Want an easy breakfast….try my overnight oats!

I don’t know about you, but mornings for us with our 3 girls can be pretty hectic.  Every minute counts.  Up until a few years ago our biggest decision in the morning was what kind of cereal did they want to eat.  I think we always had 3 different brands and flavors on hand.  Mornings were pretty simple, until we decided to kick that sugar bomb of a breakfast to the curb. Even the brands that market themselves as healthy choices are usually full of sugar and suspect ingredients.

But with cereal being so easy, we needed something simple to replace it.  One of our go-to fast morning options is over-night oats.  It takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and the best part is, you prepare it the night before.  With any luck it will last a few mornings.  Here’s how we prepare our delicious morning treat:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of oats (I sometimes mix oats and barley as an option, but we don’t have any gluten sensitives in our house)
• 1/4 cup of chia seeds
• 1/4 cup of hemp hearts
• 3 1/2 cups of a nut milk (I use almond milk but any nut milk will do)
• 2 tablespoons of agave nectar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon of cinnamon

Directions:

I mix the oats, chia seeds, & hemp hearts together.  In a separate bowl I mix the nut milk, agave nectar, vanilla extract and cinnamon.  I whisk that all together and then add it to my dry mix.  Stir it all together and store in a glass bowl over night.

In the morning just pull out of the fridge and serve.  Each of our girls like to top off their oats in different ways in the morning.  They typically use maple syrup (look at your farmers market for fresh REAL syrup), local honey, or fresh berries of their choice. I like to sprinkle mine with freshly ground flax seeds.  I will be sharing more breakfast options in future posts.  We change it up often just to keep a nice variety in our rotation.

This might not be a shock for you, but the bonus take-away from starting the day with REAL food was that our kids felt satisfied until lunch.  When they started their day with sugary cereal it affected not only their behavior, but puts their blood sugar on a roller coaster leaving them wanting and NEEDING late morning snacks.

Also, If you buy oats not prepared in a facility with wheat it can be a great gluten-free solution.

I would love to hear your feedback on how you and your kids responded by starting the day with good food and nutrition.  Leave a message below.