Food & Drink is one of the main categories on The Creative Cottage blog. I’m always looking for healthy breakfast ideas such as this recipe for overnight oatmeal.

We have a tendency to eat too much turkey bacon, hash browns and scrambled eggs with cheese at my house. Tasty, but loaded with too much salt and fat. One of the reasons I’ve been eating too many eggs is that I’m currently renting a room from a friend and he lives out of the country. While I am lucky to have access to many fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables, he also raises chickens. There’s nothing like farm fresh brown eggs compared to store bought and having access to fresh eggs anytime I want is often too tempting to ignore.

But anyways, I am trying to eat healthier now that I’m no longer in my 20s, 30s, or even 40s, YIKES! I’ve seen a few recipes for Refrigerator Oatmeal, AKA overnight oats, online and on various Pinterest boards. I’ve tried a couple of variations and came up with my perfect version of Overnight Oatmeal.

Overnight oats, or refrigerator oatmeal, is a pretty nifty idea, in my humble opinion, as no cooking is involved – YEAH! You simply mix all the ingredients together, place in the refrigerator and wake up to a healthy breakfast the next day. You could probably eat the oatmeal in just a few hours if you’re too impatient to wait overnight – just a quick tip if you’re jonesing for your oatmeal and don’t want to wait 10+ hours.

Pinterest Recipes; Raspberry Refrigerator Oatmeal

Recipe on how to make Overnight Oatmeal in your refrigerator. No cooking involved!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10

Total Time 4 10

Course Breakfast, Healthy Food, Vegetarian

Servings 2 servings

Ingredients

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup Oatmeal Old fashioned rolled oats
2/3 cup Almond milk
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp Chia seeds
1/2 cup Raspberries
1 tbsp Agave syrup

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a pint size Mason jar.
Stir together until well blended.
Place the ring and lid on the jar and place in the refrigerator.
Your refrigerator oatmeal will be ready to eat the next day.
You can make this ahead of time and store for 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

Notes

Recipe Tips and Substitutions

Most recipes call for regular milk. I stopped drinking milk years ago so I used my favorite non-dairy product – almond milk. But you could use rice milk, soy milk, cashew milk or whatever non-dairy milk you prefer.I used raspberries in this recipe, but you can use blueberries, strawberries, blackberries or just about any fresh fruit. I don’t think I would use frozen fruit, unless you thaw it out and drain off the excess liquid.
The sweetener is optional. If you are using plain yogurt, then you will probably want to add quite a bit of sweetener. I used a flavored Greek yogurt so I only added a scant tablespoon of sweetener.
As far as the type of sweetener, I used dark Agave syrup. But you could use honey or maple syrup, or even Splenda, choice is up to you.
Try adding a bit of orange, lemon or vanilla extract to your refrigerator oatmeal for a different flavor profile.
Greek yogurt is quite thick compared to regular yogurt. If you’re using regular yogurt, adjust the amount of milk you use or you could end up with really runny oatmeal.
If you like a thicker oatmeal, use less milk. For a thiner oatmeal, use more milk.
You can use plain, vanilla or any flavored Greek yogurt. I prefer vanilla or a fruit flavor to match the fresh fruit. I use raspberry yogurt with fresh raspberries and blueberry yogurt with fresh blueberries. I tried this one time with lime yogurt and fresh raspberries, it was okay, but I probably wouldn’t use that combination again.
Most recipes for Overnight Oatmeal call for old fashioned rolled oats. I had a box of McCann’s quick cooking rolled oats in my pantry so that’s what I used and it came out fine.

© 2015, The Creative Cottage. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.