Short on time but still want a breakfast that not only gives you the right amount of carbs and protein but also includes a healthy hit of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants?
Well, this overnight oats recipe is for you! You do almost all the preparation on Sunday and then don’t have to worry about breakfast again until the next weekend.
Ingredients (per portion, and you’ll do five):
80g Oats
1 scoop protein powder (around 20g)
Two Brazil nuts, chopped
Teaspoon of pumpkin seeds
Teaspoon of chia seeds
Tablespoon of flaxseeds
Sprinkle of cinnamon
Half a teaspoon of cocoa powder
5-8 Blueberries
5-6 Raspberries
(Note: you can use frozen berries, which is easier because you don’t have to keep buying fresh ones, as once you’ve left the finished product in the fridge overnight they’ll have defrosted.)
One cup of milk, oat milk or water (in practice, I measure the oats by filling a small mug to the top, then use the same mug filled to the same point with whatever liquid you’re using; so it’s the same volume of oats as it is water.)
(Another note: if you’re thinking ‘hang on, if these recipes are all meant to use regular, everyday ingredients then why are there all these exotic-sounding things in there?’, wait just a moment! Flaxseeds, chia seeds and pumpkin seeds are now available even in places like Aldi, and because they keep for ages they can very easily become cupboard staples! And for the protein powder you don’t need anything more complicated than the basic-level whey or vegan protein you can get in Holland and Barrett.)
Method
On Sunday, assemble five portions of the dry ingredients. ‘What should I put them in?’ I hear you ask. Well, you could use jam jars, but that would require you to eat five jars of jam, and I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that. I prefer Whole Earth peanut butter jars because they’re sturdy, thick and have lids that attach very well. Yes, you will need to get through five of them in order to have enough jars to do this, but if you follow our suggestion to have peanut butter sandwiches then that may happen sooner than you expect!
Then add the fruit and liquid (milk, oat milk or water) to three of them and mix them up. Put them in the fridge and you’ve got breakfast sorted for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Then on Wednesday evening put the fruit and liquid in the other two, mix them up, put them in the fridge and that’s Thursday and Friday sorted! They should look something like this (dry version on the left, fully assembled version on the right):
Is it Instagrammable? Probably not. But it’ll give you roughly 50g of carbs, 25g of protein (80g of oats actually contains 8g of protein) and 9g of fibre plus, as well as various vitamins and antioxidants from the berries, it includes minerals such as selenium from the Brazil nuts and zinc from the pumpkin seeds. Whilst it’s worth noting that the proposed health benefits from consuming cinnamon have not been conclusively proven, the antioxidants in cocoa are believed to have a beneficial effect on cholesterol. It’s what’s inside that counts!
Functional Fitness PTS 