Summer Porridge / Overnight Oatmeal

My usual weekday morning is pretty slow and relaxed.  Wake up at 6:30am.  Wander into the kitchen.  Let the dog out. Make coffee. Brush teeth. Empty dishwasher.  Prepare mug of coffee.  Load dishwasher. Update my Facebook/Twitter/Blog/Influenster/etc.  Enjoy said coffee. 

But then all to soon Little Man is here.  Then Kidster wakes up and wants “Noh” (her way of saying milk) and banana’s and ‘toons.  So everything goes from relaxing and slow moving to hectic and crazy in less than 60 seconds.  My usual breakfast is the leftover pieces of toast and squished banana.  Not very healthy or filling.

That was until my fellow Mommiester, McMommy, mentioned overnight oatmeal (refrigerator oatmeal).  I was intrigued.  There are so many different recipes but I just wanted the facts, ma’am.  It’s pretty simple.  Equal parts.  Yup.  All those summer porridge / overnight oatmeal / refrigerator oatmeal recipes you’ve been pinning on Pinterest don’t break it down as well as I’m doing here.  Equal PARTS.  EQUAL parts.  Once you get that down the sky is the limit.  Or at least the top shelf of the fridge.  You don’t have to use a mason jar either.  You can use a plastic storage container.  Or do what McMommy does and use the peanut butter jar when it’s pretty much ready for the rubbish bin.  Same goes for jam and jelly jars.  Anything that can be sealed and refrigerated folks.

My favorite ‘recipe’ is what I made the other night.  1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup full fat Greek yogurt, 1/4 whole milk, a sprinkling of milk chocolate chips, 1/2 T of honey, chopped almonds, and cocoa.  Stir cover and chill for about 12 hours.

My usual suspects. Honey, peanut butter, Trader Joe’s organic multigrain hot cereal, Hershey’s cocoa, Greek Gods yogurt and a mason jar.

Put it all into the container and stir, stir, stir.  Chill for 12 hours.

All mixed up and ready to chill.

The next morning you can take it with you and eat it on the bus or you can do what us mom’s do and take a few spoonful's at a time while the kids are distracted.  Only two bites and you’re full for the next thirty minutes!  I use the Trader Joe’s Organic Multi Grain Hot Cereal but you can use any kind of NON instant oatmeal.  The texture is a lot like rice pudding.  Reminds me a lot of the place in NYC, Rice to Riches.  Mmmmmm, my favorite place when I was pregnant with Kidster and visiting my friend in NYC.  It’s so tasty it could be dessert!

What’s YOUR favorite cold breakfast food?

~Lisa

"Instant" Cookies (Part 1)

When I was trying to nurse Evelyn I tried all kinds of different supplements.  One of them that actually seemed to work made me smell like I'd bathed in maple syrup.  All day.  For 4 months.  There are worse things a person can smell like but after a while it was annoying.  And to this day, 8 months later, I can't stand the taste of maple syrup unless it's mixed in with something like oh, waffles.  Yum.

I bought a box of Quaker High Fiber instant oatmeal hoping to help with the baby weight and to have a filling breakfast.  They only had one flavor.  Maple and Brown Sugar.  After the first packet I couldn't do it.  I had flashbacks to that horrible bitter tasting liquid supplement.  Yuck. But of course I couldn't throw away perfectly good food so there it sat on the top shelf of the pantry until a few weekends ago I was thinking it would be nice to have some oatmeal cookies, and what an easy way to get rid of those oatmeal packets!

So I looked online for "instant oatmeal cookies" and I came across this recipe.  Instant Oatmeal Packet Cookies

Holy oatmeal batman!  They were a little flatish but so chewy and yummy.  I could tolerate the maple flavor because it was mixed with cookie goodness.  They were of course handed out to friends and family and we ate quite a few ourselves!  Hubster liked them and was sad when I told him I probably won't make them again since I don't intend to buy that type of oatmeal.  I'm sure the other box of oatmeal that I bought will end up in a cookie though.  I just don't have the desire to eat oatmeal for breakfast.  I'm a protein in the morning kind of gal!

A little flat but really yummy!

What is your favorite kind of oatmeal cookie?  Traditional?  With nuts or raisins?