A Nourished Start: Peanut Butter Smoothies and Baked Oatmeal
Breakfast just might be my favorite meal of the day. I have a real penchant for breakfast foods (waffles, pancakes, fresh fruit and berries, yogurt, sausages, smoothies, hashbrowns, eggs benedict... I could go on, but I'm sure you get the point!).
Lucky for me that eating a wholesome and hearty breakfast is a fantastic way to start the day, and there are so many delicious and nourishing ways to do it!
If you're looking for some new ways to spice up your morning breakfast routine, make sure that you head on over to The Nourishing Gourmet, for the Nourished Start Breakfast Carnival, full of fantastic ideas for keeping your breakfasts healthy, varied and of course, yummy!
But back to breakfast...
This first recipe is a recent one, that was inspired by Crystal's mention of peanut butter smoothies in their home. I don't believe she ever gave the recipe, so I decided to come up with my own. After a bit of trial and error, I've finally found one that we all love!
One of the great things about this smoothie for me is that it helps me to get in a good chunk of protein, which I try to eat 80-100 grams of while pregnant, so it's also a perfect afternoon snack. It also has the double benefit of being a cheer-rousing snack for the rest of the family, and it's protein base helps to keep mid-afternoon blood sugar levels steady and balanced, resulting in less grumpy children (and mommy!) while dinner is being cooked!
Peanut Butter Smoothie
Serves 2 (this works for me and my little ones to share, but if it's for the whole family, I double it)
1 cup milk (raw is preferably, and makes it that much more thick and creamy)
1/4 cup peanut butter (I stick to organic, as peanuts are highly sprayed. Other nut butters would also be delicious!)
1 Tbsp carob powder (you could substitute cocoa powder if you prefer)
1 1/2- 2 Tbsp honey
2 frozen bananas, broken into chunks
Combine all in the order given, and blend until smooth. Enjoy sipping on this indulgent treat!
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My second recipe, Baked Oatmeal, has actually been posted on my blog before, but I've been making and adapting it for a long time since then, and thought it deserved to be posted more purposefully, rather than tacked onto the end of another post.
Though my breakfasts are usually a bit simpler than this (regular oatmeal, eggs and toast, etc .) this is one of our very favorite breakfasts and is so nice to enjoy on a weekend morning or with guests.
Baked (and Soaked) Oatmeal
This is a soaked recipe because oatmeal in particular is high in phytates (which impair digeston and can block mineral absorption) and requires a good soaking period of at least 12 hours but preferrably closer to 24, for better digestion and assimilation. I notice that when I'm in a hurry and don't soak this for as long as usual, my husband and I feel that it sits a bit heavier and doesn't digest quite as well, so if you can, plan to soak it in the morning of the day before you'd like to serve it.
The day before:
In a large pan, like a 9 x 13 corning ware or something similar, add:
6 cups rolled oats
1 cup melted butter or coconut oil (I usually do a bit less than this- sometimes as low as 3/4 cup, though I definitely wouldn't go any lower than that)
3/4 cups honey (you could also use 1-1/2 cups of rapadura or sucanat)
2 cups cultured milk product (either buttermilk, kefir or yogurt watered down. I usually do this step 1/2 kefir and 1/2 water, which works well and saves money!)
Mix well, so that everything is moist. Cover with a clean kitchen towel, and leave it to sit on the counter until the next morning.
The next morning:
Preheat the oven to 350 F, and then add to the pan,
4 beaten eggs
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
Sometimes it's a bit difficult to mix the oats, if it's been chilly during the night. On really cold days, I've had to pop the pan back into the oven for a minute while it's preheating, just to soften the butter or coconut oil enough to be able to stir it better.
This is also the time that you could add any fun additions that your family would enjoy. Some that we have tried are grated or diced apples (with extra cinnamon), and raisins. Both were really nice, and I'm sure you can think of many other ways to fancy this dish up, although it is just wonderful on it's own.
When everything is well mixed, smooth it out a bit, and put it in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until lightly browned and crisp on top.
(When I make this on Sunday mornings, I go mix everything and get the oven going immediately when I wake up, before the kids are up. Once it's in the oven with the timer set, I run back to take a shower and get dressed, and get the kids up. By the time we're ready to eat breakfast, our baked oatmeal is ready to be eaten!)
We like to pour either raw milk or cream over our bowlfuls, and even if I haven't added raisins while cooking, they're often grabbed from the pantry and added in anyways. 
Mmmm... I think I might have to make this tomorrow!
What are your favorite things to eat for breakfast?
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Great smoothie recipe. I used So Delicious Coconut Milk (this kind is meant for drinking; it's not the canned kind), almond butter, carob, agave, and a ripe, refrigerated banana (didn't have one in the freezer). It's a little too sweet so I'll use less agave next time, but it is absolutely delicious! I know my nut butter-banana-chocolate-lovin' husband will love a version using cacoa. Thanks!
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Hmmm, thoughts on peanuts during pregnancy?
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MMMMMM I love PB and this shake sounds delicious, I will try this tomorrow! Thanx for the recipe:)
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WOW! I love the peanut butter smoothie idea!! I'm actually really pumped to try that tomorrow. How wonderful! I'm probably more excited than I can express on here...haha. Thanks for posting this!!
As a part of the carnival I posted a recipe for dutch breakfast bread. You should check it out!
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I love homemade granola with almond or hazelnut milk. Oatmeal is fabulous. Green smoothie with toast. Quiche and friatta stuffed with vegetables. Miso soup. Waffles with a locally made raspberry syrup [that is not too sweet]. Fried eggs and sauteed spinach on toast. French toast with preserves [though not very often as it is so filling]. And my most favorite is avocado spread on toast and sprinkled with Spike or all purpose seasoning [with no salt].
