October 9, 2015
This week I’ve been away from home for dinner so much that I got to Wednesday night and realized that I hadn’t even thought about what I was going to make this week for my blog! I had a minor freak out moment when I got home late once again and frantically went through my Pinterest for some inspiration. But to be honest, it has been such a busy and stressful week that I was for once not feeling like a big baking session. I know, it is incredibly out of character for me to not feel like getting into the kitchen, even as a stress reliever. But I’m sure this is just a phase and soon I will be back up and running once more, ready to jump in there and cook up a storm!
However, it actually struck me how perfect the timing was to try out a recipe that might save me some time. I’ve been so busy this week that it’s been hard to even fit breakfast in, which is an issue because I get hangry if I don’t eat breakfast. This has also coincided with a bit of a heat wave in Brisbane, which has made my usual breakfast of porridge/oatmeal not that appealing. I mean, who wants a hot breakfast when it is already 25 degrees Celsius out? Nobody, you need something cool and refreshing! So it was the perfect occasion for me to try out something that I’ve been meaning to try, but never quite got around to.
Pinterest is full of recipes for overnight oats, and I’ve always wanted to give them a go. What’s not to love about chucking a couple of ingredients together of an evening, and in the morning having something delicious you can just pull out of the fridge ready to go? It’s a time saver in the morning, which is always a plus when you are running a little late. Although I am a morning person myself, I sometimes get to making breakfast on a weekday and find I’ve run out of time. At least with overnight oats you can easily transport them, and eat them on the go or when you get to work. It’s a really healthy and easy breakfast to make up at the start of the week, and just eat throughout. And oats are a great way to keep you full for the morning, along with all their health benefits.
I found a blog post which had a number of options for flavoring your overnight oats and had a hard time picking which one I wanted to try. I mean, it’s hard to choose when all the options sound like you’ll be eating dessert for breakfast! In the end, I decided to go with a ‘blueberry muffin’ flavor. This was because I had a lot of fresh blueberries on hand, as they are in season at the moment, and I thought it would make for a deliciously fresh breakfast. I added a couple of things in as artistic license, which you could most certainly do yourself as well. That’s the great thing about these sorts of recipes, you can add whatever you want and you won’t stuff it up! As long as you have the base recipe down pat, you can add in whatever flavours you want! It’s really up to you how you want it to taste, which makes for a really fun recipe to try!
- ½ cup of Oats
- ¼ cup of water
- ¼ cup of milk of choice I used coconut milk but you could use any kind
- ½ teaspoon of lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1 handful of fresh blueberries
- 2 teaspoons of sliced almonds
- 1-2 teaspoons of rice malt syrup or sweetener of choice
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In a jar, place the oats, water and milk, and stir to combine.
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Add the remaining ingredients: lemon zest, cinnamon, blueberries, sliced almonds and sweetener. Stir to combine completely, ensuring that all ingredients are fully mixed through
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Put the lid on the jar and place in the fridge overnight.
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To serve: add some additional blueberries, almonds and sweetener of choice
And that’s all you need to do! I told you it was super simple. It was the perfect amount of breakfast, and really nice and fresh. I loved the taste of the lemon zest throughout the oats as it really complemented the blueberries. You could add whatever flavours you wanted to change it up and to suit your taste. If you like it a bit sweeter, add more rice malt syrup, honey, or a little bit of stevia. I think coconut would also be nice to add a little extra crunch, so you could mix some in instead of the almonds and sprinkle some on the top.
This breakfast was so fast and simple to make, I absolutely loved it. On top of this, even though it sort of tasted like eating dessert for breakfast, it was actually really healthy. What a perfect way to start the day! I will definitely try making these overnight oats again, and maybe try some new flavour combinations! Once you have the base of oats, water and milk, you really can add any flavours you want. The sky is the limit!
This recipe was perfect for my time poor self, as it was so quick to make and meant that I had a delicious breakfast waiting for me the next morning without having to do anything. I could just grab it and go when I was ready to head to work, which saved me a couple of precious minutes in the morning! So what ended up being a busy week where I was worried about what to blog about ended up perhaps changing my life just a little bit!
Until next time, happy baking!
Ella xx
