At the beginning of the year my family grew by two more feet. We added a sweet little girl to our family of four. Adding another baby came with added challenges. My two older children were four and three at the time and I had become accustomed to the fact that they didn’t demand so much of my attention anymore. Now I’m back in baby mode and back to work all while continuing to run my household.
Mornings are tough in my house. A combination of late nights, middle of the night feedings and trying to keep up with the daily chores of the house makes for a rushed morning. I’m exhausted! Many mornings this last month I was getting breakfast on the way to work. Which I might add, didn’t help with getting to work on time. My husband was even leaving the house without breakfast. Our local grocery store was having a sale on a new overnight oatmeal product. I picked up a couple for my husband, as I’m not a fan of the texture. I’ve tried oatmeal different ways but never could finish the bowl. However, he really enjoyed the new product. After the two that I bought were gone he was back to leaving without breakfast. This semi-healthy product could be healthier without all the added sugars and cheaper on my budget too. I decided to make our own. I did a trial run with a basic brown sugar and cinnamon. He really enjoyed it. Then, I was on a mission to come up with different flavor combinations so he didn’t get bored. He now has four different flavors that he rotates for breakfast.
As a health educator I knew all the health benefits of oats. They have antioxidants, vitamins, magnesium, iron and fiber. I knew eating oats would reduce my risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and obesity. I could even add some chia seeds for more benefit as well. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Each time I tried a different recipe or cooking method I was always let down. One evening I was making a new combination for my husband, chocolate peanut butter. They smelled so good! I thought to myself, I like no bake cookies so why wouldn’t I like this? I made me a batch as well. JACKPOT!! I warmed mine up the next morning for 30 seconds and they were amazing. My mornings of running out the door without breakfast had come to an end. If you’re not a big oatmeal fan but love no bake cookies, I encourage you to try this recipe.
I am confused about the cooking method. Do I just mix the ingredients and refrigerate uncooked? Heating for 30 seconds hardly sounds like enough to heat a cold mixture through and certainly not enough to cook the oats, or is that the idea? Uncooked oats? Thanks for clearing this up for me.