A ‘Berry’ Delicious Overnight Oatmeal and Why Berries Are Good For You and Your Kids

Hey busy mom!

Here at Meal Monday, our goal is to help busy moms like you save as much time as possible in the kitchen, so we present to you a fun and easy breakfast that is “berry” delicious. This takes just about 10 - 15 minutes to make, and you can store it in the fridge so you can have it for breakfast for the next three days! Awesome, isn’t it? Kids will love it, and it’s also safe to consume for those who are mildly lactose intolerant because we will use fermented milk. We hope you made kefir with us last week… and if you did then this will be a great way for you to make use of your leftover kefir.

This breakfast is so wonderful, colorful, and healthy, thanks to all the berries that we have incorporated into the recipe. Before we get started, let us talk about berries and why it is an amazing gift from mother nature.

“Berry” beneficial…

Berries are incredibly healthy - as a matter of fact our eyes find berries and their colors attractive from a scientific viewpoint because we evolved to recognize what is good for us and what is not. It’s one of the healthiest foods we can eat and it’s high in antioxidants, fibers, and vitamins. It’s good for the heart, hair, skin, and good for managing stress levels. Kids love how they taste and it can be a natural sweetener for desserts. Berries, along with kefir, will promote good digestion which is also good for our little ones.

Now that we were able to cover the benefits of berries briefly, let’s get back to our yummy recipe!

You’ll need:

A pint of kefir (fermented milk)

Stevia

Vanilla

A pinch of salt

Chia seeds (1 tbsp)

Flax seeds

Frozen mixed berries

Old fashioned oats

A large bowl

Plastic wrap or lid

Procedure:

Take your premade kefir out of the jar. Ours still had the grains in it, so we started by straining out the kefir grains using a plastic strainer. If it’s your first time seeing kefir grains, they are supposed to look like cottage cheese when taken out of the fermented milk. We poured the kefir into a large bowl.

Next, add drops of stevia and vanilla according to your taste. You can also add a pinch of salt to balance the sweetness. Don’t be weirded out by the salt - just add a tiny bit and you’ll notice that it elevates the flavor, and balances the sweet and tangy taste from the fermented milk and the sweeteners.

Now is the time to add in the chia seeds. This is a good source of healthy fat and fiber, and you’ll find that a little bit of this breakfast meal is enough to keep you super full. This is because chia seeds are big on fiber. To add in more nutrients and fiber, we also put flax seeds into the mix. Stir well.

Next up are our frozen mixed berries! Our mix includes strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pit of cherries, and pomegranate. We added in more blueberries because kids just love that. The frozen berries we used are already sliced pieces so there’s no need to give it a chop. You can cut it up into smaller pieces or leave the big chunks - it all depends on how you and your kids like it. Mix everything together before we add our last ingredient.

Pour in the oats in the bowl and mix thoroughly until everything is coated. We want the oats covered so that we can make sure it will be softened to a more chewable texture. You can add some water if the consistency is thick. We want to make sure it is a little watery because the oats will absorb the liquid… we can’t let it be too thick before this happens. When all the oats are covered, we are ready for the next step.

Put a lid over the bowl or wrap it with plastic. You can also transfer everything into a jar. Place it inside the fridge and leave it overnight - it will be good to go in the morning.

All you have to do is wake up and serve this yummy day-starter! We can't wait for you and your kids to try it!

For a more thorough guide, feel free to watch the Meal Monday video for this recipe here. We’d also love to hear your thoughts and suggestions so we’d appreciate it if you can leave comments. Have a great week!

- Micah from Mom Training