It took me forever to get on the Overnight Oats bandwagon. I think my first experience was just last year. I guess I’m so used to eating hot oats that the idea of cold didn’t sound very appealing to me.
One day last year when I was training for the Boston Marathon, I had to get up at 4 am to do a long run so that I could be at my son’s soccer game that morning. I didn’t want to wake anyone up with a beeping microwave, and I needed something on the go, so I tried overnight oats. Back then I kept it very simple, just adding almond milk, honey, and oats, but I really liked the texture and surprisingly, I really liked them cold!
I have since become obsessed and love to come up with new flavors.
Oats are plain, so it’s easy to mix up the flavors – it’s like having a blank canvas. For my long runs I like to eat oats because they don’t give me GI issues mid-way through my workout. I also like to have a small amount of sweetener. I feel that a touch of sweet gives me a boost and if I go completely sugar free, I get sluggish and tired mid-run.
When you look at these pictures you might think “This is loaded with sugar,” but, in fact, it has very little – just enough to get me through a long run. I use Stevia drops to sweeten the oats and the sauces are sugar free or reduced sugar. The pecans are full of protein and healthy fat and, if you limit the chips to just a few, you’ve managed to get a decadent breakfast without all of the sugar.
But, if you’re not concerned about that, then please feel free to use any Chocolate and Caramel sauce of your choice and you’ve got yourself a decadent breakfast.
For me, this is the perfect pre-run meal!
What You’ll Need
1/2 cup of Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1/2 Cup of Almond Milk
20 drops of Now BetterStevia English Toffee
1 tsp. of chia and or hemp seeds (Optional)
1/4 cup of Sugar Free Chocolate Sauce or chocolate sauce of your choice
1/4 cup of Reduced Sugar Salted Caramel Sauce or caramel sauce of your choice
1/4 cup of Pecans
1 T. of Dairy Free Chocolate chips
I doubled the recipe for the photo
How To Make It
Add Oatmeal to a mason jar or small bowl, pour in almond milk, BetterStevia, and Chia seeds. Cover, refrigerate overnight.
In the morning remove from frig and add Chocolate sauce, Caramel Sauce, Pecans and Chocolate Chips. Enjoy immediately or on the go!
Chocolate Caramel Pecan Turtle Overnight Oats! Get in my belly right NOW! #FitFluential Click To Tweet
What’s your favorite flavor overnight oats? What do you eat before a long run or race?
