My Favorite Healthy Breakfast Items

Let’s talk breakfast.

If you are a regular F&F reader, you know that my go-to weekday breakfast is low-fat cottage cheese topped with blueberries, unsalted slivered almonds, and a dash of cinnamon.  I mention it all the time.  I mean, have been eating this breakfast for years, and somehow I’m not sick of it.  But I do like to spice it up now and then!

— Multi-grain toast or sandwich thin with natural peanut or almond butter, topped with sliced bananas

— Bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal.  The fix-ins always differ, but some of my go to items include berries, bananas, raisins, chia seeds, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, unsalted nuts, nut or pumpkin butter, shredded coconut, or plain Greek yogurt for extra creaminess.  Sometimes everything, but the calories in a loaded bowl of oatmeal can definitely creep up so I try to be mindful.

— Plain Greek yogurt with berries or banana slices, and a sprinkle of wheat germ.

— Scrambled eggs.  My favorite is mixing them with salsa for a punch of flavor!  This is usually a weekend or telecommuting choice because I don’t have time to eat breakfast at home on weekdays.

— Protein pancakes.  This is another weekend choice.  There’s a bazillion ways to make protein pancakes, but some that I’ve posted on F&F before include apple cinnamon protein pancakes, banana cinnamon protein pancakes, strawberry banana protein pancakes, and whole wheat chia seed pancakes.

Recently as part of my Sunday night food prep, I’ve taken to cooking a breakfast item that stays for the week.  Something that can also be enjoyed as a healthy grab and go snack for busy schedules.  Last week I made my co-worker Dawn’s banana bread muffins, the week before I tried out The Lean Green Bean‘s sweet potato banana bites, and the week before I threw together an oatmeal casserole.  I’m definitely loving having a bigger breakfast/snack item on hand, and it does switch things up from my usual cottage cheese!

When I posted the banana pecan coconut oatmeal casserole picture on my F&F Facebook page and on Instagram couple of weeks ago, I got tons of requests for the recipe.  Honestly I don’t remember where I got this recipe, but I switched things around a bit anyways.  Enjoy!

Banana Pecan Coconut Oatmeal Casserole

Ingredients

• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups almond milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup shredded coconut

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Stir together oats, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the almond milk, egg, applesauce, and yogurt.  Then add to the oat mixture and stir until combined.
4. Stir in banana, pecans and coconut.
5. Spread into an 8×8 casserole dish and bake uncovered for 20 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven, stir the mixture, and bake uncovered for an additional 20 minutes.  The dish will be done once lightly browned.

I love this dish because there are no added sugars!  A lot of the baked oatmeal recipes out there use a lot of added sugars or oils.  This recipe is definitely more nutritious and still tastes great.  It’s even boyfriend approved and takes barely any time to throw together.

Enjoy with more yogurt, fruit, chia seeds, etc.

I want to hear what your go-to healthy breakfast choices are.  Tell me in the comments, this way we can all share ideas!