Overnight Oats

I have a few “requirements” for my everyday breakfast…it needs to have a fruit, something with fiber (from the fruit and possibly something else), fat and/or protein, and it must be filling.  And delicious (sometimes I go to bed thinking about what I get to eat in the morning!). 

It might be a smoothie (green or not…usually this is a summer, post-run breakfast).  Or oatmeal with fruit and nuts (in the winter).  And lately its been overnight oats, which aren’t all that different from muesli.  I’m more of a fruit, yogurt, and whole grain breakfast kind of girl.  I LOVE eggs…just not at breakfast.

 

In my “easy” method I just combine oats with unsweetened Greek yogurt and let them soak overnight.  In the morning I add a little milk to thin it out and the toppings, the best part!  Fruit, nuts, sometimes maple syrup or another sweetener.  Or I’ll mash a banana into the yogurt and oats the night before (which doubles as the sweetener and the fruit). 

Sometimes I take it a step further and do a batch for the whole week.  I shred a couple of apples and then add them to the yogurt and oats to soak overnight. 

Or if I’m really fancy I use this method.  I pulse oats, nuts, shredded apple, and coconut all together in a food processor.  Sometimes I’ll do a few bananas instead of the apple.  You can keep this mixture separate from the yogurt (which I do sometimes) or go ahead and mix it with the yogurt (I typically do that and then portion it into my little class storage containers…breakfast ready for the week!). 

    

The possibilities are endless…sometimes I do a mixture of Greek yogurt with vanilla Wallaby.  Sometimes instead of using milk to thin it out I do coconut milk.  You can vary the nuts and the fruit.  You could add cinnamon.  Or peanut butter (PB&banana is sooo good!). 

Kath has a bunch of variations (she’s the one who got me hooked).  The basic proportion for me (her’s is a little different) is 2:1…4 cups of yogurt (the entire container of Fage…the 35 oz size) and 2 cups oats.  This lasts me the whole week…6 - 7 servings.  For a single serving I’d do 2/3 cup yogurt and 1/3 cup oats.  Plus the toppings!  Don’t forget the toppings! 

I Promised You Muesli

I adapted the muesli recipe so that it called for fewer ingredients (I omitted the flax seed and wheat germ). I also wanted to make single servings and not all 8 at once.

For the muesli mix, there may be a few ingredients that you don't already have in your pantry. I purchased small amounts from the bulk bins at Whole Foods, so that I wasn't stuck with a whole jar of wheat bran or bag of coconut/sunflower seeds. The muesli mix will keep in a sealed container for a while.

As for the second part of the recipe, the ingredients are more common. Any type of dried fruit and fruit juice can be substituted for the raisins and orange juice. Greek yogurt is the best choice here because of its thickness, but plain will be fine too (it may be slightly runny). Read this post on Greek yogurt and how to thicken regular yogurt. The honey could be swapped for any sweetener...I am on a huge maple syrup kick right now. And for the fresh fruit, use whatever you have and is in season.

Muesli
adapted from Saveur

Makes 8 servings

1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup almonds
1/2 cup toasted*, unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
6 tablespoons wheat bran
1/8 teaspoon salt

whole rolled oats
skim milk
vanilla extract
orange juice
raisins
fat-free, plain yogurt (preferably Greek)
honey (or maple syrup)
other fresh fruit

To make the muesli mix: Put walnuts and almonds into a food processor and pulse to chop coarsely. Transfer nuts to a storage container along with toasted coconut, sunflower seeds, wheat bran, and salt. Mix well.

For an individual serving:

• The night before - combine 1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup milk, and a splash of vanilla in a small container. In another small container, combine 2 tablespoons of orange juice and 2 tablespoons of raisins. Cover both containers with a lid (or plastic wrap) and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight to let oats and raisins soften.
  
• The morning of - Add the oat mixture along with the orange juice and raisins to a bowl and stir in 1/4 cup muesli mix, 1/4 cup yogurt, 1 tablespoon honey, and 1/2 cup sliced fruit.

Per serving - 450 calories, 17 g fat (4.4 g saturated), 67 g carbohydrates, 9.4 g fiber, 16 g protein (exchanges: 3 fat, 1/2 protein, 1 starch, 1/2 dairy, 2 fruit)

Notes - Like I said, this is not a low cal breakfast, but it will fill you up the way breakfast should. I usually have around 400 calories at breakfast. Even so, I started thinking of how I could make make this a little lighter. The muesli mix is the first place to make some changes. Replacing 1/2 cup of nuts and 1/4 cup sunflower seeds with some type of wholegrain flake cereal (about a cups worth of something like Wheaties) would save 60 calories and 7 g of fat per serving. I would leave the coconut; it's a fat just like the nuts, but the flavor is worth it. I also think that using less sweetener would be a good idea...the orange juice, raisins, and fruit add their own sweetness. The honey may be completely unnecessary. Or you could omit the OJ and raisins, leaving only 1 fruit serving. I'm going to keep playing around with this one. By the way, did you notice the fiber content?

*If you've never toasted coconut, read about it here.

What Does a Dietitian Eat? (Day 3)

Here is the third day of what I eat.

