Overnight Oats (Breakfast in a Jar!)

Overnight Oats in a Jar

Even though I’m technically a stay-at-home mom, I find myself hustling my crew out the door 4-5 mornings a week. Breakfasts often consist of granola bars flung to the backseat while I balance a bowl of granola on my lap in the front. Not exactly the breakfast of champions.

Enter one of my favorite new uses for the humble Chia seed: Overnight Oats in a Jar.

I honestly woke up in the middle of the night thinking about this oatmeal. Beautiful breakfast jars sitting in my refrigerator, just waiting for me to grab as I head out the door! It was hard to get back to sleep. Obsessing about food is nothing new for me, but I have never once looked forward to eating oatmeal. That would be like saying I get excited to tie my shoes in the morning. Normally eating oatmeal is a totally forgettable (and often gummy) experience.

This really isn’t a recipe, so I’m just going to run through the steps. It basically involves filling an empty pint jar or large cup with good things and refrigerating it overnight. You wake up in the morning and breakfast is done!

All of the ingredients just kind of meld together in a delicious, creamy breakfast parfait. Everybody loves parfaits! No mush, no mess. Just a fast, simple, healthy breakfast. Let’s get started!

First of all, the cast of characters. I call this “Still Life: Oatmeal.”

• Oats: Regular or gluten-free old-fashioned oats
• Chia Seeds
• Milk: Cow, rice, almond, etc.
• Yogurt: Plain, honey, almond, coconut, etc.
• Sweeteners: Honey, maple syrup, etc.
• Fruit: Fresh or frozen berries, cherries, apples, pears, bananas, mango, peaches, etc.
• Nut Butters: Peanut, almond (Nutella? That could be exciting.)
• Extras: Nuts, seeds, shredded coconut, ground cinnamon

First step: scoop 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats and 2 teaspoons Chia seeds into a pint jar or large cup. Cover with milk and stir to combine.

Then add whatever toppings will get you out of bed in the morning. Here are four tasty combinations to get your creative taste buds flowing.

• Frozen strawberries, sliced almonds, shredded coconut
• Diced apples and pears, pumpkin seeds, ground cinnamon
• Frozen raspberries and mango, cashews
• 1-2 T. peanut butter, cashews, sliced bananas (the one thing I add in the morning)

Another beautiful benefit of this method is that frozen fruit works just fine because it has plenty of time to soften.

Then just scoop a few spoonfuls of yogurt over the top. You could use plain, vanilla, coconut, camel. Sheesh, there are so many yogurt options on the market now. Whatever floats your boat.

Drizzle some maple syrup or honey on the top if you want. Go crazy! It’s your oatmeal!

Pop a lid on top (or just cover with plastic wrap) and stick it in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight. (I like to stir it all together before eating so I don’t end up with a wad of Chia seeds at the bottom.) Grab a spoon and you have a healthy breakfast-in-a-jar that can be customized a dozen different ways.

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Winco or Costco have the best local prices on Chia seeds, but Amazon isn’t too far behind. These BetterBody Foods Organic Chia Seeds are just under $9 for a 2-pound bag or under $5 per pound!

You have a bag of chia seeds, hooray! Now what?

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