I've recently rediscovered Budget Bytes. I'd perused a few vegetarian recipes on the blog before, but I hadn't really given it a thorough examination. After going through it in some detail, I now have dozens of recipes bookmarked! I'm pretty excited to try them.

If I'm being completely honest, this recipe didn't excite me all that much. But I had coconut milk that needed to be used up and I had a bunch of bananas in the fridge, so it was something that I knew I could throw together quickly and easily. The resulting oatmeal is tasty. The coconut comes through well and the banana gives it a mellow sweetness without being cloying. The main problem TF and I both had with it is that it's not actually very filling. I'd be tempted to add an extra egg and a scoop of protein powder next time to see if bumping up the protein helps a bit. Serving it topped with yogurt, skyr, Nutella, and/or nut butter would probably also help.

Banana-Coconut Baked Oatmeal

Adapted from Budget Byte$

Ingredients

• 3-4 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/3 c. unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 c. protein powder (chocolate, vanilla, or unflavoured)
• 1 (400mL) can lite coconut milk
• 3 c. rolled oats

Directions

1. Whisk eggs into bananas.
2. Add sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, baking powder, and sea salt and mix well.
3. Whisk in coconut, protein powder, and coconut milk.
4. Stir in oats with a spatula.
5. Pour mixture into a greased 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish.
6. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 30 minutes.