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| Photos by Lou16, template by Canva |
I absolutely love oats for breakfast, for years I had porridge every morning until I was introduced to proats. I think proats is probably my favourite breakfast, although I've recently discovered an oatmeal bake which is absolutely amazing.
Sometimes, in Queensland, it's too hot to eat proats so one of my alternative oat-based options is overnight oats.
I like to make sure I increase the nutritional content of these meals by adding a couple of servings of fruit and vegetables to them. Starting the day with fruit and vegetables helps you to hit your daily target. Let's review how you can do that with each of these three meal ideas.
Proats with Cauliflower!
Yes, you heard correctly and if you're anything like me when you read that you probably thought cauliflower for breakfast - you're crazy! I actually really enjoy it though so let me take you through how I make it.
First of all, I've been enjoying proats for years using just oats and when I was told I could substitute the oats for cauliflower I was NOT going to do that, however, I did decide I would try adding a little bit of cauliflower to my oats and take it from there.
- 2/3 cup oats
- 1/3 cup frozen cauliflower rice
- 2 scoops Arbonne protein powder (if you use a different brand then this may need to be adjusted, it's basically one serving)
- 1 2/3 cup water (you can use milk of your own choice and also adapt the amount if you prefer your proats a different consistency)
- 1 tsp nut butter (optional)
Add the oats and the cauliflower to a bowl next put the liquid and protein powder into a shaker and shake. This ensures you don't get lumps in your proats so please don't skip this step.
Add the protein shake to the oats mixture and mix well.
Pop into the microwave for 2 mins, take out and stir well, then put back in for 1 minute.
If you're adding nut butter pop it in now and then stir really well before putting it in a bowl to serve.
I top it with fruit and seeds ie cherries and pumpkin seeds or strawberries with sunflower and flaxseeds.
Now I wouldn't personally want to add more than a third of cauliflower to my oats and I will admit you can taste the cauliflower, but I actually don't mind the flavour I think it goes well together, especially for chocolate or mocha flavour oats. Vanilla oats don't disguise the cauliflower flavour nearly as well, in my opinion.
Overnight Oats
I love making my overnight oats, but most of my recipes only used to contain fruit and no vegetables, as I was scrolling Instagram one day I came across a carrot cake overnight oats recipe and had to give it a go. I didn't really like it to be honest, but I did love the idea of having carrots for my breakfast so I experimented and remembered that my husband's secret ingredient when he makes carrot cake is pineapple so...check out my carrot cake overnight oat recipe that I DO like.
- 2/3 cup oats
- 1 small carrot, grated
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- a small handful of frozen pineapple
- 2 scoops Arbonne vanilla protein powder
- 2/3 cup DF milk (I like to use oat milk)
- 1/3 cup coconut yogurt
- 1 tbsp nut butter (I use almond)
- dash of cinnamon
Topping
Yogurt & pumpkin seeds
Combine the oats, carrot, chia seeds, protein powder, cinnamon and pineapple together in a container and give a quick stir. Now add the milk and coconut yogurt and mix together really well. Place in the fridge overnight.
In the morning roughly spread your nut butter on the top and then add the yogurt or see below for the bonus recipe and use my protein-enhanced yogurt (this is what I prefer to use. Originally I tried using just one scoop of protein in the base layer and the other scoop in the yogurt layer, but one scoop in the base leaves it tasting a little bland it definitely needs the full 2 scoops).
Finally, sprinkle the pumpkin seeds on the top and enjoy!
Oatmeal Bake
There's no way I can think (just yet anyway) how to add any vegetables into this bake, but it does contain a couple of serves of fruit and it tastes delicious. I find it super easy to prepare and pop into the oven as I do a few other jobs before it's time to eat. Here's the recipe, let me know if you try it:
- 1 banana
- 3/4 cup unsweetened plant milk
- 1 cup oats
- 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1/2 cup frozen berries
I make this all in the pie dish that I am going to cook it in so that there are fewer dishes to wash! So, after turning the oven on to preheat at 180C, mash the banana then add the oats, baking powder, chia seeds and plant milk. Stir it all together well before adding your frozen berries and mixing them in well (I've tried lots of different versions and prefer using mixed berries).
When the oven has come up to temperature pop the oat mixture in for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Voila! It's finished and tastes delicious. You can eat it by itself or add a dollop of yogurt on the top - my personal favourite way is by adding some of my protein-enhanced yogurt (sometimes a few fresh berries on top as well).
Bonus Recipe
Well not really a bonus recipe, but here's how I make my protein-enhanced yogurt. I basically take a scoop of Arbonne's vanilla protein powder and a very generous dollop (or two) of coconut yogurt and mix them together. The result is a sweeter flavoured, protein-packed yogurt that is great on the bake above, or on top of pancakes or waffles. I have even mixed fresh berries through this and eaten it as a snack.
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| Photo by Lou16, Template by Canva |
