Overnight oats are one of the only foods I can tolerate eating in the morning. If I had it my way, I’d fast until 2pm every day and skip straight to lunch—burritos anyone? Don’t get me wrong—breakfast food is incredible, but I’m not making my incredible hollandaise sauce on a weekday morning before work, you feel me? And for the especially lazy among us, here’s some info from Oats Overnight.

Oatmeal is a bland, neutral food, so it tastes good no matter what you put in it. I’ve been trying to get creative and move away from the traditional, I’ll call it Starbucks, method of brown sugar, nuts, and dried fruit. I cut the sweetness way, way down, since breakfast is supposed to be healthy, but feel free to sweeten to taste.

The main instructions for overnight oats are incredibly simple:

Place 2/3 cup (a whole cup makes soooo much) oats and 2/3 cup milk (non-dairy/unsweetened preferred) in a mason jar, yogurt cup, or bowl. Mix. Put into the fridge at night. Take out and eat in the morning.

Basically, for all of the following, put the listed ingredients in at night and save the toppings until morning. This yogurt cup I found at Target is the perfect vessel. Here are some of the varieties I’ve come up with to spice up my morning forcefeeding.

Just Another Matcha Monday

2/3 c organic oats (or Quaker, you do you)

2/3 c non-dairy milk

1 tsp chia seeds

1/4 tsp matcha powder

1 tsp honey

optional topping: coconut flakes, blueberries

Graceland (inspired by this recipe)

2/3 c oats

2/3 c milk

1 tbsp organic peanut butter (crunchy preferred for texture)

1/2 tsp all-natural maple syrup

1 tsp chia seeds

dash of freshly-ground Himalayan pink salt

topping: 1/2 banana, sliced

The Blanched Dubois

2/3 c oats

2/3 c milk

1/2 tsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp chia seeds

2 tbsp blanched slivered almonds

optional toppings: 1/2 banana, sliced, handful of sliced strawberries

Tropic Thunder

2/3 c oats

1/3 c milk (2/3 if juice is omitted)

1/3 c all-natural fruit juice (pineapple, orange, or a blend)

1 tsp chia seeds

1/2 tsp organic coconut sugar (omit if using sweetened juice)

toppings: fresh sliced mango, coconut flakes

A few other ideas for things you could add to any of the above recipes: flax meal, protein powder, maca powder, spirulina (in the Tropic Thunder)

These all fall under the category of “sweet breakfast,” but I plan to follow this post up with some savory variations! I have an idea for an “everything bagel” variety that I can’t wait to test.

Until next time,

c