Morning Glory Oatmeal Bake

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I hadn’t heard of Morning Glory oatmeal until recently, but thought that it was something new I could try and sneak in some zucchini from our frozen surplus of it. The recipe that I used was inspired by Cookie and Kate’s “Baked Oatmeal Recipe with Blueberries.” I obviously did some tweaking to that recipe, but the base of the baked oats are very similar. This recipe is great to meal prep for breakfasts, as you can quickly cut a slice, pop it in the microwave and enjoy without any work for your busy mornings.

Health Benefits:

  • Apples are a healthy source of carbohydrates, providing you with energy. They also provide fiber, vitamin C, potassium, polyphenols and more.
  • Zucchini is full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants– similar to most squash.
  • Carrots are a good source of beta carotene, vitamin K1, potassium and antioxidants.
  • Along with apples, oats and flax seed both provide fiber. Oats are also a source of whole grains to provide you with energy.
  • Walnuts contain healthy fats and are full of antioxidants, omega-3’s and more.

Morning Glory Oatmeal Bake

  • Servings: 8 x 8 pan, 9 pieces
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This easy recipe is a great way to prep breakfast and is moist, full of fresh flavor and spices, and packed with nutrients!

Ingredients

  • 1 apple, chopped
  • 1/2 cup zucchini, shredded
  • 1/4 cup carrot, shredded
  • 1 1/2 cups oats
  • 1/2 cup walnuts
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1 tablespoon flax seed
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cloves
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 maple syrup
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F and grease an 8×8 baking pan.
  2. Finely chop apple and shred zucchini and carrots. Mix together and spread out evenly in greased pan.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients (oats through ginger). Pour evenly over top of apples, zucchini and carrots.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (milk through vanilla). Pour this mixture evenly over oats in pan.
  5. Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes. Enjoy warm, or store up to one week and heat in the microwave before eating.

I also made a healthy “frosting” to drizzle on top for some added creaminess and sweetness. To make this you can mix together greek yogurt, milk, brown sugar, vanilla and a dash of cinnamon. I just added the ingredients one at time, little by little, until I found the desired consistency and flavor that I was looking for. I also think that this would be delicious with a cream cheese icing/ glaze on top. Unfortunately, I don’t have any cream cheese to try it out right now, but next time I’ll have to give it a try. Thanks for checking out this warm, fall recipe and as always, if you try it let me know what you think!

–Brit

Shrimp Scampi Zoodles

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I think this is going to be the last zucchini recipe for a while, but I’m not making any promises! With all of the zucchini from our garden this season, we’ve had to get more creative than just eating it as a side or baking some bread. So, we bought a spiralizer (the KitchenAid attachment one) and got cooking!

Zoodles are such an easy way to get in some great nutrients for a meal (and use up a zucchini or two). I love the zoodles and think they taste great, but remember that real pasta, carbs and all, are also totally okay to eat without justification or modification to your diet. I love pasta in all of its many forms and want to remind you that a balanced diet includes ALL foods, even if diet culture tells you differently! So now that I’m off my soap box, if you don’t have or like zucchini, feel free to try this recipe with regular noodles- the sauce is the best part so it’ll be great either way.

Health Benefits:

  • Zucchini is full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
  • Shrimp is a great protein option that provides selenium, vitamin B12, iron, phosphorus, iodine and more. However, it is higher in cholesterol than other seafoods, so be aware of this if you need to watch your cholesterol.
  • Though there is not an abundance of lemon in this recipe, it is still a good source of vitamin C.

Shrimp Scampi Zoodles

These zoodles are fun to make and are a great base for this delicious and flavorful shrimp scampi sauce!

Ingredients

  • 5 cups zoodles, 1 medium zucchini
  • 3 cups shrimp
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1/4 cup parmesan
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons corn starch
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Spiralize one medium zucchini to make around 5 cups of zoodles.
  2. In a skillet pan, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter on medium heat. Add the minced garlic and shrimp to the pan and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook shrimp until it is pink, stirring occasionally.
  3. Remove shrimp from the pan and place it in a bowl. I covered mine in the microwave, but you will reheat them again at the end.
  4. To the same pan, add the white wine, parmesan, lemon juice and the rest of the butter. Let simmer, stirring occasionally.
  5. Remove a few tablespoons of the sauce and place it in a small bowl. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of corn starch to the liquid, depending on how thick you would like your sauce, and stir together until corn starch is incorporated and mixture is thickened. Add this back into the pan with the rest of your sauce and mix until it reaches your desired consistency.
  6. Once sauce is done, add in your zoodles and cooked shrimp. Toss to coat everything with sauce and cook only until zoodles and shrimp are both warm. Remove from heat, serve and enjoy!

If you try this recipe out, let me know what you think! Once again, thanks for checking it out and making it to the end of this post!!

