It’s Friday and that means only one thing. I wake up in the morning expecting the best breakfast to end the week off strong. Either an açai bowl or overnight oatmeal is the solution over a piece of toast with nut butter or a bowl of granola. I need something to get me going through the day and hold me over until my FlyWheel class in the afternoon. That’s why I decided to make this thick and creamy overnight oatmeal in a pretty new glass I bought at World Market a few days ago.
Last night after perusing the aisles of Whole Foods, I took the plunge and bought something I’ve wanted for quite some time: shelled hemp seeds. There are a few different brands and prices but I chose to go with Nutiva. Nutiva is a great company that sells organic and non-GMO chia, hemp, coconut oil and red palm products. For those of you who have never used hemp seeds before, they provide a hefty amount of protein (10g for 3 tbsp) with the same amount of fat as a nut would have. Hemp seeds are easily cultivated and require less water than other crops so they’re environmentally friendly! Yay!
Because they are shelled, they have the consistency of a light powder that you can top over oatmeal (like I did), yogurt, peanut butter sandwiches or sprinkle into smoothies. It even would be excellent in savory dishes like soup and salads!
Along with the bag of hemp seeds, I was checking out the small bulk aisle dreaming of toppings I could use in smoothies and açai bowls to get a little creative. Of course all I wanted was goji berries, cacao nibs, crazy nut mixtures and dark chocolate covered raisins. All of the crazy super foods that you would find at an açai bowl shop in California that cost your whole life savings. No joke. Super foods can be expensive, therefore I only buy them when they’re at a reasonable price or every once in a while when I just want to splurge! #Foodieproblems. Most people splurge on $200 worth of clothes at J. Crew. I splurge on hemp seeds and fruit. It’s cool.
Rather than buying a bag of goji berries (even if they were on sale for $10), I bought a rather large sized tub of banana chips for $1.50. I’ve never been a fan of banana chips, usually because they are baked with added canola oil and sugars. These babies were unsweetened AND cooked with coconut oil. Whole Foods stepping up their game! Woohuu! Just bananas, coconut oil and love. I almost ate the whole tin in one sitting (probably 5 bananas worth). No shame. Those people who tell you to not eat bananas because they’re high in sugar are silly… Eat the bananas, people!
Fun fact: My roommates and I steal 3-4 bananas a day from our dining halls and at one time we had probably 20 bananas in our fruit bowl. The addiction is real.
I never thought I could use banana chips in a recipe until I decided I would try to layer them in my overnight oats. By adding the hemp seeds as the final topping, I had the perfect plan for a simple glass of overnight oats. Banana, raspberries, cashew milk, oats (obviously), hemp seeds and an orange.
I’ve never used fresh banana in my overnight oats because I’m always nervous if it will brown and become too mushy in the fridge, so I just top it in the morning with banana instead. This time I threw in banana chips because they have an original dense and dried out state. By the morning, they become soaked from the milk so they have the perfect consistency: slightly pliable, moist and oh-so-delicious.
The addition of cashew milk is a great alternative to the usual almond or soy milk one would use in overnight oats. Silk’s new cashew milk has 50% more calcium than dairy milk (woah), is thicker and creamier than skim and best yet – does not contain carrageenan, an additive to non-dairy milks that has been linked to digestive issues.
You can find it in any Target/simple brand grocery store. I found mine at Mariano’s Market in Chicago.
- ½ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup cashew milk
- ⅓ cup raspberries
- 3 strawberries
- ¼ cup unsweetened banana chips
- 1-2 tbsp of raw shelled hemp seeds
- 1 small orange
- Pour ¼ cup oats into the bottom of a large glass. Followed by ¼ cup milk.
- Top with a few banana chips, followed by a strawberry, then raspberries.
- Repeat process once more and then top with the orange and sprinkle the hemp seeds all over!
If you were to use a full serving (3tbsp) of the raw hemp seeds plus the oats, you would receive a whopping 15g of protein for your morning breakfast (that is the protein of the oats + the hemp seeds). Holy moly! However, 1 tbsp goes a long way.
This oatmeal was rich and filled with flavor, with a bite of raspberry with a banana chip in every spoonful. 100% dairy-free and vegan for those interested. No need for any nut butters or granola like I usually feel the necessity to throw on my oatmeal, which I appreciated. It’s nice to switch up my oatmeal and not always do the same routine dish.
Feel free to add more dried banana chips in the morning because you can never have enough toppings on your oats or enough banana in your life. Am I right? Yeah, I am.
Another overnight oats recipe for the books! Happy Friday, my little banana chip buddies.
-Addie
