This is one of our faves. You may not initially think Oatmeal in the summer but this one is so light, refreshing, and packed with protein!
You can pop it in the oven on Sundays during meal prep or after you get the kiddos to bed. The key here is using fresh fruit that’s in season. We got our strawberries for $1 a pound!
I like to warm mine up and top with some fresh chopped walnuts. Clara Rose likes hers cold over yogurt and the boys are still (thankfully) in the state of eating whatever I put in front of them.
We purchase Organic as much as we can so I usually won’t differentiate with ingredients in recipes. As a general practice for our family- if there is an organic option at our grocery store then I purchase, if not then I purchase the non-organic version and don’t spend time worrying over it. I use to fret way too much over this but in the name of balance-I do the best that I can and keep moving on. We don’t have trendy health food stores where we live (hence the the starry eyes when I enter a Whole Foods… until I have the receipt in hand) which means we don’t have access to a huge variety of organic and corky health-nut options. (By the way- totally not hating here, I’m all about some arrowroot powder, Coconut aminos, and all the trendy things, it just can be a little harder to find in good ole Mississippi.)
We follow EWG’s Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 for fruits and veggies as best as we can. If they don’t have Organic strawberries but I have a recipe that calls for strawberries.. I buy the regular strawberries people! The pursuit of cleaner, less processed eating is great and something I fully support but I also think that you have to give yourself a little grace!
So here’s my baked maple oatmeal recipe, made with mostly organic ingredients and (gasp!) regular old strawberries!
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
1 C Organic Old Fashion Oats
3Tbsp coconut or brown sugar
1tsp cinnamon
1/4tsp salt
1 (hearty) tsp maple extract (can sub for vanilla but maple is what really gives it that good flavor)
2C milk
2 eggs
3 bananas (ripe+sliced)
1 C diced peaches
1 C sliced strawberries
Preheat oven to 375
Grease 9X13 glass or ceramic baking dish (I use avocado oil). Then cover bottom of the pan with banana slices.
In a medium bowl mix oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Once combined spread evenly over bananas.
Arrange sliced strawberries and peaches on top of the oat mixture.
In a separate bowl, add milk, eggs, and maple extract-whisking until combined. Pour over oats slowly to keep sugars on top of the bananas (this is what caramelizes the bananas making them super sweet and delicious!)
Bake at 375 for 1 hour or until top begins to brown.
Enjoy warm with sliced pecans or walnuts on top, cold over yogurt with a dab of honey, or if you’re feeling extra indulgent- with a little whip cream on top! Store in fridge for up to a week.