A new thing I’m doing is making my husband overnight oats to take to work when he doesn’t work from home. (To be fair, I just started doing this yesterday.)Yes, overnight oats have been a thing for years now, and we’ve done them in the past, but we hadn’t done them lately. However, I am trying to whittle away my groceries and I’ve had a huge container of rolled oats for a while now. When I got them, I thought, oats are cheap, versatile and healthy, but I never make oatmeal that often. I thought I’d make them more than I’ve found myself making them. My son likes the little instant oatmeal packets that are preflavored and even he doesn’t eat them that often. I also bought pea, brown rice and hemp protein powders for this vegan book I bought The Protein Ninja, but honestly, when I calculate the protein and calories in some of the things I thought I’d want to make, it really doesn’t fit that well into my diet. So I have these three tubs of unflavored protein powders that I do not want to waste. Thankfully the book was on clearance for $3 on Google Play, where I get credits for doing surveys so no huge loss if I don’t do much with the cookbook. So this is how I’m using the protein powders and oats!
To make it, currently I’m using a scosh over 3/4 cup/6 oz. of soymilk, half a cup of rolled oats, a tablespoon or so of chia seeds, a couple tablespoons of vanilla-infused maple syrup (I really shouldn’t have bought it at Target the other day. I’m not eating a lot of maple syrup lately.), a tablespoon or so of hemp protein powder, and a little less than a scoop of Equate plant-based vanilla protein powder, a bit of cinnamon, a scoop of peanut butter, and 5/8ths of a pink lady apple chopped. I kind of shake it as I add more ingredients. I know there’s the aesthetically-pleasing ones with layers you see on blogs, but that really doesn’t make a lot of sense in terms of practicality. It’s much easier to have it already mixed up and not have to worry about trying to stir something that is semi-solid.
It feels good to use stuff we already have laying around and I’m sure my husband will subsequently spend a little less money on snacks at the cafeteria. He was eating a protein bar for breakfast, but with less than 200 calories, I’m sure he made up for it in snacks, many times purchased from his work’s cafeteria. I know he’s starving by lunchtime so hopefully this will satiate him for longer, especially on those days when someone runs a meeting over. He won’t have to hide a Lightlife hot dog in his sleeve! (That’s an I Think You Should Leave reference, probably the only good thing Netflix has on it these days.)
Great idea ! This is similar to the chia pudding / overnight oats I like to make. Was making the chia pudding / overnight oats with soy and peanut butter protein powder, flax seeds, hot cocoa powder, etc, several times a week in October, November, December 2022. However, it has been 2 months since I’ve made it because I fell off the wagon and can’t get back on! Will get back on eventually.