OOO!

Which stands for: Obsessed with Overnight Oats. Or the sound I make when I come back from a sweaty 2 miler in 80 degree weather to a bowl of this thick, chewy, melt-in-your-mouth decadence ;)

I always prepare the same base during the PM: oats, whole ground flaxseed meal (I use Bob's Red Mill Organic), unsweetened finely shredded coconut (Let's Do... Organic), and ground cinnamon.

All together now...

 I usually eyeball the amounts, but I'd say in here I have 3/4 cup of oats, 1 tablespoon of the ground flaxseed, 1 tablespoon of the shredded coconut, and a couple shakes of cinnamon. I stirred the dry ingredients together and then added equal parts of unsweetened vanilla almond milk (mylk?) and homemade soymilk. I bought the almond milk from Whole Foods in New York last week right before hopping onto the train back home to Jersey. I love it because it holds up really well--quite helpful because it's a bit pricey ($3.99) and I'm only home half the week to consume it. Ah... if only I had the goods to make my own. I have the almonds ready by the bagful; all I need is a Vita-Mix. Someday, I say. For now, I'll just cherish the Oster blender I already have (which actually blends and crushes ice just fine, as you will see in my upcoming post!) and use my measly funds to buy what I can't make. ;)

In goes 1/2 a banana...

All mashed up and incorporated. Into the fridge it goes to sleep for the night!

Look at what happened over night...

Gooeyness galore!

In the AM, sprinkle on some ground coffee...

Add some almond butter (can you believe it--we got this at Costco!)...

You might be wondering why the heck there's so much oil. It's the oil that's found naturally in the almonds. No added oil, salt, sugar, anything. This au naturale almond butter is for real ;)

Drizzle about a tablespoon on top...

Add some fresh blueberries...

(How adorable are they?!)

I like to top my oats off with some crunch. Since I have the almond milk and almond butter, I thought I'd refrain from ODing on almonds! So a few walnuts it is.

The simple trick to crushing any nut without making a huge dusty mess and the risk of stray nuts flying away with every chop of the knife is to place them in a plastic ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to pound away on the counter. I don't do this on the kitchen table because it's not sturdy enough. Also, I would not seal the bag all the way across because the bag might just explode!

Pound pound pound...

Success!

And tell me, how scary is this thing?

Haha I used to use this meat tenderizer to pound away on the bag! But I found that it created holes in the bag, making me unable to reuse the bag later. I learned that sharp objects are not needed to crush nuts! If you don't have a rolling pin lying around, I'd imagine that a pan or container would work fine too. Heck, now that I think about it, anything that you can grip well to hammer away with is okay!

Here's the end product...

It kinda looks like blueberry crumble!

That's not what I had today though. 

Sadly I ran out of blueberries, so this morning I welcomed something just as tasty...

The remaining segment of this papaya!

If you haven't tried papaya before, you must must must! I was not a fan of papaya before, but at a young age my parents started buying them and forced me to try it. Since then, I've grown to LOVE them! They're sweet with a soft melon-like texture. It's not crisp and watery like watermelon and cantaloupe, nor is it stringy like mango. It holds up with chopping, but can easily be mushed with a fork if ripe. 

Papayas are very rich in Vitamin C, folate, potassium, and fiber. They also provide Vitamin A, E, and K. This fruit is the only naturally occurring source of papain, an enzyme that helps digest proteins. Oh and did I mention it's low cal? Only around 100-120 calories per serving! Its buttery texture, refreshing taste, and abundance of health benefits make it one of my go-to morning fruits! (Source)

A couple months back, my staple breakfast would consist of a bowl of hot oatmeal, raisins, and papaya. I loved it so much that I would literally eat it everyday. I never got sick of it! And the fact that I've switched over to cold overnight oats certainly does not mean that I've stopped eating this wonder fruit.

Topped off with crushed walnuts. I swear the almond butter is underneath that generous heaping of papaya! It's hiding.

Such a treat!

Besides blueberries and papayas, I've also tried my oats with blackberries and raspberries (the raspberries were a little too tart for my liking though). I would love to experiment with other types. Can you believe I've never had them with strawberries? Our family only buys frozen ones because the fresh ones are not so fresh (having been shipped from halfway across the country, it loses a lot of flavor).

Anyhow, overnight oats have become my all time favorite breakfast food. No matter what fruit I use with it, I'm always left full and satisfied! And I seriously think about how good it tastes when I'm running every morning, which gets me more motivated! It's strange what food can do to ya. :)

Some shopping with the family awaits me. Happy 4th of July weekend! I know I promised a veggie wrap recipe, but I just had to post this one first (can you tell how excited I was?). Therefore, come back tonight for my post on this delicious wrap, pictures galore!