Overnight Oats - Healthy Breakfast for a Merry Christmas Morning - Sara Quiriconi | Live Free Warrior

04 Dec Overnight Oats – Healthy Breakfast for a Merry Christmas Morning

Posted at 19:53h in WELLNESS by Sara Quiriconi 0 Comments

Easy Overnight Oats

If you’ve never heard of overnight oats before, get ready to have a new favorite make-ahead breakfast meal to store and serve with ease. Allow your guests to get creative with the toppings, offering a variety of fresh (often cheaper) options from the Whole Foods Bulk Food section for fun and ease. Read this article here on why to Buy in Bulk?

Part of the joy of the holidays is getting everyone together at the same house, hearth and kitchen table. Feeding them all, with a full day of activities, gift giving, and entertaining ahead, is another story. Keep it simple, preparing a healthy, breakfast meal for the entire family and friends crew can enjoy and take part in.

Overnight oats are one of my favorite crowd-pleasing breakfast meals, for a few reasons:

they’re generally allergen-free (this recipe calls for nut milk, gluten-free oats, and can has plenty of vegan options for toppings)
they can be prepped ahead in advance and last for up to 2-3 days in the refrigerator prior to serving (time saver!)
everyone can mix and match their own toppings, pleasuring a variety of tastebuds without making multiple, time-consuming dishes (see below for five of my favorite overnight oat combinations featuring a variety of nuts, seeds, superfoods, and fresh fruits to serve on the side)

If you’ve never heard of overnight oats before, let me give you a quick little primer. Overnight oats are a no-cook method of making oatmeal. Instead of cooking your oats with hot water from the stove or in the microwave, you mix rolled (old-fashioned) oats with the liquid and other mix-ins, and let it rest in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, you have a creamy, dense, pudding-like porridge that is perfect for easy grab-and-go breakfasts. Or, in this case, the perfect base for a Christmas morning meal to share with the entire family! This recipe is raw, and typically served chilled, but you can heat it up prior to eating, if preferred, to add some warmth to a chilly (even snowy!) morning.

On that note, think of this recipe meal like visiting your favorite salad bar, or make-your-own ice cream shop: with a basic “green lettuce” or “vanilla ice cream” (in this case, the base recipe for the overnight oats), it’s the fixings, toppings and dressings you add in that make it unique to your liking. There are a million different recipes and methods for making overnight oats out there, so I’m not looking to reinvent the wheel here. Instead, I’m going to show you how to make five of my favorite overnight oats recipes that your guests can mix and match later for their own liking.

OVERNIGHT OATS {BASIC RECIPE}

PREP TIME: 5 minutes prep, 10 hours chill
SERVES: 4 (adjust recipe for number of guests)

INGREDIENTS

2 C old-fashioned, gluten-free oats
1 1/2 C unsweetened 365 almond milk (or similar)
2 tbsp 365 Black Chia seeds
2 tbsp 365 Ground Flaxseed Meal
touch of salt

DIRECTIONS

Stir together all ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Spoon into a jar with a tight-fitting lid.
Close and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight before eating.

Now for the toppings! The bulk section at @wholefoods is the easiest spot to get the largest variety of goodies that’s not only fresher than buying from a package, it can also be cheaper. Many of the ingredients you’ll find below, I’ve sourced from the bulk section at my local Whole Foods Miami section of the store. The rest, you’ll find scattered throughout the shelves, still saving, using many of their quality 365 brands.

1. TROPICAL ESCAPE

INGREDIENTS