Super Simple Overnight Oatmeal Recipe

Just last week I made a delicious discovery. My boyfriend and I were wandering in downtown DC where we stumbled into The Corner Bakery. Apparently it's a chain and I had no idea! Shame on me because it was fantastic. To paint a picture of this restaurant to those who are not familar with it.. I'll say this: if Starbucks and Panera Bread had a love child, The Corner Bakery would be it. Does that clear things up?

Anyways, I ordered chilled oatmeal. CHILLED!? Who chills oatmeal? Wouldn't that insult the Quaker Man?... but you know what? These cold oats (mixed with yogurt, bananas, cranberries, apples and other yum yums) WAS AMAZING. I can easily say it was in the Top 5 of my favorite breakfasts. How could I've been so naive? I'm embaraased to say the least.

CEREAL FACT ALERT:

According to Quaker, the "Quaker Man" was the first registered trademark for a breakfast cereal... in 1877!

As homange to the Quaker Man, I've created my own cold oats recipe. You only need 3 main ingredients which makes it so easy that a caveman could do it!

Ander's Super Simple Overnight Oatmeal

  what you'll need:

1/2 c rolled oats

1/2 c greek or plain yogurt (I use flavored yogurt to give the oats some zip!)

1/2 c almond milk or any other milk

(if you want to make a larger batch, just make sure the measurements are about equal; ie. if 1 cup oats then 1 cup of milk and yogurt... just eye ball it )

Add-ins:

walnuts (check)

apples   (double check)

bananas

cranberries

    what to do:

mix all the ingredients together well, cover, then place in the refridgerator overnight! Follow the pictures for a step-by-step:

REFRIDGERATE for 12 hours AND....

BAM. Welcome to Heaven in your mouth. Enjoy!

Grounds for Grounds: Starbucks' Sustainability Initiative

While sipping on my sophisticated venti, italian roast, ice coffee with soy milk through a green straw, I was surprised at what I found at the Starbucks' entrance. At the base of the door was a tree accompanied with a basket of what looked like very large coffee bags. Initially I thought Starbucks was getting a tad carried away with its product line and loyal customers were slowly becoming borderline candidates for caffeine rehab. I was wrong, look how cool this is:

Here's a closer look:

:

My initial reactions were: (1) free, I love free!, (2) is it really free? Oh wait, it says "free", (3) I didn't know you could use coffee grounds as a fertilizer, (4) I'm definitely taking one, and (5) yay Starbucks!

This is such an innovative concept (and marketing campaign)! I love Starbucks in general, but was even more in love with this idea. Who would have put coffee grounds and gardens in the same category? Not moi, so I'm glad they did and I'm excited to try it out. Here's a blurb from the Starbucks Web site about its composting goals with Grounds for Your Garden:

"We introduced Grounds for Your Garden in 1995, which offers customers 
complimentary five-pound (2.27-kilogram) bags of used coffee grounds to enrich garden soil.  And where commercial composting is available, many stores are able to divert other food waste and  coffee grounds from the landfill as well."

I love the Go Green-ness of this idea! I reused my O'soy yogurt cup as the perfect fertilizer scooper. My garden now smells like a coffee bar and I feel more like a barista than a gardener; but what a great way to recycle and help the planet in perfect unison! Maybe if I'm lucky, the  Starbucks coffee grounds will help my produce grow venti-sized and make them as addictive as its' coffee!


*Update* Every since using the grounds, my plants have increased in size! I kid you not, I really think the coffee grounds gave my garden an espresso turbo boost! Go to Starbucks pronto and try it out! If you do, let me know about your experience :) Bravo Starbucks, bravo!