Steel cut oats have been my jam, lately. Overnight, to be exact. I work on it after dinner and then put them away in these tiny plastic canning jars I got on sale that I was so sure I was going to just to, like, can stuff. But now they come in handy for one-serving oatmeal toters for work.

At work, I sometimes eat these for breakfast. I sometimes eat them as an afternoon treat. I find afternoons hardest to stay good in terms of eating. The stress of the day wants me to find a snack. Really all I need is a little walk around. But for those other days, this is kind of a different sweet. A small serving of this stuff goes a long way.

Individual serving, with some extra cinnamon, just before sticking in the fridge overnight

Steel cut with quinoa, mixed with additional almond milk. This came to work with me.

As I was testing, I also tried a batch of steel cut oats with quinoa mixed in. Seemed like a great idea, adding protein into a hot cereal but ultimately it was a little too much. I also was probably eating more than a serving so it wasn’t really serving it’s purpose (haha).

The recipe I’ve ended up with was a Pinterest find. I also combined tips from ThugKitchen (link above). I find that actually heating up the mixture provides the most appealing texture for me (it softens the oats) but it’s not necessary. This could, if you wanted it to be, a simple dump, wait and go type of thing.

• Small amount of ghee, coconut oil, butter, or some type of fat
• 1 container greek yogurt (I’ve tried plain and vanilla Chobani, either works for me with a slight preference for Vanilla)
• 1/2 cup steel cut oats (note that steel cut are different than regular rolled oats, or quick-cooking oats, but since this is an overnight recipe, I don’t know that it would make much difference? might want to play with it)
• 1/2 cup almond milk (I’m sure other types of milk would also be fine)
• 1 tsp cinnamon (about)
• Sprinkle of stevia
• 2-3 tbsp of raisins (or 1 snack box, whatever suits your desires)
• more almond (or whatever) milk

In a small saucepan, melt the fat. Add the steel cut oats and warm up the oats until they are kind of toasty-smelling. Then add the milk & yogurt then other ingredients and mix it up. Heat it (over low – medium heat) until the mixture starts to want to bubble up. Then remove it from the stove and pour into one serving bowl, or into 3 individual serving jars (if you’ve got a bigger appetite 2 servings may be right, but I tried that and ultimately went with 3. Remember, a little goes a long way).

Cover and store in the fridge, you know, overnight. In the morning, if you are eating right away you can poor everything in a bowl and add more milk, mix it up to the desired thickness and enjoy (hot or cold, but I prefer this one cold). If you are taking this to go (thus the individual sized container), open up one jar and add in a little more milk (the oats will be thick enough that the milk will just sit on top). Close tightly and tote this with you and keep it in the work fridge until you’re ready to enjoy, then stir in the milk when ready. Nice.