Banana Baked Oats

It’s a new week and for many of us the last before our kids are on holiday for a couple weeks. This quote by John F. Kennedy is our motto for the week, “Things do not happen. Things are made to happen.” With a to do list a mile long, it’s important to take time out to plan and figure out what is actually moving you towards your goals. Once you’ve got down on paper, it will be a lot easier to spend your time on productive tasks. 

On the list of things we don’t want you to worry about is your breakfast! This simple and delicious recipe for banana baked oats is a great way to get you powered up for the day.  By baking the oats, you create a different texture than the one you may be used to, almost like a soft chewy cereal bar! By adding flax, chia and nuts, the nutritional value of this breakfast is also greatly increased. Lastly, add any fruits from the Fruitful Day box to make it both aesthetically pleasing and more flavorsome.  Add different fruits the next day for a whole new combo and you won’t get bored.  

Now go out there and smash this week healthy breakfast and all! 

Banana Baked Oats (makes one 23cm x 23cm baked tray)

1 hour

Ingredients for the baked oats

  • 2 cups of rolled oats
  • 2 tbsp ground flax
  • 3 tbsp chia
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp cloves
  • ½ tsp ginger powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 2 cups mashed banana from the Fruitful Day Box
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey (this is optional as bananas are already sweet)
  • 2 cups coconut milk, almond milk or any milk of choice

Ingredients for toppings

  • 1 banana from the Fruitful Day Box
  • any other fruit of choice from the Fruitful Day Box
  • pecan nuts from the Fruitful Day Box

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, flax, chia, spices and salt. You can grind the flax yourself from whole flax seeds in a coffee grinder.

3. Add the wet ingredients; mashed banana, coconut oil, vanilla essence, maple syrup and coconut/nut milk.

4. Mix all ingredients until well combined.

5. Pour mixture into the baking tray (lined if necessary) and bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until browned on top.

6. While oats are baking, take another baking tray out for the pecans.

7. Coat the pecans in honey and roast for 5 – 8 minutes or until browned. You can put them in alongside the oats.

8. While both the pecans and oats are baking, thinly slice bananas.

9. Place a pan on medium heat, add some butter to the pan and sauté the banana slices by cooking lightly on each side and sprinkling with cinnamon.

10. Once oats are browned, remove from the oven and serve with cream or yoghurt. Top with caramelised banana, caramelised pecans and sliced fruit.

Banana Bread

We can’t believe it’s 2019 already!  We’ll be continuing to share recipes this year, but what we’re even more excited about is that Michelle Harvey, a Nutritional Therapist, is going to guest blog throughout the year and help us to understand how some simple changes to our diet can have a huge impact on our well-being. Look out for her first blog article in the coming 10 days. We think you’re going to love her just as much as we do!

In the meantime, we wanted to share an easy banana bread recipe with you.  This banana bread is a little bit different as it has banana flour in it. You may never heard of banana flour, but it’s actually a great addition to your diet because it’s a prebiotic!  What is a prebiotic you ask?  A prebiotic sets the environment for probiotics to work so it’s important to consume them together. Prebiotics, which are a type of non-digestible fiber compound, can be found in foods like bananas, artichoke, onions, garlic, apple skin, chicory root, beans, and many others.  Although they haven’t gotten the press in recent years that probiotics have, they are actually just as important as they are the fuel that allows probiotics to work. It’s all part of keeping your gut healthy something Michelle will be talking a lot more about throughout the year.

We hope you’ll come back soon to learn more about simple ways to improve your health in 2019.

Banana Bread (makes two loaves 11cm x 22cm)

1 hour

Ingredients

  • 100g coconut sugar
  • 2 ripe bananas from the Fruitful Day Box
  • 50g peanut butter
  • 170g banana flour (you can order on Amazon)
  • 50g oats
  • 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 100g milk or dairy free milk of choice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • 3 free range eggs
  • 100g coconut oil
  • 80g dates

METHOD

  1. Blend dates, bananas and peanut butter
  2. Combine mixture with all remaining ingredients and stir until a consistent texture is achieved
  3. Prepare loaf tin by lining it with greaseproof paper and preheat oven to 160 degrees C.
  4. Pour banana bread mixture into tins and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
  5. Allow to cool on a rack before removing from the tin to consume.

Spinach, Blueberry & Banana Pancakes

It’s been a few weeks since we posted our last recipe and with the first day of school around the corner, we wanted to give you some ideas to start the year on a healthy and happy note.

So have you heard of the old wives’ tale that you should eat your colors? Then you’ll love these green pancakes!

Pancakes are traditionally thought of as an unhealthy breakfast, but these are actually gluten free, sugar free, dairy free and paleo. In addition, they are great way to get spinach into what is otherwise a “treat” type meal especially for kids. Continue reading Spinach, Blueberry & Banana Pancakes