Overnight Oats

Yesterday I wrote about Chia Seed and looking for ways to incorporate those into our diet.  One of the first places that I saw Chia Seed mentioned was on the blog Peanut Butter Fingers when she wrote about her Overnight Oats.  We have a giant bag of oats at our house and we go through $4 boxes of the healthy cereal faster than we can bring it in the house so giving the Overnight Oats a shot seemed like a good idea.

The recipe from PBF has the following ingredients:

• Old fashioned oats (2/3 cup)
• Milk (1/2 cup of milk)
• Chia seeds (2 tablespoons)
• Greek yogurt (6oz - about 3/4 cup - I eyeballed it)

I had all of that on hand at the house, and we were off!  Before we went to bed I mixed all the ingredients together and covered and put in the fridge for the night.  This morning, like PBF suggested, I added a splash of milk to the bowl to loosen it up a bit and to give it more of the oatmeal consistency that I like.  Stephen ate his cold and I warmed mine up for about a minute.  It wasn't hot, but not cold either - it was just right.  Our bowls were topped off with some fresh strawberries and breakfast was served.  

What another great breakfast!  The bowl was about 3 or 4 spoonfuls too much for me so I may cut it down a bit next time we make it.  I put it back in the fridge and I'll heat it up when I go home at lunch to let the dogs out.  

There are a bunch of Overnight Oats recipes out there so I'll play around with some and try adding new ingredients, but now I know I like it and it makes me happy.  

Chia Seeds

Has anyone else been hearing about Chia Seeds non-stop?  Maybe it's just the blogs I read or looking for super healthy recipes before the wedding, but I keep running into Chia Seeds with testimonials on how great they are for you.  So, being one to give new things a shot, I hunted some down at Whole Foods over the weekend.   The bag below was $15 at Whole Foods - ouch.  I've done some research and they're available online at a much lower cost.  If I buy into the health benefits of Chia Seeds we'll be purchasing that way from now on.

I first heard about Chia Seeds when I started doing research on Overnight Oatmeal.  Our mornings are super crazy now with a puppy who needs to constantly be watched which is cutting into my calm, relaxed mornings spent watching 10 min of the Today Show while eating a bowl of cereal.  No joke, I ended up wearing a bowl of Raisin Bran one morning after Goose decided to get my attention by jumping at me.  Check out this recipe for Overnight Oatmeal from one of the blogs I read regularly.  I'll try to remember to make some of those tonight and report back tomorrow.

Chia Seeds apparently have a TON of benefits.  They are extremely nutritious with a ton of protein, healthy fats like Omega 3 and fiber.  They expand when they soak up liquid around them, filling your stomach and keeping you full longer.  They also help diabetics and those suffering from acid reflux or even poor digestion.  See, wonder food!  They are gluten free and easy to digest.  The list could go on, do some Internet research.  Note: the bag is small, but a daily serving size is between a teaspoon and tablespoon, so it should last us a week or two.

In the Overnight Oats recipe the blogger mentions adding Chia Seeds to help the consistency of  the oats in the morning.  As I said, I plan to use them in the oats when I get around to cooking with them, but I also plan on adding them to the homemade granola that I make to add to my Greek Yogurt and I found a few other recipes.  Last night Stephen added the seed to his protein shake after working out.

This morning I made us a quick breakfast with the seed.  I also saw this recipe on the blog Peanut Butter Fingers.  For a quick breakfast full of protein and the chia seed, spread peanut butter on a whole wheat tortilla and top with a teaspoon of chia seeds.

I'm not a super fan of peanut butter and I think I went a little overboard this morning.  I'll cut back next time.  The next and final step is to wrap a banana in the tortilla and eat.  It is now lunch time and I'm still full from breakfast.  That rarely happens and it was a delicious breakfast!  I can't wait to do it again, but definitely with less peanut butter.  Stephen didn't have any complaints about his breakfast, he loved it.  

Any feedback on adding Chia Seeds to your diet?  I'm looking forward to seeing if I notice any health benefits of my teaspoon a day.