cup applesauce
  7. 2 tablespoons peanut butter
  8. Heaping 1 tablespoon fruit jam or preserves (I like strawberry and blueberry), plus more for serving
  9. Crunchy toppings (I like hemp seeds and chopped nuts)
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Place the coconut oil (or butter) in a small pot over medium high heat. Once hot, add the oats and toast, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. They are done when they smell toasted. Transfer the oats to a bowl, add salt and set aside.
  3. Add the water and milk to the pot and bring to a light boil. Once lightly boiling, add the oats, stir, turn the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 5-7 minutes, or until oatmeal has thickened but is still very creamy. Add the applesauce and stir. Add the peanut butter and stir well until everything is combined.
  4. Transfer the oats to a small oven proof bowl or dish.
  5. Spoon the jam on top and lightly swirl it into the oatmeal.
  6. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until oatmeal is lightly bubbling and lightly browned on top.
  7. Serve, topped with a dollop of jam and crunchy toppings of choice.
The Dreaming Foodie https://www.thedreamingfoodie.com/