Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Wellness Wednesday Recipe: Overnight Oats

Joy @
flickr.com/photos/joyosity/

One excuse that I hear from busy people for not eating healthy during the day is that they either do not have the time in the morning or the resources at work to prepare something. This leads people probably wasting money on something that is not nutritious or purchasing something that could have been made at home for the fraction of the cost. 

I for one hate eating before the sun comes up. Breakfast time for me is usually 9 am at the earliest, so when I was at school, I would either pack something microwavable, (again not everyone has this resource at work, and Lean Pockets are kind of expensive) or I would just wait till after school to eat. Obviously, it's not ideal for one to eat their first meal of the day at 2pm. 

One-night last year while browsing Instagram, I came across a recipe for overnight oats, a simple way to make a breakfast that you can prepare at night and have ready to eat in a minimum of 5 hours for an effortless morning meal. 

First, you need to combine ½ cup of traditional rolled oats and half a cup of liquid (dairy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, soy milk) in a small container with a lid. A lot of recipes call for Mason jars, but a small Tupperware container works just fine. At this point you may be wondering how you don’t need a stove or microwave to make oatmeal, but the oats soak up the liquid overnight, which allows the mixture to lose its watery texture. I prefer overnight over traditional oatmeal because all the flavors are stronger since they’re soaked into the oats. 

Meals Makeover Moms @
flickr.com/photos/mealmakeovermoms/25943508926

The second part is where you can get creative and pretty much add anything to the mixture: half a cup of yogurt, half a scoop of protein powder, nuts, cinnamon, honey, and fruit. Basically, you can add anything that you would normally add to hot oatmeal. 

Whether you add fruit during preparation or before eating is based on preference; however, I like adding frozen berries during preparation so in the morning when the berries are thawed, the extra juice adds more flavor to the mix. 

In my photos I added half a cup of oats, half a cup of water (which is not preferred because it came out a little less thick than I like, but still delicious), 1/3 scoop of protein powder, 1/4 cup of cottage cheese, 3/4 cup of frozen mixed berries, a sliced banana, cinnamon, and a drizzle of honey. 

The great thing about overnight oats is that they are fast, and since you can mix up the combination of ingredients, they do not get boring, and they keep you full and energized all morning. Stop making excuses for not eating well during the day because there are creative and easy ways for to prepare meals for your busy and active lifestyle. Click here for more overnight oat recipes.

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