Saturday, March 29, 2014

ok guys, im totally hooked on overnight oats.

so, ever since my stupid celiac diagnosis (yes, thats its official title. ive also taken the liberty of renaming celiac disease to stupid celiac disease) breakfast has been, shall we say... problematic. 

see, im not a morning person. at all. so cooking breakfast? yeah, not happening. for as long as i can remember ive been the cereal or granola bar for breakfast type. maybe if im feeling extra ambitious, ill make a smoothie. but thats pushing it. 

unfortunately i also have a variety of diseases that all work together to make me wake up STARVING, while also eliminating my ability to eat granola bars and almost every cereal except chex and cocoa pebbles and im also apparently allergic to bananas so smoothies are out of the question. 

so um... breakfast has been a MAJOR problem in my life. i mean, have you ever tried eating cocoa pebbles every morning for six months straight? it sucks. for a multitude of reasons, but mainly because immediately after youre done eating them, youre hungry again. and im about 9000% over being hungry all the time. 

well, things at the meyers house seem to have hit an unusually pleasant phase of problems being solved: james is working full time again, his three month battle with unemployment has been solved, im not currently working three jobs, and most importantly, IVE FINALLY FOUND SOMETHING TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST. 

chia seed overnight oats. 


which are probably the trendiest most pintrest-y breakfast i can imagine that the me from two years ago who was convinced that no good could ever come from pintrest is totally shaking her head at, BUT, you know what? its pretty decent. and cheap (even with my stupid expensive gluten free oats it costs less than $1 a day). and it keeps me full. FOR THREE OR FOUR WHOLE HOURS. which is basically unheard of since being gluten free and turning into a bottomless pit of starvation and despair. also (this part may just be a coincidence) since ive been eating my jar of overnight oats every morning, i seem to have stopped losing weight, which is very, VERY much appreciated. 

i literally can not stop singing the praises of the wonders of overnight oats to anyone and everyone that will listen to me. i got my mom making them. and james is even eating them sometimes (james has always been a eight eggs and bacon or no breakfast at all type of guy). and now im going to tell you how to make them. because theyre fantastic. 

heres how you do it:

chia seed overnight oats
(one serving)

ingredients: 
1/2 cup rolled oats (gluten free if required)
1/2 cup yogurt (exact type is up to you, i use a full-fat vanilla)
1/2 cup milk (or milk substitute if dairy is an issue)
1 tsp chia seeds (these can be expensive because they usually come in a 1lb container, but you dont need much so if you can find a health food store that sells them in bulk 1/4 lb will last you a VERY long time)

start by taking a clean empty mason jar (laura scudders peanut butter jars are the EXACT right size and i happen to be swimming in them, so win for me), and add each ingredient in the following order: yogurt, oats, chia seeds, milk. then stir. now put it in the fridge and wait at least overnight. stir again. top with whatever toppings you fancy. eat. 

and thats it. 

ive been topping mine with strawberries and nutella, because, well, anything for an excuse to eat nutella every day:


and one more great thing about this whole overnight oats thing? it is SO easy to make them in bulk (provided that you have enough jars on hand), a quart size tub makes exactly seven jars (dont ask me why, because mathematically it SHOULD be eight), and in 10 minutes, i can make a WHOLE WEEK of breakfasts. its awesome. i love it. the end. 

thanks for sticking around with me while i rave about oatmeal. you are a true friend. 

what do you normally eat for breakfast? have you ever tried overnight oats? 

14 comments:

  1. ha! yes! thats what finally got me to try them, i was looking at a recipe and i was like, "well, i have all the ingredients, might as well give it a shot" and I'm so glad i did!

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  2. So yummy, I make mine in a big Tupperware and just scoop out a serving each morning. I like mine warmed up with sliced bananas! Oh, and I just started adding ground flax meal.

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  3. ooooh! honey and cinnamon sounds AMAZING! definitely trying that tomorrow! i like the chia seeds since they make it more filling/add more protein without changing the taste/texture too much.

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  4. i never thought of eating it warm! hows the ground flax meal? i totally have flax seeds just hanging out not being used for anything.

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  5. I've heard so much about these types of recipes...I definitely want to try it out!

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  6. Ok. I'm going to give this a try. Always looking for a way to include chu-ch-Chuh-Chia seeds 😉

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  7. My walmart has gluten free granola bars and we make smoothies with out bananas all the time using frozen fruit, orange juice and honey.

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  8. i dont shop at walmart, but i keep hearing that walmart has a surprisingly good selection of gluten free foods! i have LOTS of other food allergies/sensitivities beyond gluten so thats why i have to stay away from granola bars as a general rule.


    I'm going to have to try some no-banana smoothies! I've just ALWAYS made them with banana so i guess i never thought that they would taste right without them...

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  9. you should! i can NOT handle drinking anything with a texture so chia seed water/juice is totally out of the question. but this, this is delicious!

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  10. I actually can usually hardly stomach oatmeal, but i should definitely try this! does all the add-ins keep it from being too mushy?

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  11. yeah, I'm not a big oatmeal fan either, this is still an oatmealy texture, BUT since its cold, and has the flavor of the yogurt and whatever you top it with, its MUCH better than regular oatmeal, in my opinion.

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  12. Marisa Jane HirtzelApril 9, 2014 at 7:39 AM

    I love these! I make them a lot. Of course I am a mushy oatmeal texture lover and sometimes I nix the yogurt and heat in the morning. That or I add extra liquid and try to drink the gops of grains and seeds as I drive to work, quite an achievement when you have a stick shift on the 405 and want to get that last smackeral stuck to the bottom of the jar. Sometimes I even put the whole thing in the blender and make a oatmeal smoothie (yes, I know I'm gross).

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  13. oh, Marisa. just when I thought oatmeal couldn't get ANY weirder....

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