Breakfast....the Most Important Meal of the Day for SRC

Oh Happy Day....Oh Happy Day....

Today is Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day.  One of my favorite days of the month.  This month I was lucky enough to get two SRC days because I stepped in for a blogger who was unable to complete her assignment in week B.  You have to hate when life gets in the way of your blogging but it does seem to happen every now and then.  I was happy to help her out and I was lucky to get a new member to our club to spy on. You can read all about it here.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled program....

This month I was assigned Nora of Natural Noshings.  Nora is a wonderful food blogger who creates healthy and delicious recipes that are mostly gluten free and use little or no refined sugars.  Let me tell you, I had a very difficult time narrowing my choice down this month.  There are so many delicious noshings from which to choose.

How about a Banana Split for breakfast?  Or some homemade baked Cheezits? I almost decided on the Moroccan Chicken Stew but I was in the middle of St. Pat's week and needed to concentrate on using up my leftovers.  I am definitely putting Nora's Healthier Fried Rice with Shrimp on the menu for a Fish Friday very soon.

I finally chose a recipe from her plethora of breakfast noshings.  After all, it is the most important meal of the day.  I chose Nora's Banana Bread Quinoa Flake Bake  and oh boy....was it a great choice!  I chose this recipe because I had a huge bag of quinoa in my cupboard from a past Crazy Ingredient Challenge post where I made a wonderful Quinoa Bowl with Lemongrass Pork Meatballs.  Unfortunately, when I went to make the recipe, I found that my quinoa was not flakes.  Fortunately, Nora was prepared and had given oats as an alternative to quinoa and I did have some old fashioned rolled oat in the cupboard.

I slightly adapted Nora's recipe to accommodate what I had available in my pantry and refrigerator and to make enough for 3 servings.  I used strawberries instead of banana, also a Nora approved substituion.  I used lowfat regular milk instead of coconut milk.  My coconut was sweetened and I used flax seeds instead of chia seeds

We topped ours as we do any oatmeal.  I used a dried mixture of berries and a touch of cream, Frank used raisins and milk and Ting ate hers with no topping at all.

This was like taking a bite of Heaven, made even better because you knew it was healthy for you.....I didn't bother telling Frank or Ting that part....I  just let them think that they were luxuriating with a delicious, leisurely weekend breakfast.

Strawberry Oatmeal Bake
adapted from Natural Noshings

Makes 3 servings.  Preheat oven to 350*.

1 1/2 c. Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
1 pint strawberries, hulled and pureed (or other ripe fruit, mashed or pureed)
9 T. milk of your choice
3 T. shredded coconut
1 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
6 t. flax seed
3 T. honey, or sweetner of choice, if desired

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Grease 3 ramekins or oven safe bowls (I used coconut oil).
Distribute the oatmeal mixture evenly among the ramekins and bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool slightly and then invert ramekins over shallow soup bowls and serve with assorted toppings.

Topping ideas: dried fruits and raisins, shredded coconut, diced apples, sliced bananas, chopped nuts, chocolate chips, honey, brown sugar or maple syrup.

Take a look at what everyone else cooked up this month

An InLinkz Link-up