Zucchini Banana Oatmeal Bake

Breakfast is the meal people often skip for a reason. Who has time to make an elaborate breakfast every morning and then sit down to eat it?! I mean maybe you do, and then I want in please! But in all seriousness, breakfast is really the most important meal for so many reasons. If I don’t have a balanced and fueling breakfast, I find myself craving non-energizing food the rest of the day. Then I just feel like garbage, and to top it off I continue to eat garbage. Doesn’t help with productivity whatsoever.

So what’s the deal with breakfast. What should breakfast include? Well, this is not a one stop answer. It very much depends on your day: what you’ll be doing, how much energy you’ll be needing, your individual hormone levels, and a number of other factors. But generally speaking, you want to have some source of protein to keep you feeling full and satisfied, a complex carb to provide the body with energy gradually throughout the morning, and a healthy fat to help with vitamin absorption as well as to regulate blood sugar levels. I know this is the advice you’ll hear dietitians say about every meal, but it’s particularly more important for breakfast because it sets the rest of your day up for success. So if you’re going to put in any effort to meal plan for the week, it really really should be for breakfast! And that’s where this gem of a breakfast comes in. You’re going to love this!

I like to make a dish full of this bake on Sundays, and by Thursday, the whole things is finished.The hubs and the kids love this for both breakfast and dessert alike, and I am so happy having it every morning with a side of coffee. Sometimes when I’m low on time and have this in the fridge, I am so happy to give this to my kids as a dinner with some high fat/protein yogurt. A perfectly balanced and nourishing meal for the littles. So really makes life so convenient and I know I have a meal in my fridge whenever I need it.

Macronutrients

Let’s just talk macros for a second so you see how great this recipe is: in a single serving you get 8 grams of protein, 9 grams of healthy fats, and 25 grams of complex carbs. Top this with a high protein yogurt, and a drizzle of maple syrup, and you legit have a breakfast of champions. Also added bonus: I sneak in veggies to my kids with this one. Best.

Noteworthy Ingredients

All the ingredients are pretty standard and easy to find here. two notes I’d like to make before I get to the recipe though:

  • Oats: please please don’t use instant oats. Literally sucks all the nutritional value out of the carb, and will not give you the benefits I spoke about above. So you’re looking for rolled or old fashioned oats. If you want to know a bit more about how to choose your oats, go check out my Grain Guidebook 😉
  • Hemp seeds: completely optional, but they gives the recipe an extra boost of protein and healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. I have yet to find hemp seeds in Israel. But the good news is that there are tons of readily available brands on iHerb. I like Manitoba Harvest and find them to always be in stock. If you want to sub with a more readily available seed, just sub with flaxseed or chia, but this will obviously change the macro breakdown.

Ok, enough chit chat. Go get your breakfast prep on with this one.

About Me

Hi! I’m Liat Buckman, a Real Food Women’s Health Dietitian. After years of restrictive eating, painful periods, low energy, and fertility struggles, I realized conventional medicine wasn’t giving me real solutions. I took matters into my own hands—diving deep into real food nutrition, functional medicine, and blood sugar regulation to heal my body.

Now, as a conventionally trained dietitian in Israel with holistic certifications as an NTP and RWP, I help women uncover the root causes of their hormonal and metabolic struggles using real food and sustainable lifestyle shifts. I also guide women in navigating real food eating in Israel, which is where this entire journey—and my blog—began. Read more >

Zucchini Banana Oatmeal Bake

Servings: ten to twelve

Ingredients

1-2 small zucchinis, grated
2 bananas
2 tbsp almond butter (or any other nut butter of choice)
2 tbsp coconut oil (or any other oil sub)
1 egg
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 cups milk of choice
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
3 tbsp hemp seeds*
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder

Notes:
*hemp seeds are optional, but you can definitely swap them out with flax or chia seeds

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius, and grease a baking dish big enough for 10-12 servings. a standard 9X13" pan should do
2. After grating the zucchini, place in a towel and wring out as much moisture as possible
3. In a medium sized bowl, mash one of the bananas, add in the almond butter, coconut oil, egg, syrup, milk, and grated zucchini. Mix until fully incorporated
4.. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, and mix well
5. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix to combine
6. Spread the mixture into the greased dish. Chop the second banana and and place over the top of the mixture
7. Optional: sprinkle some cinnamon on top
8. Bake for 35-40 mins, or until the bake has fully set and begins to slightly brown
9. Cool, and store in the fridge for up to a week
10. Best served with a drizzle of maple syrup and some high protein yogurt

About Me

Hi! I’m Liat Buckman, a Real Food Women’s Health Dietitian. After years of restrictive eating, painful periods, low energy, and fertility struggles, I realized conventional medicine wasn’t giving me real solutions. I took matters into my own hands—diving deep into real food nutrition, functional medicine, and blood sugar regulation to heal my body.

Now, as a conventionally trained dietitian in Israel with holistic certifications as an NTP and RWP, I help women uncover the root causes of their hormonal and metabolic struggles using real food and sustainable lifestyle shifts. I also guide women in navigating real food eating in Israel, which is where this entire journey—and my blog—began. Read more >

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