Fervent Foodie

I have an intense love and passion for overnight oats.

Those cool creamy oats topped with sliced fresh fruit and a dollop of vanilla Greek yogurt make the absolute perfect breakfast… that is until October rolls around.  Then I want nothing to do with anything cold and EVERYTHING to do with all things warm and gooey.

BRING ON THE COMFORT FOOD! WOOOOOOOO!

In the chilly months, I keep a jumbo tub of quick oats in my desk at work.  Every day when 10am rolls around I cook up a serving of oats in the microwave and garnish with a teaspoon of brown sugar and some ground cinnamon… which I also conveniently keep in my desk.  Don’t judge.

These microwaved oats satisfy my cravings for warm and gooey, but they always leave a bit to be desired on the palate.  The microwave seems to zap out all that oaty texture I love and leave you with a bowl of pasty porridge.

Then I had this BRILLIANT idea.

Sunday night, I cooked up a big owl batch of oats on the stove, where any decent bowl of oatmeal should be birthed.

For each serving of oatmeal, I tossed a 1/4 cup of fresh blueberries into a 2 cup pyrex glass bowl.

Am I the only one who is obsessed with these little bowls?  They are the perfect size for portioning.

Gosh, I love fractions*… errrr I mean portions.  I love portions.

*I wasn’t kidding.  I love fractions… and algebra… 

Once the oatmeal was cooked (I like mine just a little runny), I poured the oats evenly into the bowls right overtop of the blubes.

Mmmmmm…..  Doesn’t that look delicious?!

I know.  It looks like crap.  Bare with me.

At this point, I let the oats cool off a bit while I clean up whatever disaster I’ve created in my kitchen.  I sprinkle the cooled oats with my go-to-combo:  ground cinnamon, 1 tsp brown sugar, and 10 grams of Trader Joes Unsalted Dry Toasted Sliced Almonds.

Geeze that’s a mouthful.

Yes, I weigh all my ingredients.

No, officer that’s not a drug scale.  It’s for my oatmeal fractions I mean portions.  Portions, sir.

Feast your eyes on this GLORIOUSNESS:

At this point all you do is pop some lids on these beauties.  DO NOT STIR.  When you’re ready to feast the next day pop the oats into the microwave for 1 minute 15 seconds.  Did I mention not to stir them?

As the oats warm up, the moisture will help to steam the blueberries and they’ll burst along the bottom of the dish.  Once nuked (then and only then) you can give them a good stir.  Trust me.  Waiting to stir til the end is key.  You’ll actually be able to taste the itty bit of brown sugar rather than it getting lost in the oaty wilderness.

These are my new favorite oats because they retain that oaty texture I adore and because they are friggin delicious.  I think that’s reason enough.

I like to make 2-3 servings of these oats at a time for grab-and-go breakfasts throughout the work week.  They release a glorious smell when reheated that I guarantee will waft out of the kitchen and make your coworkers jealous.

Promise.

Stats:  250 calories, 39g carbs, 8g fat, 7g protein, 6g fiber

(1/2 cup quick oats, 1/4 cup blueberries, 1tsp brown sugar, 10 grams TJ’s unsalted dry toasted slice almonds)