Easy Overnight Oats for a Fast Breakfast

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I have a constant love/hate relationship with breakfast. It's such a busy time of day. Sometimes I just get so in to my work or what I'm doing with the kids that I skip it (which then leads me to eating a terrible snack later on). Other times I shovel whatever is convenient right in my face and immediately feel terrible about it. I've really been trying to come up with easy breakfast ideas, that are healthy and full of protein, to start my day off right. I've been making a point to have everything I need to make these overnight oats on hand so I have no excuse. The cool thing about this recipe is that you make it the night before! Which means, in the morning, you just grab one and go! It's perfect for busy moms! Regular oatmeal never seems to fill me up, but these overnight oats are fantastic! My favorite part of this breakfast idea is that you can make several at once so your breakfast is done for the next few days. Now that my kids are home for the summer, I need to start the day with a good breakfast since I never know where the day will take us! As with most of my recipes, this one can be modified to suit your own tastes. This is the recipe that I love, but if you want to make some changes, feel free! As long as you aren't piling in tons of extra calories or sugar, you'll still have a great, healthy breakfast idea. Most of these ingredients are pantry items or quite long-lasting which means you pretty much have no excuse not to have these made and ready to go. This recipe is for one jar of overnight oats, but you can easily scale the recipe for more than one (I find it easiest to line up several Mason jars and add each ingredient to each jar as you go down the recipe like an assembly line). This recipes is as easy as adding the ingredients to a jar. No special equipment is required and you eat it right out of the same dish you make it in. I wish all meal's for moms could be this easy and efficient! There is nothing worse than having to clean up a ton of breakfast dishes before dashing off to do something. Or even worse, having to clean them up when you get home! I'm a pretty new fan of almond butter. It's a great way to add some nutty flavor, a little protein and this really changes the flavor of the oats, in my opinion. You could just as easily substitute cashew or peanut butter if you'd prefer. For years I resisted protein powders for some pretty silly reasons. If you've ever watched the movie, Mean Girls, you know that the protein bar prank caused weight gain instead of a loss. Couple that with the fact that my husband was using powders to try to bulk up when he exercised. Since I'm not looking for a weight gain or to get bulky I, irrationally, steered clear. I finally realized that I was acting crazy. Protein powders are such a great way to ensure that what you are eating is good for you and will help keep you full, in a healthy way. It blends right in to these overnight oats.

Bob's Red Mill is the brand I turn to for alternative flours and other products. And now they make Nutritional Boosters, which have plant-based protein (20g per serving) and are full of fiber.I use almond milk for my recipe but, again, you can sub cashew, soy, whatever kind of milk you want. I also added honey and chia seeds to this batch (although Bob's Red Mill Nutritional Boosters have a little chia in them already and are sweetened with Monk fruit so you don't need much! In fact, I would skip the honey altogether next time). I am not a banana fan. Like, at all. But for some reason, I LOVE them in these overnight oats. I think it changes the consistency a little plus provides another layer of flavor that makes it so yummy.Once I have all my ingredients in the jar, I just pop the lid on and give it a shake. Next time, though, I would put this together a little bit different to ensure that it mixes up really well. I'd add the almond milk and protein powder first, stir those up really well, then add the rest of the ingredients. The almond butter tends to stay pretty clumpy but it's easy to work around it in the jar and get a little bit with each bite. Then I put the finished jars in the refrigerator so they are ready to grab for breakfast the next day. I have made 4 at one time. Yes, the banana starts to look a little extra funky by the last day but the flavor is still great! If you are going to take the time to make one jar of overnight oats, it just makes to make several. It's one of my favorite fast breakfast ideas that I feel great about eating. To keep things interesting, I add in other flavors depending on what I have on hand. Sometimes I'll add some shredded coconut, sometimes fresh berries. Bob's Red Mill Nutritional Boosters come in several flavors (like Chai and Chocolate) so it's easy to change-up the recipe and not get stuck in a flavor rut. I love that they have probiotics and pre-biotic fiber too! Our summer is super busy, but when I make these overnight oats ahead of time, I always know that I'll get a good breakfast in before heading out for our summer fun!

Learn more about Bob's Red Mill Nutritional Boosters by heading to their site, then download the coupon so you can try them out for yourself!

All images by Jessica Pirro

Looking for more easy recipes? Try these great posts:

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I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.