Easy Oatmeal On-the-Go

Early mornings are of the devil!  Seriously, there's nothing worse than waking up with early morning goobers impairing your vision while your eyes try to focus to see what time is on the clock.  Then noticing that its not even daylight yet!  Holy hannah!  Who in their right mind would get up at that hour?  Teachers!  That's who.  Yes, I'm a school teacher.  For all those people out there who enjoy their sleep as much as me... let me just say that teaching is not the right job unless you love teaching as much as I do.

Because of this, I'm not much of a breakfast eater.  I would rather sleep in and then starve until lunch then sacrifice a few hours of sleep to stuff my face with food.  The only problem is that it's horrible for the metabolism and I'm sure is the cause of my weight gain.  It surely can't be all the extra sleep I love to get!  Well, this summer I've obviously been sleeping in everyday which forces my husband to get up and make his own breakfast.  I know, I won't be winning the "wife of the year" award anytime soon.

While laying in bed one morning, I decided that I needed to change my evil ways.  I actually made a plan.  I decided that I would start a new exercise regimen that would include a eating breakfast in the morning.  However, as soon as I thought this, the devil on my shoulder start whispering in my ear that I would have to get up early and make breakfast for myself and my husband and would it really be that beneficial in the end?  Luckily, that morning, miracle happened and a little angel was on my other shoulder.  When I picture it, I think of a super muscular Helga look a like angel who reached around my neck and flicked the devil with her little pinky which caused him to skyrocket off my shoulder due to her immense strength.  Anyway, being the voice of reason and intelligence, she was able to convince me that I would survive missing a few more minutes and that I could actually do this.

I would like to say that I immediately jumped out bed with new found energy and a new zest for life but, I would be lying.  I actually rolled over and went back to sleep in order to celebrate my new plan.  Sad, I know.  When I woke up a couple of hours later, I went straight to the computer to hunt down breakfast recipes that would be fast and easy for my husband and myself.

I discovered an awesome recipe for cold oatmeal that is kept in the fridge.  At first- I was kind of grossed out.  I mean who wants to eat oatmeal cold?  However, after making it and tweaking the recipe slightly I found that it is awesome!  It gives me the energy I need, tastes great, and since I'm not a big eater first thing in the morning, it is just the right amount.  Plus, since it is stored in the fridge you always get the perfect portion size.  The oatmeal needs to be uncooked so that when it sits overnight in the fridge it won't get gooey and gross but will soften up with the milk and yogurt.  You can pretty much add anything you want into the oatmeal mixture including nuts, dried fruits, flax or chia seeds, or any type of canned or frozen fruit as well.

For all of the recipes, pour all the correct amounts of the ingredients into a mixing bowl.  Mix them all together and pour into glass canning jars or some other type of container.  I prefer the half pint jars as they are the perfect serving size (1 cup) for my family.  Make sure that you label each jar so you know what is inside.  Leave it overnight in the fridge and it will be ready the next morning!  If you forget it or aren't in the mood the next morning... don't worry it will last up to 4 or 5 days in the fridge!  If you like a thicker oatmeal you can put 3/4 to 1 cup of oats.

Below, I've included 5 different recipes you can make:  Maple Oatmeal, Apple Cinnamon, Chocolate chocolate chip, and fruit.  I have a pina colada, brown sugar & cinnamon and a pumpkin pie oatmeal recipe coming soon!  Each recipe below makes 3 to 4 half pint canning jars (servings) or almost 4 cups of oatmeal.  Let me know what you think!

Maple Oatmeal


1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup honey vanilla greek yogurt
4 teaspoons maple syrup

Apple Pie Oatmeal

1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup honey vanilla greek yogurt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons honey or brown sugar
1/2 cup apples from apple pie filling.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Oatmeal


1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup vanilla greek yogurt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons honey or sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips

* if you don't want it to be extra chocolatey then leave out the cocoa powder.  You can also add 1-2 tablespoons of peanut butter to make a "reeses" chocolate oatmeal.

Fruit Oatmeal


1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal
2/3 cup milk
1/2 honey vanilla yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons fruit jam or preserves
1/2 to 2/3 cup fruit cut into chunks