Running out of the house with a coffee in hand, grabbing an apple (or piece of candy!) as I dash out the door on the way to work ….. do you know the feeling?
No matter what time I go to bed at night, I never want to get up any earlier that absolutely necessary, so making a warm breakfast in the morning is completely out of the question. As much as I LOVE my make-ahead-of-time breakfast sandwiches, Joe & I needed to change up our breakfast menu. Wanting to turn our breakfast in to a bloggable project (along with pretty much everything else in our life), I decided to use up all that oatmeal Joe bought months ago in to a months worth of flavorful oatmeal packets.
I loved that I was able to make these ahead of time so that we have a quick, yet delicious, breakfast any time and anywhere (easy to make at work).
Ingredients
- Oats
- Salt
- Oat bran
- brown sugar (optional)
- Your choice of dried fruit, nuts and chocolate
- Plastic lunch bags
- Permanent marker
(After re-reading this post Joe pointed out that lunch bags & markers probably shouldn’t be listed under “ingredients”. Oops!)
Once you have everything pulled out, the first step is to make the plain oatmeal packets. I made a LOT of these (arrr… 30??). Since these aren’t going to go bad anytime soon, I figured I might as well stock up! Simply combine:
in to each of your plastic sandwich bags. If you’re someone who likes things a little sweeter, add a teaspoon of brown sugar!
Now the fun part starts…..
I pulled out all my dried fruit, nuts and chocolate and CHOPPED them all up in to smaller pieces. Below are some of the ones I chose.
Before you start combining your ingredients, make sure to label each of the plastic bags with the ingredients you’re adding. That way they’ll be NO surprises when eating your breakfast. I made the mistake of not labeling before I gave one to Joe for breakfast. He wasn’t exactly thrilled with my banana chocolate chip concoction that I made (it was delicious by the way 🙂 ).
Some of my favorite combinations:
cranberry & apricot
banana & chocolate chips
coconut & papaya
cranberries & almonds
For the ‘toppings’, I add a small handful into each oatmeal packet (at least 2 tablespoons of each – I don’t skimp on these!).
I’m definitely not the biggest health nut, but a nice added bonus of making these as opposed to buying in the store is that these are a lot more healthy & have WAY less sugar in them (assuming you skip my banana and chocolate one)! Another bonus is that you get the exact flavors you want. Ever notice how there’s ALWAYS one packet in the assorted flavors pack that no one likes? (brown sugar & maple syrup anyone??)
Simply add 2/3 cup hot water in a bowl with your oatmeal packet.
May you be able to sleep in as long as possible & still have time for a great breakfast!
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Kellie says
This is a great idea! I’d love to know where you get your dried apricot, papaya, bananas, etc from?? I usually use fresh, but this would be such a huge help in the mornings when I’m pressed for time with two little ones! (by the way, maple brown sugar is my favorite, so if you don’t like them, I’ll take yours! LOL)
Lindsay @ Crazy Organized says
Surprisingly I found them all in the nuts section of our grocery store (not a specialty store, just a regular grocery store!) You can have all my brown sugar ones! 🙂 haha!
Kellie says
Ha ha ha!
Thanks, I guess I’ll just have to look harder when I go shopping next time. Can’t wait to make some of these!!
Linda says
Just started following your blog, glad I am!
Lindsay @ Crazy Organized says
Awww thanks so much! I really appreciate it!