Easy Apple Baked Oatmeal: Vegan and Glutenfree

Happy New Year! Although I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions, I do think it's a great time for small changes you can make to improve your (and your family's) life. One resolution this year is to pay special attention to SUGAR in our family's diet. It's amazing how easily it is to eat sugar, even if you avoid dessert and treats. Sugar can be found in baked goods, yogurt and even milk! And I know my kids get enough sugar in their diets even if we try to avoid all extra sweet treats and desserts. 

So, to stay on the lower sugar trend, I can't wait to share this easy Apple Baked Oatmeal recipe with you that's vegan and gluten-free. I adapted it from this recipe, and cut the sugar in half (actually, even more than that!).

This apple baked oatmeal is a time-tested recipe that I've made about every month for the past 3 years. WOW. I'd say it's about time to post it! Of course it's dairy free, egg free and allergy-friendly. It's also gluten free as long as you use gluten free oats.


My Little Guy with food allergies just LOVES this baked oatmeal. I usually just cut it into squares, leave a few pieces in the refrigerator to eat for the next few days, and then freeze the rest of the squares for future breakfasts, snacks or to pop in lunchboxes. It's just as moist and delicious after it's been frozen. 

Simple, homemade, real food in an instant!

This isn't the prettiest photo of my baked oatmeal from the freezer, but real life isn't always pretty. Ha!

Like me and the hubs, Little Guy LOVES the apples and always asks me to put more in the baked oatmeal. 5 year old Little Gal doesn't like the pieces of apples as much. So, I usually cut the apples in big enough pieces for her to easily pick them out (or in reality, for me to take them out for her). That method seems to work for all of us!

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Easy Apple Baked Oatmeal: Vegan and Gluten-free

Makes 12 large servings. Makes 24 servings for smaller (kid-sized) squares.

WET INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 3 cups milk* 
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 cup oil (I've used coconut or canola oil in the past)
• 6 tsp vanilla extract

*Any kind of milk work. I've personally used coconut milk and soymilk in the past. If your milk has no sugar in it, you could slightly increase the sugar in this recipe.

DRY INGREDIENTS:

• 6 cups rolled oats (use gluten-free if needed)
• 2 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 Tbsp flax meal
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 diced apples (Put in as many or as little as you want. I usually add in about 1 - 2 cups of diced apples).

DIRECTIONS:

• Mix together wet ingredients in large bowl (no mixer needed, just use a spoon!)
• Mix together dry ingredients in separate bowl with whisk or fork
• Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix with spoon or spatula
• Pour mixture into 9 x 13 greased pan
• Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until slightly golden brown around edges, and slightly firm in the middle
• Let cool before serving to make sure it doesn't fall apart when cutting it

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Are you on Pinterest?  Don't forget to pin this recipe! You might also like some of the other vegan baked goods pins on my Pinterest board. Check them out and let me know if you have any other favorite vegan baked good recipes that can feed a crowd!

Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal Bites

'Tis the season for warm and comforting recipes, especially those made with pumpkin! I've been making different forms of warm and comforting baked oatmeal for the past few months. Baked oatmeal is such an easy breakfast.  I mix everything together the night before, then the next morning I pour it in a pan and bake! This recipe for Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal Bites is one of my favorites because:

• It includes pumpkin!
• It only calls for a little bit of honey as a sweetener. No processed sugar added.
• It's made in muffin tins for nice baked oatmeal bites. Perfect portion control, great for kids to pick-up and eat, easy to freeze, and easy to transport for a breakfast on the run or a lunch box.
• It's egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free and allergy-friendly for Little Guy.
• I usually have all of these ingredients in my house, so it's an easy breakfast solution.

I made two different forms of these Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal Bites. One using gluten-free oatmeal only, and the other using half gluten-free oatmeal and half quinoa. I think we all prefer the oatmeal bites, but add quinoa too if you'd like to try a different form of protein.

Here are the ingredients I used:

• 2 cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free, but you can use any oats you like) OR you can use 1 cup oats and 1 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup pumpkin
• 2 mashed bananas
• 1 cup milk (I used soymilk but any will work)
• 1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flaxseed meal mixed with 3 Tbsp water) - this replaces 1 egg
• 3 Tbsp honey (or more or less depending on how sweet you like your baked oatmeal!)
• 1 tsp cinnamon*
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch salt

*It's easy to make this recipe even more pumpkin-liscous.  Just add other spices like pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg or even more cinnamon.  I was making this to please the palates of a 3 and 1 year old, so I used milder spices.

Directions:

• Mix everything together in a big bowl (I do this the night before to make it easy)
• Spray the muffin tins with oil (I use my trusty Misto Olive Oil Sprayer)
• Add oatmeal mix so it's just about even with the tops of the muffin tins
• Put in pre-heated 375 degree oven
• Bake for 25 - 30 minutes minutes, or until firm and a little brown around edges

Here are both the Pumpkin Baked Quinoa/Oat Bites and the Oat Bites only.  Both were tasty.  The quinoa bites just have a different texture and flavor than the oat bites.  I prefer the oat bites, but try them both and see what you think!