–Brit

Blueberry Lemon Zucchini Muffins (GF)

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I recently tried a blueberry zucchini bread recipe and loved the idea but not how the product turned out. I was going to do some recipe testing with it to make it fluffier, but then I got the idea to make it with lemon and into muffins! After a test run or two, these muffins were born and I am very happy with the outcome!!

I have been loving using zucchini to bake with because 1) we have a surplus of it from our garden and it’s multiplying faster than I can even shred it! and 2) it incorporates so nicely into baked goods, adding some nutrients without altering the taste! It’s kind of amazing how much zucchini you can pack into a recipe without even noticing it in the final result.

This recipe uses 1:1 gluten free flour, but if you are not gluten free and want to use regular AP flour you can. Since it is 1:1, the ratio should be the same, but know that the texture could change slightly. If you want to replace it with another type of flour, such as oat or almond, you will need to look up a conversion and adjust the recipe as needed.

Health Benefits:

  • Zucchini is full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants– similar to most squash.
  • Also packed with nutrients, blueberries provide an abundance of antioxidants, along with some vitamin C, vitamin K and manganese.
  • Lemons are a good source of vitamin C, provide fiber and even assist in the absorption of plant-based iron.

Blueberry Lemon Zucchini Muffins (GF)

  • Servings: 10 regular muffins
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These zucchini packed muffins are flavorful and fluffy with the perfect golden brown coloring! So tasty and a great way to sneak in some extra nutrients!!

Ingredients

  • 3 cups zucchini, shredded
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • juice of 1 lemon, 1/4 cup
  • zest of 1 lemon, 1 tsp (or lemon extract)
  • 1 1/2 cups 1:1 gluten free flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup blueberries

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400° F and spray 10 regular sized muffin tins with non-stick baking spray (this eliminates waste because you don’t need the muffin liners). 
  2. In a medium sized bowl, combine zucchini, eggs, sugar, coconut oil, lemon juice and lemon zest.
  3. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and stir batter just enough to incorporate the flour mixture.
  4. Gently fold in blueberries and fill muffin tins nearly all the way up with batter- leave only about 1/4 inch of room at the top. This allows for the muffins to puff up more and have a rounder top.
  5. Bake at 400° F for 20 minutes or until tops begin to turn golden brown. Let cool slightly, then remove from tins and place on cooling rack or enjoy warm!

I hope you give these muffins a try and are as happy with them as I am! Thanks for being here!!

–Brit

Healthier Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

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Zucchini’s are coming in full force in our garden and that means lots of zucchini bread over here! We usually make a family recipe, but I wanted to make it a little healthier by switching up a few ingredients. I used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose, loaded it with more zucchini, switched to 100% maple syrup instead of granulated sugar and changed a couple other things, as well!

I’ve grown up eating zucchini bread so I’ve never been skeptical of it, but if this is your first time hearing about it, don’t shy away! It’s another delicious bread to try and just as good as banana or pumpkin bread in my opinion. The spices and fluffy texture paired with fresh zucchini makes this bread comforting and tasty in any season that you might crave it. While we have a surplus of zucchini from the garden in the summer we are constantly making zucchini bread, but we also shred and freeze it so that we can make this bread whenever we want!

Health Benefits:

  • Zucchini is full of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants– similar to most squash.
  • Whole wheat flour contains the bran (providing fiber, minerals and antioxidants), endosperm (mostly carbohydrates) and the germ (containing vitamins, minerals, protein and more). Refined grains like white flour only has the endosperm, so does not provide near as many health benefits as whole wheat flour does.
  • Using 100% maple syrup is a great recipe replacement for granulated sugar as it is a natural sweetener that is also full of antioxidants!
  • Coconut oil is sometimes overhyped for its health benefits, but I do find it to be a better option than vegetable oil in most cases.

Some substitutions can be made and result in a fairly similar outcome, like replacing honey for maple syrup or using a different oil. However, if you choose to use a different type of flour, you will need to make some adjustments to the recipe. A simple google search should tell you the proper conversion to use for the flour that you are replacing whole wheat with.

Healthier Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

This is a healthier take on my families classic zucchini bread recipe that uses whole wheat flour and other alternatives to create a delicious bread that's a little bit better for you!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups zucchini, shredded
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup 100% maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1/4 cup milk or DF alternative
  • 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325° F and grease a standard bread loaf pan.
  2. Shred fresh zucchini or thaw frozen zucchini and lightly drain excess liquid.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix together zucchini, eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil and milk.
  4. Add in remaining dry ingredients and stir until combined.
  5. Pour into greased pan and top with a little extra shredded zucchini to add some color and decoration to your loaf.
  6. Bake for 55 minutes or until toothpick can be inserted and cleanly removed from the center. Let cool slightly before removing from pan and enjoy!

I hope this recipe inspires you to get baking and that making healthy swaps in classic recipes is easy and can still taste great! Let me know what you think of this recipe and how it turns out for you!!

–Brit