Breakfast might be the most important meal of the day, but it’s the hardest one to prepare when you are on the go. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time to sort through a whole bunch of breakfast recipes at 5:30 in the morning before I head to work!
One of my favorite breakfast hacks is overnight oats. When I prep my meals for the week, I prep enough of my base recipe in individual containers for both my husband and myself. I picked up some simple reusable containers – green lids for girl, blue lids for boy. Since we each like our oats flavored slightly differently, the system works for us. I leave them on the counter and grab one the night before, add my liquid, and stick it in the refrigerator. In the morning, as I’m walking out the door, I just grab one.
Overnight oats are also great for anyone – men included – who spend a lot of time in their cars. Jeff is an Uber driver part time, and either grabs this or some sugar filled something or other from somewhere on the road. Not the best start to the day.
This hack is also great for travel when you are looking to save a little on meals. On our most recent activate ation, I prepped everything ahead of time and stuck it in Ziploc baggies. Those all went in a large bag along with two reusable containers , all of which went straight into my checked suitcase. When we got to our destination, I picked up a carton of almond milk. Voila! A protein-packed breakfast ready to go each morning.
The daily recipe I use contains protein powder, as we live a pretty active lifestyle (see our Being Your Best Self section), but I’ve included a base recipe without that ingredient if you’re just looking for some ideas. The quantity of oats can also be adjusted down if you are in weight loss mode and/or don’t need as many calories. In fact, I started out with 1/2 cup. Just reduce the amount of liquid accordingly.
Basic Overnight Oats (1 serving; 333 calories: 48.7g carbs, 10.4g fat, 13.4g protein)
- ¾ cup rolled oats (steel cut is cool, too, just add a little more liquid)
- 1 tsp Splenda
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tbsp PB2 (powdered peanut butter)
- Dash of cinnamon
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (add the night before and put a lid on it!)
The awesome thing about this recipe is that I can toss in fruit or mini chocolate chips or whatever, and I don’t need to adjust anything else. Starting out with overnight oats, this was pretty much my go to, as it’s easy to prep ahead and can be served cold or heated in the microwave for those chilly winter mornings.
You can even leave out the ‘overnight’ part and just add hot water in the morning. I took the container to work, added hot water from my Keurig and put the lid back on until I was ready to eat it.
A few months ago, I began to adjust my routine to include a little more protein at the beginning of the day. Muscle needs protein to grow, and protein also keeps you full longer than carbs do. I was starving by mid-morning, so I started packing a little protein powder into my oats. One of my Crew members from Accelerated Fitness shared this recipe, and I fell in love:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Oatmeal (1 serving; 370 calories: 51g carbs, 12g fat, 18g protein)
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- 1 tbsp PEScience Cookies & Cream protein powder
- 1 tsp Splenda
- 1 tbsp Nestle Toll House semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (add the night before and cover)
Note: I do not like to heat this up, as I feel like the protein powder gets clumpy. Jeff does it all the time and loves it. Try it both ways and see what works best for you.
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Now, I love overnight oats. I mean, I might even be slightly addicted to them. I know, it’s weird. They’re just so darn easy to put together. And I really like uncomplicated when I have not yet received my daily caffeine injection.
But this girl also has a sweet tooth. And I periodically like to indulge it. So, I played around to come up with this Chunky Monkey flavor. It’s perfect for days when I am craving something sweet for breakfast. The blend of chocolate and peanut butter is soooo yummy, and the mini-chips give that little bit of oh, yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about.
Chunky Monkey Protein Oatmeal (1 serving; 424 cal: 62g carbs, 12g fat, 20g protein)
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- 1 tbsp PEScience Chocolate Cupcake protein powder
- 1 tbsp PB2
- 1 tbsp Nestle Toll House semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (add the night before and put a lid on it!)
- In the morning, dice ¼ cup of banana into the container and stir well. (You can add the night before, but I think it makes the banana squishy, and I’m not a fan of squishy.)
These are my favorites, but there are tons of options out there. Use the base recipe and play around with brown sugar, blueberries, apples, nutmeg – whatever makes you happy! Let me know if you come up with your own killer combo!
This sounds great! I just might give it a try! Make a list of the ingredients! Then go grocery shopping! 🤔
Glad you like it! Easy for camping, too!