Overnight Oats, Anyone?

Overnight oats, as an idea, is pretty appealing. It's oatmeal you don't cook. It's breakfast you can prepare in individual portions the night before and have a bowl waiting for you in the morning... with endless variations. 

Unfortunately, It's near impossible to make overnight oats look appealing. They're gray and mushy. But I'm crazy about them! So trust me. Don't turn away from its clammy hands and pallid skin... ok I'll leave it there.

To find some really nice, truly appetizing photos of overnight oats, check out Oh She Glows. She's got a bunch of great variations, too, and makes these parfait type oats. Kath Eats Real Food also has good ideas for variations.

So I whipped up a batch of (feeble when compared to Oh She Glows') pb and j parfaits. Layered with berry jam and peanut butter-banana soft serve and topped with a cherry, I had a rockin' breakfast.

Oh, look! You can see my breakfast quinoa in the background! Yummy! 

Ok, let's get down to it. I'll provide a basic recipe and tell you that any add-in you could wish can be mixed up there as well: dried fruit, fresh fruit, hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, pepitas, wheat germ, crumbled wheetabix, cornflakes... The list goes on for as far as your imagination can stretch.

Overnight Oats

serves one.

1/2 cup steel cut or rolled oats

1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup milk or non-dairy equivalent (I favor hemp milk or almond milk, but there's rice and soy and cashew and coconut etc. etc.)

Mix together in a bowl and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, put any topping you want and drizzle with liquid sweetener, like maple syrup, honey, or (my favorite) agave.

Some variations that I've tried:

Pumpkin
serves one.
adapted from Kath Eats Real Food

1/2 cup steel cut or rolled oats

1/2 cup yogurt

1/2 cup milk or non-dairy equivalent 

1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 banana, sliced
sprinkle of cake or pie spice

drizzle of agave
1/8 cup wheat germ
1/8 cup grape nuts

Mix first 6 ingredients and refrigerate overnight.
Add last three ingredients in the morning and serve.

PB+J
serves one.
adapted from Oh She Glows

1/2 cup steel cut or rolled oats

1/2 cup yogurt

1/2 cup milk or non-dairy equivalent 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsps agave syrup

1 banana

1 tbsp peanut butter

jam, for layering

Mix first 5 ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate overnight.
Peel the banana and freeze overnight.
In the morning, mix the banana and peanut butter in a food processor or blender to make banana soft serve.
Pour one fourth overnight oats into a tall glass, then add a layer of PB-banana soft serve. Add another fourth then layer jam. Repeat, alternating with PB and J until filled. Serve.