Hello from London!! Today on our agenda we will be touring the Downton Abbey palace. Was anyone else obsessed with that show besides me?! My mom and I watched it together while I was home on breaks from college if I’m remembering right. I loved it! I can’t believe I’m actually going to be seeing and experiencing this all in real life.
Before leaving for Europe, I wanted to try to test at least a couple recipes using zucchini from my garden! To be honest I’m a tiny bit sad I won’t be in the kitchen for several WEEKS to be baking, cooking, and testing recipes while traveling! This is definitely the longest time I’ve ever been away from home, and also the longest time I’ll go without cooking a single meal.
I am seriously a bit concerned about what Chris (my husband) will be eating while I’m gone. The man is SO talented and skilled with so many things around the house. He’s currently rebuilding the engine and transmission of his grandfather’s old truck; he single-handedly built a 4-car garage from the ground up (including doing all the electricity and plumbing himself!), etc. but he has ZERO skills in the kitchen. Point proven: in college he once called me asking how to make minute instant rice TWICE in a span of literally 5 minutes. No I am not exaggerating. ?
But back to these oats…yikes keep getting so sidetracked talking about Europe! And at the time I’m writing this I haven’t even left yet…just think of how much I’ll have to say when I get back!
I’m a big fan of overnight oats. And while these overnight oats were great, I daresay these are SO MUCH BETTER. I mean, getting in an entire servings of vegetables in a sweet breakfast?! You will feel so proud and accomplished with your life when you start the day off with some green veggies. Plus, chocolate. Fruit is great and all, but chocolate for breakfast will always have my heart.
Substitutions
I love adding a scoop of protein powder to oats to make this a more balanced, filling breakfast. However, if you’d prefer to not add the protein powder, I’d recommend adding some maple syrup to add sweetness (my protein powder is sweetened with stevia). You may also want to slightly reduce the milk, as the protein powder absorbs some of the liquid from the shredded zucchini and milk. If you don’t like chocolate chips (WHO ARE YOU) you can add raisins instead. Toasted chopped walnuts or pecans also sound like a delicious topping. OR a big spoonful of THIS!
Meal Prep
Overnight oats are the perfect meal-prep recipe, as the oats “cook” overnight absorbing the liquid. There is literally nothing you have to do then in the morning! I love these to grab and go, as weekday mornings are always busy and I often eat breakfast on the go and/or at work with my commute. They stay fresh in the fridge for 2-3 days. You can also halve this recipe to make more than one serving, or double it to make 4!
Hope you love this recipe! As always, feel free to leave a comment below letting me know if you’ve tried this or your questions/thoughts on the recipe!
- 1 cup rolled/old-fashioned oats
- 1 serving (about 46 grams) plant-based vanilla protein powder*
- 1 cup finely shredded zucchini**
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- Pinch salt
- ¾ cup milk of choice***
- 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
- Mix all ingredients together until combined. Divide between two containers.
- Refrigerate overnight (or at least for a couple hours) and enjoy the next day for breakfast!
- Makes 2 servings.
**drained and water squeezed out; from 1 medium zucchini
***I use unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Very good-thank you! Am eating it this morning.
You’re welcome! So happy to hear you tried the recipe and liked it ?
I’m always looking for new overnight oatmeal recipes to try because they make the best mealprepped breakfast, so this is perfect! I love adding protein powder to mine too because aside from helping my muscles recover, it adds so much yummy flavour too 🙂
Yes, I love overnight oats for meal prep too! And couldn’t agree more with you about the protein…love how it makes it more filling and adds sweetness and flavor too! 🙂 Hope you like this recipe!