COOK: Mason-Jar Mornings & Meal Prep
Fall is here… Time for hot cereal! I love oatmeal but don’t love anything which requires monitoring or measuring before I’ve had my coffee… And until yesterday I didn’t have a stove at the rowhouse where I’m staying, just an electric kettle, toaster oven, and microwave, plus my trusty, tiny, Trangia alcohol camping stove.
I also have a goodly portion of a 50# bag of rolled oats in the pantry and more mason jars than I knew what to do with… Until now. I made up a bunch of these jars of instant mason jar oats, assembly-line style, so they’re all prepped and ready for easy meals on the go.
You can even make them with the electric kettle or microwave in the break room at work. I keep a few stashed in my desk drawer at the office. They’re perfect for when I forgot to pack a lunch or need a quick snack to power through the rest of the long day!
Customize your Breakfast
These mason jar oats have the convenience of the instant packets, but you control how much sugar is in there and can add tasty or healthy extras too! Turmeric? Flax seed meal? Chia or hemp seeds? Sure, give it a try.
Cacao nibs and coconut flakes with coconut sugar? Yum, man. Dried fruit and nuts and maple sugar? Why not! Or just stick with the classic brown sugar and cinnamon spice oats, it’s also oh so nice.
Make a bunch of your favorite kind, or a grab bag of different flavors so you don’t have to have the same thing every day.
Bingo! Now your bleary-eyed breakfast is sorted… Just add water or hot milk and wait and these mason jar oats cook themselves.
It’s so simple, even my cooking-challenged boyfriend can do it (and this one didn’t even own a spatula or a sheet pan before he met me). To be fair, he does toast a mean bagel, which is part of why I’ve been getting fat… mmm, daily double cream cheese sandwich habit, you are my delicious downfall.
Ah well. Worth it. But on the days when I’m trying to have a lighter or more nutritious breakfast, it’s easy, even when I’m not at home in my own kitchen. So now, when “the robot” (that’s what I call his Keurig) finishes making our drinks, it can make breakfast too!
And since you eat these out straight of the jar, there’s no sticky, scorched oatmeal pot to scrub out. Now THAT’s a life hack worth living with!
Mason Jar Instant Oats
Ingredients
For each pint jar:
- 1 cup instant or quick oats
- 1 tbsp powdered milk (powdered coconut milk for vegan oats)
- 1-2 tbsp brown sugar (maple sugar, coconut sugar, or sucanat)
Plus any mix-ins in the variations below:
- 1-2 tbsp chopped nuts I used walnut pieces
- 1/4-1/2 tsp ground spices these are pumpkin spice blend, to stay with the fall theme: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and clove
- 1-2 tbsp dried fruit (apple bits, cranberries, raisins, or currants or other chopped or small dried fruit)
- 1-2 tbsp Chocolate chips! Unsweetened coconut! Cocoa powder! Pecans! German chocolate cake for breakfast, anyone?
Instructions
To Prep:
- Line up jars on a counter or clean work surface. Using a jar funnel, add the ingredients to each jar and top with a lid.
- Label your jars if you made different flavors so you can tell them apart! Store in a cool, dry place for up to several months.
To serve:
- Add in 8-10 oz of boiling water, stir, and let stand covered for several minutes.
- If you used quick oats instead of instant you may need to microwave for a minute or so unless you like your oats chewy.
- It's possible to use old-fashioned oats, but they need a longer cook time and may boil over in the jar. You can make these as overnight oats or muesli in the fridge (add liquid the night before, let soak in the fridge, and microwave for hot oatmeal).
- Stir and enjoy! Be careful, the oats and the jar will be hot!