In Praise of the Bake

Welcome to March, everyone. It's a good month. The sun has returned to Minneapolis. One of my favorite holidays is just two weeks away...there are Shamrock shakes.

Travel planning has kicked back into full gear, as I prepare for my BFF foodie trip to NYC and my BFF couples trip to Vegas this spring, plus our family trip to NYC and Boston this summer. (Shhhh...don't tell the boys, but I think we're staying in another hotel with a pool on the roof!)

Lots to be happy about, including this week's Smart and Good recipe, which I'm super excited about because it solved the problem I was having with breakfast.

After my cleanse, I realized that I had to stop eating yogurt every morning because it was just too much dairy and it wasn't making my stomach happy. But ever since, I haven't been able to figure out what to eat for breakfast and it's been causing me to have coffee breakfast, which isn't great.

I don't get up early enough to cook breakfast in the morning (I get up at 6, which I think is early enough), so it had to be something I could grab and take to work with me. I tried a few things, but nothing was as easy and filling as yogurt. Enter the OATMEAL BAKE!

This is the photo from the brilliant creator of
this recipe. There's also coconut whipped cream
in this photo, which sounds amazing, but I
skipped that part...for now.

I have to give my friend Kristina credit for introducing me to the concept of what is essentially a casserole made of oatmeal. After learning of its existence, it only took a quick search of Pinterest to find this recipe, which I only changed by using gluten-free oats rather than regular ones.

It's oatmeal and cinnamon and coconut milk AND it's dairy/gluten/sugar free! How can that not sound awesome?

Cinnamon Chia Oatmeal Bake

¼ cup coconut oil, melted
¼ cup raw honey
2 large eggs, beaten
½ cup applesauce
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups gluten-free oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 cup coconut milk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. In a medium to large bowl mix together oil, honey, eggs, applesauce, cinnamon, and vanilla.
3. Add to the bowl rolled oats, baking powder, chia seeds and milk. Mix until thoroughly combined.
4. Pour oat mixture into an 8 inch square baking dish and bake for 20 - 22 minutes. Let sit for about 3 minutes, cut into 9 squares, and serve warm.

I'm pretty sure the discovery of the oatmeal bake is going to cause me to attempt to make many other breakfast-type bakes. Egg bake, waffle bake, sausage McMuffin bake?