Not long ago I became inspired to find a way to put some variety into weekday breakfast for my husband. Seriously, how many bowls of cereal can one person eat? Whereas I'm almost completely a savory breakfast person, he prefers sweet things (ahem…like his wife!) And one of his favorites breakfast dishes is oatmeal with brown sugar. His mother makes it old school on the stove, the way oatmeal is meant to be made. It's amazing how different it tastes than the instant stuff I grew up on. You know, the little packets that had just a few of the chunks of brown sugar that you would hunt for with your spoon? Am I the only one who did that? Ok, so maybe I do like some sweet breakfast things.
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Gathering all the ingredients to make three
different variations. |
Knowing his love of oatmeal and sweets, I was pretty excited to find these recipes for different varieties of no cook refrigerator oatmeal. I wasn't sure if he would dig the idea of eating it cold, but after making several batches he doesn't seem to mind. These definitely fall into the category of low maintenance and speedy assembly. In just a few minutes you can prep a bunch of these for the whole week, and not have to think about breakfast at all. And since it is made using individual mason jars they are the perfect size and super easy to take with you on the go if you don't have time to eat at home. They are also cute enough that I think they would be a nice touch to a brunch for guests or children who want to pick out their favorite flavors.
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| I used Red Mill brand Chia Seeds. |
If you haven't gotten on the bandwagon or used Chia seeds in your cooking yet, consider yourself in good company. I hadn't either until this recipe. Like any newer fad or superfood, I am always skeptical. From everything I've read about them they do sound like an easy way to add in Omega 3 fatty acids and protein to your diet. They also plump up into a gel like substance which also helps contribute to making you feel full longer. So put that on the list of pros as well. Unlike flax seeds they have a pretty long shelf life too. Which is good considering how darn expensive they are. I almost didn't buy them when I saw the $15 price tag. I literally put them back and took the cart down the next aisle. But for some reason I was really intrigued by them. So I circled back and put them back in my cart making up some silly justification in my head about having a food blog and needing to test these things for my readers. :)
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Assembly line preparation makes quick
work of several jars. |
I'm sure there are endless different variations you can make depending on what your favorite flavor combinations are. But for each of them there is a standard assembly process and some main ingredients you need. First things first, you need to get old fashioned rolled oats; you can't use instant, quick cooking or steel cut oats for this recipe. The recipe I was working from called for Greek Yogurt so I made a few jars using that, but after experimenting with a few batches my husband really preferred the ones made with regular Vanilla flavored Yogurt. Go with what you like best. You will definitely need more milk if you choose to use the Greek Yogurt just to thin out the consistency a bit. I used skim milk because that is what we always have on hand, but you could use whatever you like. I bet Almond Milk would be tasty in these as well.
If you plan to use the Chia seeds, then you need to have those on hand as well. I found mine at a Mariano's but I know Whole Foods also sells them. The mason jars I used were 1 cup (half pint) each. I bought mine online but you can also find them at grocery stores as well.
To assemble these, you just line up the jars and add the oats, milk, yogurt and chia seeds to each one. Then, depending on which recipe you are trying, you add the additional ingredients. Close the jars tightly and give them a good shake to mix. If you are using any fresh fruit you should stir that in after you give it the initial shake to keep from bruising or smashing it.
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| Yum! Yum! Yum! |
Place the finished jars in the refrigerator and they will be ready the next morning. The completed jars lasted all week for us without any diminished quality. I've seen some recipes that used bananas (I'm not a fan of the texture) but I would imagine those wouldn't last more than a day or two without getting brown or mushy. The recipes I list below were the three that I liked the best. I'm going to keep trying out flavor combinations to keep things interesting, and I know my next version is going to include chocolate and coffee. I will let you know how that goes!
The only critique I got from my husband on these recipes was that the cinnamon flavor was pretty intense for the Apple version after it was in the fridge for a few days. So if you don't think you'll eat that one up right away you might want to go easy on the cinnamon.
Cheers to breakfast!
Basic Ingredients (included in all versions):
- 1/4 cup uncooked old fashioned rolled oats
- 1/4 cup skim milk
- 1/4 cup plain or vanilla yogurt (or Greek Yogurt)
- 1 1/2 tsp chia seeds
Blueberry Maple
- 1 Tbp Maple Syrup
- 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
Apple Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp agave (or honey)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
Mixed Berry Vanilla
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp Raspberry Preserves
- 1/4 cup berries (halved raspberries or whole blueberries)
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All three variations all lined up and ready for the fridge.
Look at those cute blueberries peaking out! |
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