Strawberry Overnight Oats Forever
Ingredients:
- ½ cup gluten-free old fashioned oats
- 3 T almond/coconut/hemp milk
- 1 T ground flax (good for estrogen!)
- 1 serving vanilla Plant or Paleo Power
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup plain cashew-gurt
- ½ cup strawberries (frozen work!)
- pinch or drops of stevia, optional
- 1-2 T sliced almonds
- wide mouth mason jars with lids*
Instructions:
Stir the protein powder into the milk and yogurt until smooth. Layer the ingredients in the mason jar and stir, or combine in another bowl and transfer to the mason jar. Refrigerate overnight or 4 hours at least.
Add the sliced almonds (and additional toppings you love) before serving. Double (or more) this recipe for a batch. (Serves 1 as is) Keeps for a few days.
Why overnight oats?
Well, first the obvious: who doesn’t like an already done breakfast? Make meals ahead and mornings are less rushed and the day is better.
Raw oats have probiotics that cooked oats don’t. So while you have the option of heating this up in the microwave if you can’t deal with cold oatmeal, the chilled may have a better effect on your gut. Try letting sit at room temp if cold isn’t appealing.
It’s insurance you do the right thing. I make a small batch when I’m training for something ahead or recovering from something I did. You need a little more carbs from resistant starch on active days (long hikes) and the day after to optimize the training effect.
That’s contrary to restrictive diet habits. You know, that myth that creating some huge calorie deficit will help you lose weight. Look around you. It hasn’t worked well for us so far. As your hormones fluctuate during perimenopause/menopause and are lower post menopause, that strategy actually backfires.
Recovery is a must to prepare, repair and replenish muscles and support your hormones. After 50? Even more so.
If you’re doing okay doing what you’re doing, the question I’d ask you is, how much better could you be doing?
The flips:
Use gluten-free(I like Bob’s Redmill) oats
Use PLAIN coconut or cashew- yogurt to go dairy-free (mucus-free is better exercising!)
Tart plain yogurt may call for stevia but test your taste buds first. If you cut back on sugar (your taste buds turn over in 11 days) you may not need as much sweet as you once did
Don’t ruin a healthy breakfast option with a toxic protein source be sure your protein is “clean” and not collagen-only, but rich in muscle-supporting amino acids (collagen doesn’t have amino acids though it’s great for gut, skin, hair and nails)
In a pinch I use any glass container* I have on hand and a BPA plastic lid (which of course doesn’t go in the microwave).
The Overnight Oats ingredient magic
- Soaked oats are a probiotic
- Ground flax helps estrogen balance (bye bye hot flashes and bloat)
- The yogurts are a probiotic
Best times to have Overnight Oats
- Before long sustained lower intensity exercise (all-day hikes)
- Before longer endurance exercise
- Pre-weight training
- After days of heavier training or long endurance exercise
- Between hard days of training
Have breakfast with the Flipping 50 retreat attendees!
It’s a great pre-hike breakfast (a little fiber, protein, fat and carb to fuel and keep satisfied). Because that’s a lower intensity exercise your body can handle fiber (and or fat). Create a DIY retreat right where you are. Plan a hike, a SUP, a yoga session and follow it all with a massage or pedi. Have an amazingly simple nourishing dinner and sleep like a baby.
What would you love to do on a stay-cation retreat?
