Overnight Oats, Breakfast in a jar:

    So I just attended my first all organic vegan/vegetarian cooking class this evening, and I LOVED it. It's a great way to get introduced to some delicious new recipes, see them made, and actually get to taste them before putting the time into making them for yourself.
   This evening Andrea (cooking class instructor) made 4 different vegan recipes for hot summer days when a good, healthy, but quick and cool meal is perfect when you'd rather be out doors the in a hot kitchen. All of them were made with whole grains, and it was nice to see that some whole grain breakfast foods can be pretty quick (when your not using things like instant oats).
   I enjoyed all of them but surprisingly my favorite was the "Overnight Oats" I say surprisingly because when it comes to cereals oatmeal, or anything like it has never been high on my list of foods I like. (Just ask my mom!) But after this class I bought everything I needed to be able to put it together tonight for breakfast in the morning.
  The class was in our organic vegetarian store, Down to Earth just down the road from me. So that also makes it easy to buy anything I need for the recipes that I like. And this meal, which feeds 2 only cost me about 6$ and everything in it is totally organic.
 So here is the recipe, keep in mind it needs made the night before, but only takes about 5 minutes to throw together.

     Overnight Oats:
Serves 2

 2/3 cup  Whole Oats
 1/2 cup Shredded Coconut
 2 Tbsp Chia Seeds
 Pinch of Sea Salt
 2/3 cup Almond Milk
 2/3 (5oz) Yogurt of your choice (soy, almond, coconut, dairy)
 1/2 Cup Banana

1. Stir all the ingredients together in a large bowl or a big jar. Gently fold in the banana last to keep it from bruising. Cover and let sit over night in the fridge. (I mixed mine in my 8 cup measuring and then spooned it into a quart sized mason jar with a lid to keep in the fridge)

2. To serve, remove desired amount of oatmeal. (Warm in a sauce pan or microwave if you don't want it cold) But it is best cold! So cool and creamy and sweet.

3. Top with your favorite nut butter, fruit, jam, or cereal if you like.

   I used coconut almond milk, soy vanilla yogurt, and apple bananas in mine. It smells amazing and I am looking forward to digging into in the morning. The recipe says you can warm it up if you like, but I think that kind of defeats the purpose of a cool breakfast and it's so good as a cold cereal. You can add pretty much any yogurt flavor you like, and could try mix and matching with more or different fruits other then bananas if you want. So this cereal can be something new every time you make it, if it turns out to be a hit for you and your family.

ENJOY!

I know G and I will. :)