The first time I had overnight oats was right after I had our son Jack. My mother in law made me a bunch of them as a quick go-to meal that I could grab in the morning for breakfast or throughout the day (we all know how hungry you get while nursing!). I enjoyed them quite a bit but for some reason never made them for myself after that. Earlier this year (towards the end of last school year) I was looking for an easy breakfast on school mornings. Our kids were eating cereal almost every day, which isn’t awful, but also isn’t totally nutritious. And on top of that, Jack and Elizabeth don’t like milk in their cereal so I felt like overall it wasn’t a good breakfast to be serving on a regular basis. Of course I turned to Pinterest to look for breakfast ideas where I stumbled upon overnight oats again! And I actually had all of the ingredients to make some that night. Immediately Jack and the twins were sold on it but Eva took a little longer. Over the summer I made them once in a while but now that school has started, they are back on a regular rotation. I found this wonderful blog post that gives you the basic recipe which you can then add any toppings to! Here is the link to the base recipe that I started making. I just made some last night and now that I am looking at the recipe realized that I don’t add all of the ingredients…oops! But that is the beauty of this simple breakfast - it can get as fancy or as simple as you like - multiple kids with different fruit preferences? No problem, they can add what they like! - it’s very easy to meal prep or make in large quantities For the sake of sharing I will tell you how I made them last night:
3 cups rolled oats
3 cups milk
3 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 pinches of salt
I mixed it all together then divided it into six 8oz mason jars and let them sit overnight in the fridge. They were a little thick this morning so you could add a touch more milk if you like them smoother, but none of the kids cared. That is just my personal preference. They stay good for about three days in the fridge, but being honest? Ours are always gone before then! I hope you enjoy this idea for a simple breakfast and let me know below what toppings are your favorite.
