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Celebrating the delights of good healthy everyday food and special treats! Sharing recipes, information, and experiences.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Recipe for Overnight Oatmeal: Three Days, Three Ways



Are you eating all the whole grains you can?  Are you?  We’re trying to do our best and a delicious bowl of oatmeal is a great start to the day.  I have high cholesterol, so I am doing myself a favor every morning I eat oatmeal because it is a great way to naturally lower my "bad" cholesterol.

When I lived in chilly San Francisco, a hot bowl of oatmeal was great.   I used to make it in the microwave with milk for a creamy hot breakfast in about 5 minutes (as long as I didn’t boil it over and have to clean up the microwave before work).

Here on Maui, even the mornings during fall and winter aren’t quite "hot bowl of cereal" kind of mornings but I still love oatmeal and am still doing everything I can to naturally manage the cholesterol (it is working pretty well, BTW). 

I don’t know when I first saw a recipe for overnight oatmeal, I’m sure it was on a South Beach chat board or the like.  It is a great recipe for warm weather and you can heat it up quickly (without any boil overs) if you prefer it that way (or during the middle of winter!).  Such a versatile recipe too.  You can use whatever milk/yogurt combination you like, or no yogurt (increase the milk).  Add in different nuts, or add in fruit, dry or fresh.  Experiment!  Let me know what you come up with.

Makes 3 filling servings, each with approximately 300 calories, 14 grams fat,  32 grams carbs, 13 grams protein without toppings.

Ingredients:
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
½ cup plain, non-fat Greek yogurt
½ cup light vanilla soy milk
½ cup chopped walnuts
¾  tsp vanilla
1 ½  tsp cinnamon
1 TBSP honey

Optional toppings: chopped nuts, chopped dried fruit, pureed pumpkin, more cinnamon, maple syrup, brown sugar... 

Method:
Combine and stir well.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Serve warm or cold.


Oatmeal mixture ready for the fridge



Day #1-with chopped dried apricots, warmed slightly in microwave

Day #2-with unsweetened applesauce and cinnamon, served cold

Day#3-with almond butter and all-fruit spread, served hot


Printable Recipe