OVERNIGHT OATS WITH BLUEBERRY CASHEW CREAM

If you are like me, you rely on those already made items you can easily grab and eat as you chase children, catch up on emails, last minute planning for the school day… Normally my freezer is stocked with homemade protein bars, breakfast cookie, chocolate peanut butter protein cups. Mainly because no matter how hard I try to do a sit down breakfast, it just doesn’t happen in this family. The kids wake up shortly after I do, which is around 5am. I NEED that morning time JUST FOR ME, or I will not function properly thru the day. So while I am working out, the kids raid the pantry. 2 hours later and they are in fighting, demanding, needing a second breakfast, etc… And I’m sure you are very famililar with the perect cup of coffee gone ice cold before you remember you poured yourself a cup! The struggle is real my friends!

Enter in one of my absolute favorites: overnight oats! I discovered this almost 7 years ago after my son was born. A brand new mama, exhausted from lack of sleep for the first time, and being on my own part time due to my husbands schedule. That’s when I first discovered that if I wanted to eat properly, I was gonna have to do some meal prep once a week to stock the fridge/freezer. I was also a nursing mom, and going back to my love for nutrition and studying up proper nutrition during specific periods of your life, I learned oatmeal and flaxseed were amazing for nursing moms. Not only for the milk production, but also for your energy levels. And anything that I could fuel my body with naturally while nursing, was the way to go with me.

Overnight oats was perfect because I could prep a few jars of individual servings for about a week, and all I had to do was pull it out of the fridge and enjoy. Not even cooking was involved. There are so many different versions of overnight oats, but I will share with you my basic go to recipe I use for everything and my current favorite topping: blueberry cashew cream with some chocolate chips sprinkled on top. You may notice I love chocolate…. guilty as charged! And what I love about this version, no added sugars. The sweetness comes from the blueberries and chocolate.

Overnight Oats

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup almond milk (milk of choice)

1 tsp flaxseed

1 tsp chia seed

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cinammon

1/8 tsp sea salt

1. Mix well in a jar or bowl, cover and let sit in the fridge from 1 hour to overnight. (can make up to five for an entire week)
2. Pull out and top with whatever your heart desires. Can also microwave for 30 seconds to take the chill out if you don’t like cold oatmeal.

Blueberry Cashew Cream

1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1/2 frozen banana

2 T salted cashews

1. Place all ingredients in a blender and blend til creamy.
2. If using frozen berries and you have difficulty blending, add 1 T of water or milk.
3. pour on top of your oats, add some semi sweet chocolate chips if desired, and enjoy!