Everyone in our family enjoyed these including 1 year old Little Gal, 3 year old Little Guy and the
Hubs and me! I also love them because they're easy to freeze and pop in the microwave to reheat.



Are you a baked oatmeal fan? What's your favorite way to make/eat oatmeal?

Here's another one of my favorite ways to eat oatmeal: Vegan Overnight Oats

This smoothie would round out the pumpkin baked oatmeal bites nicely!: Green Ghostbuster Smoothie

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SWEET Breakfast Plans

I have an allergy-friendly meal plan ready this week not for lunch or dinner, but for BREAKFAST! Usually breakfast is a quick throw-it together kind of meal that includes either a Sunbutter banana sandwich, warm oatmeal, vegan overnight oats, or allergy-friendly muffin with fruit on the side.

Why a breakfast meal plan?  Well, I'm inspired by this....

I was so happy to see a big box outside my door just FILLED with SWEETNESS!  Whoo hoo!  I actually won this box of goodies from Clean Eating Magazine. My recipe suggestion for one of their contests was a top pick, and this box of Wholesome Sweeteners was the prize! They're testing out the top recipes and the winner will be featured in Clean Eating Magazine. Fingers crossed!

The cool thing about this SWEET box is that it's full of wholesome sweeteners that are Fair Trade Certified and organic. I can do a TON of baking with all of these products, and spruce up our usual breakfasts and desserts with the fun flavored agave syrups. Here's some great info about the health benefits of agave if you've never tried it before.

I was also excited to see some allergy-friendly recipes on the back of the bags of organic sugar. I'll have to adapt the recipes a little for Little Guy's food allergies, but I'm excited for some new recipe inspiration.

Here's my allergy-friendly breakfast meal plan for the week. As you can see, oats are key to our breakfasts. We use these oats as a staple. Read the label every time to make sure the oats are safe for your family!:

Monday: Easy waffle with fruit and a Tbsp of vanilla agave syrup for dipping on the side.

Tuesday: Baked Oatmeal from Chockababy using the organic sugar I received. Fruit on the side.

Wednesday: Repeat of baked oatmeal from Tuesday. (Repeats are the key to my meal planning!)

Thursday: Gluten-free and nut-free granola. Notice the use of agave! Since it's 4th of July and we have a day off of work, I plan to eat this outside on our porch over yogurt! 

Friday: Gluten and nut-free granola mixed into warm oatmeal with a Tbsp of Sunbutter on top.

Here's a good illustration of my surprise and excitement to find this SWEET box at my doorstep. 

As Little Gal says, "OH" look at the box of goodies!

Wholesome Sweeteners make me happy. What a nice surprise!

Now let's play some frisbee!!

Any good ideas for recipes I can use for all this sweetness?

Easy Breakfast: Vegan Overnight Oats

Eating a healthy and quick breakfast is always a challenge, especially on the two days a week when I drive an hour to work in the office. Many times I eat a Sunbutter banana sandwich in the car, but I also like a little variation. I've found vegan overnight oats to be the key! They're not only a great source of protein, but they're also a great dairy free and egg free breakfast option. Perfect for those dealing with food allergies, or just following a vegan diet!

Vegan overnight oats are a great option for easy breakfasts that you can make the night before. It's basically just oats soaked in your choice of milk with yummy toppings. The milk softens the oats overnight with no cooking required.

You can find MANY great recipes for overnight oats online. Some of them use way too many ingredients for someone who needs a quick breakfast. This one is my go-to recipe that includes easy, healthy and whole-food ingredients with no added sugar.

I actually don't even like calling it a recipe as all you do is dump everything in a jar and stick it in the fridge. No cooking or mess required. My kind of meal.

Vegan Overnight Oats Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup oats (gluten-free if needed)
1 cup rice milk (or any milk you'd like)
1/2 container coconut yogurt (or any yogurt you'd like)
frozen berries (fresh would be better, but this works too)
ground flaxseed meal (sprinkle as much as you'd like on top)

Directions:
Add oats to a small Ball jar (or any container). I love making it in a Ball jar as the ingredients stack so nicely and make it look pretty :) It also takes up less space in the refrigerator and in a work bag, so it's easy to transport.

Pour in milk. Add yogurt. Top with frozen (or fresh) berries.

Sprinkle with flaxseed.

I just pop off the top at my desk and eat it with a spoon. No microwave or fuss required.

Some other fun ingredients for overnight oats: Shredded coconut, agave nectar, honey, cinnamon, raisins or other dried fruit, or nuts (of course depending on whether or not these are allergy-safe foods for you and your family).

Do you have any other healthy, easy and/or portable breakfast ideas?