Anyway, on with the real reason I am writing a blog post: Refrigerator oatmeal! I found this on Pinterest, which led me to this blog post. After making it myself and going through the process, I modified the recipe to a more healthy and frugal method, not to mention a tiny bit more convenient (in my opinion). Here it goes:
Ingredients:
Old-Fashioned Oatmeal (not instant)
Unsweetened Applesauce
Vanilla Greek Yogurt (it does have to be Greek, but if you only have regular yogurt, just omit all or most of the milk and I think you'll be fine)
Milk (I used 1%, the recipe called for skim, just use what's in the fridge--you'll be fine, I promise.)
Cinnamon
***Update Dec 2014: I now omit milk from this recipe altogether when I make it, because the applesauce is usually plenty for a good amount of moisture, and I prefer my oatmeal a little thicker.***
***Update Dec 2014: I now omit milk from this recipe altogether when I make it, because the applesauce is usually plenty for a good amount of moisture, and I prefer my oatmeal a little thicker.***
***UPDATE: I have stopped using Dannon yogurt, as it is not true Greek yogurt. Do a little research and look for good brands. I like Fage, but that's just me. Nobody paid me to say that, I promise. :-) ****
Supplies:
1/4 cup and 1/3 cup measuring cups
1/4 tsp measuring spoon
small rubber spatula
butter knife (optional, but we all have them)
Rubbermaid containers in 1.25 cup size, or any container with a lid that will hold 8 ounces with a little room
Standard cereal bowl (optional)
To start, get out your tupperware/rubbermaid containers (I used five, one for each work day). You are going to be mixing these individually in each container. It's easier than it sounds.
The original recipe calls for double the cinnamon, the addition if chia seeds, and it also requires one to mix these ingredients before adding the applesauce. I didn't do that. I added the applesauce after I took this photo, and then I just stirred it all with the spatula. The only reason I left out the chia seeds is because I'm too lazy to find them and spend money on them, plus I think this recipe has enough fiber in it already. The cinnamon reduction was simply because I saw how much 1/4 tsp of cinnamon really is, and I didn't want to add more and turn this recipe into a cinnamon challenge.
Another edit to the original recipe was to omit the sweetener (1 tsp honey or sugar). Why add sweetener to something that's already so naturally sweet? The applesauce is fine by itself, the yogurt has enough sugar already in it, and all of these ingredients make for a rather sweet breakfast food--before adding any sugar. It may seem frivolous, but that's almost 20 calories I'm eliminating from this recipe, and that adds up if you eat this every morning.
To add the applesauce to the dishes, I realized that my measuring cup would not fit into the jar. I just poured some applesauce into a cereal bowl (like my Bloomingdale's bowls? I got them for 2 bucks apiece a TJ Maxx) and scooped the applesauce from there. After I added this final ingredient, I stirred each container with the spatula.
As you can see, it's got a very thin, soupy consistency. From what I have read, this is supposed to substantially thicken overnight. The final step is to put the lids on and pop these babies in the refrigerator overnight. The original recipe says these last up to two days, but as someone with a lot of former restaurant experience and some logic, I think this is wrong. None of these ingredients expire in two days. My milk is good for at least 2 weeks, as is my yogurt. There is nothing in this recipe that would act as a "catalyst" and speed up the spoilage of this oatmeal. I think my version is safe for up to six days. If I find this to be untrue, I will update immediately. However, I am pretty sure the original version of this recipe called for only two days shelf life, because the other flavors in their post are made with fresh fruit. I can see how fresh fruit would get all mushy and gross in this oatmeal after a few days. Since this is made with applesauce, however, I'm giving this a six-day shelf life with refrigeration, which is the standard used in the foodservice industry.
***2 Hours Later***
Okay, I was hungry and curious. I opened one of my containers to find that the oatmeal had already substantially thickened, so I decided to try it.
Have you ever had apple pie with vanilla ice cream? This tastes EXACTLY the same. I may have discovered my breakfast for the rest of my life.
That being said, I was curious as to what the calorie count is for this little meal. I went to SparkRecipes, a website with a free nutrition facts calculator. Here are the results below. One serving is considered one container of oatmeal:
Ingredients:
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172 calories, that's awesome! The sugar is a little high for my preference, but that's why I left out the added stuff. It's definitely a lot healthier than it tastes. Perhaps, in the future, I will experiment with other flavors. In order for me to eat healthily while working 50 hours per week (and not have a house that's completely trashed), I have to do a lot of preparation the night before, since I have to get up at 5:15am for work, and I'm definitely not a morning person.
Oops, I almost forgot to give you the cost! Here:
Applesauce 50 ounces: $2.19 = about 4 cents per ounce
Oatmeal 18 ounces: $2.19 = about 12 cents per ounce
Milk 128 ounces: $2.79 = about 2 cents per ounce
Yogurt 32 ounces: $3.99 = about 12 cents per ounce
Cinnamon: on hand (I'm going to assume everyone already has this, because you should.): Free
This stuff only costs 62 cents per serving.
How awesome is that? After purchasing all the ingredients, I had enough to make about fifteen servings of this stuff.
Oops, I almost forgot to give you the cost! Here:
Applesauce 50 ounces: $2.19 = about 4 cents per ounce
Oatmeal 18 ounces: $2.19 = about 12 cents per ounce
Milk 128 ounces: $2.79 = about 2 cents per ounce
Yogurt 32 ounces: $3.99 = about 12 cents per ounce
Cinnamon: on hand (I'm going to assume everyone already has this, because you should.): Free
This stuff only costs 62 cents per serving.
How awesome is that? After purchasing all the ingredients, I had enough to make about fifteen servings of this stuff.
I hope you enjoy making these as much as I did!
Yum!!
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