Overnight Oatmeal

good morning friends.

Are you a morning or a night person? I'm not quite either. I wish I was a morning person, but truth be told it is a struggle to get out of bed at 6am for work each day. You'd also be hard pressed to find me up after eleven on a week night. I guess I just need my full 8 hours.

Despite not being the classic "morning person", I do enjoy the early hours of the day. And although I'd prefer them all to be like Saturday morning - where I can sleep until I naturally wake up and lounge around until I feel ready to actually get up and start my day - I try to make the most of my weekday early mornings. Which includes eating a good breakfast.

I found this recipe idea on Pinterest a few weeks ago. The website has several different flavor combinations all based off a simple combination: oats, milk, chia seeds, and Greek yogurt.



I had fresh blueberries, but no real maple syrup (as suggested in the recipe), so I substituted with brown sugar. I also added flax seed for some added healthy goodness.

The result was wonderful! A super easy, make it the night before, breakfast. It is perfect for rushed mornings and lazy ones alike. Plus, I'll admit that I am totally on the mason jar bandwagon. How cute are they? Not only is this recipe healthy and delicious, it is adorable!

A couple notes from my experience:

• the recipe said to put the lid on and shake the jar to combine the main ingredients, but I didn't. In fact I think it would be messier and much more difficult that way. Instead I just used a spoon to mix the ingredients.
• I added a bit more oatmeal and yogurt to fill up the jar
• recipes are great guidelines, but as with my philosophy for nearly all recipes, they are just that: guidelines. By all means add and subtract ingredients and do what you want to make it your own. 
• I also tried the raspberry and vanilla combination but ate it before I could snap any pictures. The recipe called for raspberries, raspberry jam, and vanilla. I went jamless but it was still great. I mashed the raspberries throughout the mixture so the flavor was in every bite - no sweetener needed!  

Blueberry and Brown Sugar Overnight Oatmeal {serves 1}
adapted from The Yummy Life

1/3 c uncooked old fashioned oats
1/3 c milk
1/4 c Greek yogurt
1-2 t chia seeds
1 t flax seeds
2 t brown sugar (to taste)
1/4 c fresh blueberries

1. Combine oats, milk, yogurt, seeds, and brown sugar in a half pint mason jar. Carefully stir to incorporate all ingredients.

2. Add fresh blueberries and gently mix so that jar is full.

3. Refrigerate overnight or up to 2 days.

Enjoy!