Wednesday October 22nd

• Breakfast - Muesli with pear and strawberries
• Snack - Iced coffee with skim milk and fat free condensed milk
• Lunch - Cottage cheese
• Snack - Apple
• Snack - Wallaby strawberry yogurt
• Dinner - Salad with chicken, roasted green beans, butter lettuce, yellow bell pepper, feta, and oregano-Dijon-lemon vinaigrette; water
• Snack - Pumpkin frozen yogurt from TCBY!

Approximately: 1501 calories (25% fat, 22% protein, 53% carbs); 15.3g saturated fat (9%), 139 mg cholesterol, 18 g fiber, 1317 mg calcium

My target numbers: 45 - 65% carbs, 20 - 35% fat, 10 - 35% protein (less than 10% saturated), at least 25 g fiber, less than 300 mg cholesterol, at least 1000 mg calcium

Comments: I LOVE having muesli for breakfast...I'm going to post the recipe in the morning. I'm warning you, it's not exactly low-cal, but it is healthy! Here are 2 versions from CookingLight.com and Eatingwell.com.

The muesli really fills me up and with the iced coffee too, I wasn't very hungry for lunch. I knew I would be dancing from 2:30 - 6:30 pm and wouldn't be able to eat anything until after that, so I had a little cottage cheese to keep from getting hungry. When I got home at 9:30, there was a surprise waiting for me...Hilary brought me pumpkin frozen yogurt! I have been wanting to try it (I love everything pumpkin). It was delish!

My fiber intake was a little on the low side (for me). This is because I "skipped" lunch and just had cottage cheese (which has no fiber).

By now you have noticed that I eat late...I teach Monday through Thursday until 9pm. I can't follow that nutrition myth of "not eating after 6 pm". It doesn't work for me. However, I do stop eating 2 hours before I go to bed. I eat around 9:30 or 10 and usually don't go to bed until after midnight (I get to sleep in most mornings...the perk of being a dance teacher). The 2 hour rule, gives your body time to digest before you get in bed. By the way, nothing crazy happens to your body after 6 pm...it doesn't suddenly start storing fat like crazy. Having an eating cut-off point just helps limit the number of calories you eat during the day. So its not a bad idea to have a time when "the kitchen is closed"; but, if you have a schedule like me it might be a little later.

What Does a Dietitian Eat? (Day 2)

Here is day two of what I eat.

Tuesday October 21st

• Breakfast - Muesli* with pears and strawberries
• Snack - Iced coffee with skim milk and fat free condensed milk
• Lunch - Chicken sandwich on an onion roll with Dijon mustard, bread and butter pickles, Havarti cheese, pear (yes on the sandwich!), and butter lettuce; water
• Snack - Honest Foods Choco P'nut Butter Square
• Snack - Apple
• Dinner - Chicken salad (chicken, grilled green beans and yellow squash, red bell pepper, oregano-Dijon-lemon dressing) over butter lettuce with feta cheese; water
• Snack - Cottage cheese with part of a frozen banana

Approximately: 1914 calories (29% fat, 22% protein, 49% carbs); 20.7 g saturated fat (9.7%), 181.7 mg cholesterol, 26 g fiber, 1317 mg calcium

My target numbers: 45 - 65% carbs, 20 - 35% fat, 10 - 35% protein (less than 10% saturated), at least 25 g fiber, less than 300 mg cholesterol, at least 1000 mg calcium

Comments: My schedule was a little off yesterday. I usually teach dance from 3:30 - 9:00 straight. However, I had an unexpected 1 1/2 hour break, so I decided to use the extra time for a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up a few thing I needed. I was looking at the energy bars (something I always do to see if there is anything new and interesting) and I noticed they had Honest Foods Choco P'nut Butter Squares...something I've been wanting to try. So my first afternoon snack was an impulse buy/eat...a little (250 calorie...maybe not so little) treat for the day, but definitely not something I will start eating on a regular basis (its basically junk food made with "healthier" ingredients...but with 4 grams of fiber and a whole grain as the first ingredient, I could have done worse). My planned snack was an apple (as some of you know, I always carry an apple with me), and I ended up eating it around 8:00 pm. Dinner was really good and filling and I'm going to post the recipe soon.

Because I had cheese twice, my saturated fat intake was higher than the day before, but still within the 10% range. It helped that the protein in my lunch and dinner were both lean (chicken has very little saturated fat - about o.3 g per 3 oz serving compared to 5.2 g per 3 oz serving of T-bone steak).

Notice that my macronutrient (fat, protein, and carbs) percentages were different from yesterday...a little more fat (29% vs 24%) and protein (22% vs 17%) and a little less carbs (49% vs 59%). Again, that's because I ate cheese twice which is mostly protein and fat; the muesli has a lot of nuts which are also mostly fat and protein.

I don't eat a "low-carb", "fat-free", or "high-protein" diet...I try to eat a balance of all three. Our bodies NEED fat, protein, and carbs, but healthy versions.

Healthy fats (unsaturated fats) are found in plants and fish: nuts, seeds, oils (especially canola, olive, flaxseed, sesame, peanut, walnut), avocados, olives, soybeans, tofu, salmon, tuna

I'll write about healthy protein and carbohydrates over the next few days.

And check back for the chicken salad recipe.

* The muesli I had for breakfast is loosely based on this recipe from Saveur magazine. Danielle, my Houston roommate, used to eat muesli for breakfast all of the time, but I never tried it. However, when I read about it the the Breakfast Issue of Saveur, I was intrigued. Danielle you must try this! I'll post my version of the recipe soon.