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Have you tried sunflower butter?- we all love it.
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I am pretty new to a lot of this but would buttermilk from the store work for the baked oatmeal or would it go bad? I guess I am a little scared of leaving dairy out over night.
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Jessica, the only negative thing I've heard about peanuts in pregnancy is that it might be a good idea to avoid them, in order to avoid serious peanut allergies in your child. However, I would personally only worry about this if you have a family history of severe allergies, especially to nuts, or if you already have had a child with a peanut or other severe allergy. As well, this is still pretty speculative that it even works to avoid peanuts in order to avoid allergies. I only eat organic peanuts, but I have no problem consuming them while pregnant.
Mab, yes, I've tried sunflower butter (and it's very yummy!), but never in a smoothie. Although, I do often toss sunflower seeds into my smoothies sometimes, when I don't have dairy as the base. It makes a fast "nut/seed milk" of sorts.
Jessica, as long as the store buttermilk has actual bacterial culture in it (which is should- I haven't seen one yet that doesn't, although there are some store yogurts that I would definitely would not use for this purpose as they're made with thickeners rather than bacterial culture), then it's fine. I would never leave regular milk out, but any cultured milk will be okay.
And I was really worried about leaving dairy overnight at first, too.
I totally understand where you're coming from! I've been doing it now for several years, with no issues whatsoever, if that helps set your mind at ease any!
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Do you think this would work with Steel Cut Oats? It seems like enough soaking/cooking time, although obviously the texture would be different.
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Gigi, good question. I've tried making it with steel cut oats, and it's only so-so. You would need to add more liquid, and definitely increase the cooking time (if my memory serves me, it's closer to an hour?). Also, you would want to decrease the cups of oats, because 6 cups of steel cut oats is a whole lot of oat!!!
It doesn't rise nicely and have the same sort of puffed up, crispy texture to it that it gets with the rolled oats. So even though steel cut is generally my oat of choice, I always makes this with rolled instead.
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I am excited to try your PB smoothie recipe. Do you ever freeze your bananas for this to make it thicker? I love to eat yogurt with granola and bananas. I've thought about adding PB to this like they do at Jamba Juice.
What is the texture like on the baked oatmeal? You mentioned the top was crispy, but is the inside mushy or spongy like regular oatmeal?
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Cottage Comtesse, the bananas are always, always, always frozen.
We rarely even use bananas fresh in our house, but prefer them frozen!
The baked oatmeal is NOT mushy like regular oatmeal! This was the first oatmeal that I made for our family that I actually enjoyed eating as well (I never liked oatmeal as a child, so although I made it for my kids, I used to make something else for myself, even though I have now grown to like and even love eating regular oatmeal).
But the baked oatmeal is almost a bit cake-ish in texture. Because of the baking powder and the eggs, it puffs up a bit and has a lighter texture than regular oatmeal, and it really isn't mushy at all. If you're not really into oatmeal usually, then I would definitely give this a try!
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I make this smoothie too! My 4 year old loves it, and it's a good way to get protien if you're pregnant. I make it exactly the same way as you do, using cocoa powder. What exactly is carob powder? I've never heard of that before.
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That PB smoothie sounds pretty yummy!
I love to have omlettes for bfast!
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MMMmmm. Thanks for the smoothie recipe. Crystal talks about those smoothies a lot and I always wondered where the recipe was?! (it wasn't there!) I'm going to try this. Also, what is the difference between cocoa pwdr and carob powder? Is carob powder gluten free, do you know?
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I think I'm going to try the baked oatmeal recipe for Sunday breakfast! We normally have soaked oatmeal during the week for breakfast, but I've never tried a baked recipe before. We also love green smoothies for breakfast (using the Nourishing Gourmet's recipe for coconut milk tonic)!
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would homemade yogurt work in the baked oatmeal? would i just water it down like you do with the kefir? (i'm just beginning to partake in this 'healthy, natural' eating and cooking stuff, and don't even know what kefir actually is).
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Yes, Carey, you could definitely use yogurt instead of kefir. Kefir is basically a more liquid, drinkable version of yogurt, made using different bacterial cultures. But it's pretty much the same idea.
Don't worry- I didn't know what it was for a loooong time either!
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I tried the peanut butter smoothie and it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
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Oh, my! I made smoothings (loving chocolate and peanut butter as I do!) and it was DELICIOUS! I bought more bananas to freeze so I can make it more often. Thank you so much!
I'm not a big oatmeal fan, but love how cheap and easy it is. I'll have to try the baked oatmeal recipe.
Thank you, Stephanie!
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I tried your smoothie recipe earlier this week and WOW! I love it. So far my daughter and I have split 2 of them as after lunch treats this week and I treated myself to one (all alone!) while she was napping this afternoon. Yummy!
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That's what my husband says, Sarah, "Wow"! He wants me to make these ones all the time, and quite frankly, so do I!
I wish I had stumbled upon this idea years ago!
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oh. my. goodness. am sipping the dregs of my peanut butter smoothie and it is unbelievably delicious. My new pregnancy treat
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I just baked some oatmeal, and enjoyed every bite! I usually eat oatmeal because it's "good for you". Now I have a keeper recipe that I'll actually look forward to! Thank you very much.
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The baked oatmeal recipe is wonderful! I think it will become a staple in my breakfast fare. I also used the recipe as a base to make oatmeal cookies, I'm especially pleased because none of my oatmeal cookies have ever turned out so well
. To make them I cut the baked oatmeal recipe down by 2/3ds and did everything the same except: The day before used water instead of a milk product and added 1/4 c. agave nectar to balance out the honey so that the cookies were sweet but not too sweet, the day they were baked I added 1/3 tsp. stevia, and baked them on cookie sheets at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Scrumptious!!
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