Photo by Monica Matheny, The Yummy Life
This summer, my daughter Sarah is gathering recipes and ideas on how to make mealtime easier once school starts again.
She discovered this idea for a quick breakfast on Pinterest, and I decided to learn more about making refrigerator oatmeal. I found the instructions on Monica Matheny’s blog, The Yummy Life.
You’ll need:
- Old fashioned rolled oats
- Greek yogurt (regular yogurt is thinner; if you use it, you’ll need to reduce the amount of milk).
- Milk
- Ground flax seeds or chia seeds (available at Good Foods Market, Roberts Health Foods, Whole Foods,
- Half pint (1 cup) Mason jars
Place oats, milk, and yogurt, and seeds in jar, along with desired sweeteners or flavors. Put a lid on the jar and shake to combine. Add fruit and stir gently until combined. Place in fridge overnight and up to 2 days; maybe longer depending on the type and ripeness of the fruit. The non-banana varieties have been good after 4 days.
During the overnight soak, the oats and chia seeds absorb the liquid and soften. They have a great eating texture by the next day.
Mandarin orange refrigerator oatmeal
1/4 cup uncooked old fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup skim milk
1/4 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
1-1/2 teaspoons dried chia seeds
1 teaspoon honey, optional (or substitute any preferred sweetener)
1 tablespoon orange marmalade
¼ cup drained canned mandarin oranges (or fresh chopped orange)
In a half pint (1 cup) jar, add oats, milk, yogurt, chia seeds, honey and marmalade. Put lid on jar and shake until well combined. Remove lid, add oranges and stir until mixed throughout. Return lid to jar and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days. Eat chilled.
Nutritional Info: 236 calories, 4 g. fat, 53 g. carbs, 8 g. fiber, 12 g. protein; Weight Watchers PtsPlus: 7.
Cherry chocolate chunk refrigerator oatmeal
1/4 cup uncooked old fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup skim milk
1/4 cup low-fat Greek yogurt
1-1/2 teaspoons dried chia seeds
1 teaspoon honey, optional (or substitute any preferred sweetener)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon finely chopped dark chocolate
¼ cup chopped cherries (fresh or frozen)
In a half pint (1 cup) jar, add oats, milk, yogurt, chia seeds, honey and vanilla. Put lid on jar and shake until well combined. Remove lid, add chopped chocolate and cherries and stir until mixed throughout. Return lid to jar and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days. Eat chilled.
Nutritional Info: 274 calories, 8 g. fat, 55 g. carbs, 8. g fiber, 12 g. protein; Weight Watchers PtsPlus: 9.
Tips
- Jars of oatmeal can be frozen. Be careful not to overfill the jars; 3/4 inch of space is needed at the top of the jar to allow for expansion when frozen (and avoid exploding jars). Move frozen jars from the freezer to the fridge the night before, and your oatmeal should be thawed and ready to eat for breakfast.
- Although the recipe is designed to be eaten cold, if you prefer, you can heat these jars of oatmeal. Remove the lid from the jar and heat in microwave for about 1 minute (assuming they aren’t frozen) to take the chill off and warm it slightly.
- Substitute ground flax seeds for the chia seeds
- Omit the chia seeds ( you may need to reduce the liquid a bit, since they absorb liquid as they soak).
- Substitute regular plain or flavored yogurt or non-dairy yogurt (soy, coconut, rice) for Greek yogurt.
- Substitute other liquids for the skim milk: coconut milk, almond milk, soy milk, rice milk, juice, etc. (this may change the flavor, but it can still be good with these substitutions–taste and make necessary adjustments to get it to your liking)
- Substitute agave syrup for honey, or any sweetener you prefer
- Substitute fruits (use fresh, frozen, dried, or canned); swap out different fruit flavors to create your own favorite variety
- Substitute quick, instant oats or steel-cut for rolled oats. The quick and instant oats aren’t quite as healthy, but they’ll still work just fine. Steel cut oats are much harder and don’t soften as much when soaked, so the resulting texture is nuttier and chewier.
- Visit Theyummylife.com/refrigerator_oatmeal
