No-Cook Refrigerator Oatmeal - A Yummy Breakfast!

One of my absolutely favorite breakfast's around here is what I like to call fridge oatmeal. I'm not a fan of the texture of just plan oatmeal, and really not a fan of just plain yogurt either. I wanted something that was relatively healthy in the morning, and provided all the health benefits of yogurt... but just not yogurt. Enter no-cook refrigerator oatmeal! I stumbled upon these options by The Yummy Life - she offers 6 different "flavors" of fridge oatmeal, but I knew which one would appeal to me most - the apple cinnamon flavor. Um yum. So I've taken her recipe and modified it to easy-to-find and often on hand ingredients. 

We'll start with the ingredients - for Apple Cinnamon 'fridge Oatmeal, you'll need:
1/4 C Oats (You must use old fashioned oats - steel cut, quick oats, etc isn't going to cut it.)
1/3 C Milk (I used 2%. You could use skim for less fat but I'm using what I got!)
1/4 C Yogurt (I'm using lowfat vanilla yogurt. You could use Greek - but I am once again, using what I got :)
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Honey or a dash of Sugar (I'm using a dash of sugar. You could use Splenda.)
1/4 C Applesauce (I'm using regular ol' applesauce, plain. Mine is the sweetened one, but without cinnamon.)

Don't forget, I include the full recipe at the bottom! :) Also important to note: you must make this the day before you want to eat it. :)

You'll also need a jar with a lid. I'm a fan of using these little glass Ball type jars... I believe this is a pint jar but I could be wrong... they aren't labeled. They remind me a jelly jar but slightly bigger.

So I don't get a million 1/4 cup measuring spoons dirty, here's what I do. Add your oats to the jar first.  Then, using a liquid measure (this is important... there is a slight difference between liquid and dry measure), add your 1/3 cup milk. This is important to do as the second step, because otherwise trying to pour milk on yogurt isn't fun. I then add my 1/4 cup of yogurt as the third step, and I just dip my (clean) 1/4 cup measure right into the yogurt. Plop that in there, then I take a regular metal spoon and dip my spoon into the applesauce, measuring it in the 1/4 cup yogurt-y measuring cup. That way, I'm not dipping my yogurt covered measure into the applesauce and I'm not getting another 1/4 cup measure dirty.

After that, sprinkle your cinnamon and a little sugar on top (I don't use much, since I'm already using vanilla yogurt and regular applesauce. Put your lid on, make sure it's tight so you don't have a mess, and shake the ever-living daylights out of it.

 I also use this size too - it's like the flatter, fatter version of the jar above.

 Here's what it looks like when it's all shaken up! Refrigerate overnight and enjoy in the morning.

Here is the yummy goodness in the morning! (Doesn't everyone eat breakfast at the computer?) The oats absorb a lot of the milk and taste amazing with the applesauce, cinnamon and vanilla yogurt. It is eaten cold - I don't think it would taste very good warm. A fantastic way to get started in the morning if I do say so myself!

 No-Cook Refrigerator Oatmeal - Apple Cinnamon Flavor

1/4 C Old Fashioned Oats
1/3 C Milk
1/4 C Yogurt
1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of Honey or a dash of Sugar
1/4 C Applesauce

Directions:
1) In small jar with resealable lid, place 1/4 C oats.
2) Add 1/3 C milk on top of the oats
3) Add 1/4 C yogurt on top of milk and oats
4) Add 1/4 C applesauce on top of yogurt, milk, and oats.
5) Sprinkle cinnamon and dash of sugar on top.
6) Seal jar and shake vigorously. Place in refrigerator overnight to enjoy in the morning.