Overnight Oats: Also Known As, I Feel Like I've Been Lied To

Most mornings begin with my husband giving me an eye roll. The sentence, “that’s a lot of calories,” has come out of my mouth more often than I’d like to admit in the most recent weeks. It’s January, a time to start the new year with good habits and all of that bullshit, and I am making a go of it. I go to the gym (more often than I used to) and try to eat as few breads possible. I did a clean eating challenge, a plank challenge, and a SUPER SEXY! Fitness challenge.

I’ve fallen into the trap of being an adult. And part of me likes it.

Now, before we get into the next bit, I would like to say that I love greek yogurt. When I say love, I mean that it’s replaced my other love (long live sour cream!) because it has fewer calories and I can buy it for waaay cheaper (Seriously! You can get individuals of Greek yogurt for less than a dollar if you play your cards right).

So! When I saw a recipe that turned Greek yogurt into a 200 calorie breakfast that would mix even more fruit into my diet and introduce a healthy grain, I jumped into it. Or rather, I mixed it all into a bowl and let it sit in my fridge overnight.

Let me just also say, I read post after post of blogs that swore up and down that this would revolutionize my breakfast. I would wake up the next morning and find that my boring old breakfast had left my life, and this new and extravagant stranger would make it all better. The thing about extravagant strangers, as I am learning, is that they’re strange.

I didn’t eat my overnight oats as breakfast yesterday (perhaps this was a flaw in my logic, I’m hungrier in the mornings and therefore care less about the taste), I actually ate them as dinner (I’m lazy, what do you expect?). I pulled one serving out of the fridge and sat down to write a chapter. I stirred the oats (read: attempted) and regretted that our fridge was set to such a cold setting.

Perhaps another flaw was pairing the yogurt with orange juice (which I adore). Oats can only go so far as flavor is considered, and orange juice bursts with citrus-y deliciousness. If this moment were on one of those cooking shows where the contestants serve their dish to a judge, I would lose a lot of points due to the overpowering nature of the orange juice and the lack of balance in my dish.

I stirred once more and took the plunge.

Let me say, I have grown used to the sourness of Greek yogurt. I’ve gotten used to the way I can dip veggies into the yogurt and enjoy a ranch-less snack.

I was under prepared for how strange the flavor of the yogurt would be with the oats. Now, keep in mind, I mixed milk, brown sugar and other ingredients into this recipe as well, but the overarching confusion on my tongue was the fact that the yogurt was sweet and sour and oat-y at the same time.

I begin to wonder if all of those cool and trendy blogs that suggested this meal had exaggerated just a wee bit about just how good this would taste. I kept eating.

I once heard a story, from an ex-boyfriend’s mom, about how said ex had overcome the strange flavor of ratatouille by eating it quickly. I’ve tried this multiple times and have yet to succeed. I have learned my will is just not as strong as the flavor.

As I got down into the little jar of oats, I would like to say that things got better, but I just can’t. I wonder if my disappointment is primarily in the fact that the oats weren’t as awesome as promised or the fact that I feel as if I was tricked into a “trend treat” by bloggers who either have better taste or like different things than I do.

A friend of mine once encouraged me to, “embrace the basic,” and I’m not gonna go on a long rant about how I feel about the subject of basic, but the idea got me wondering if I’m type-casting myself into a role that I don’t wholly fit into. Trendy food blogger is just not something that I can be. I don’t have the time nor the energy nor the want to constantly be at the gym.

Do I want to blog? Well, yeah. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. Blogging is play writing to me, and the best part is that I get an audience. I can say whatever I want in my blog because I don’t take it that seriously. It’s a way to blow off steam and scribble my teenage thoughts across the internet. I know, I’m reaching to keep the tone of this light and somewhat funny. A wise teacher once pointed out to me that even the most light-hearted nonfiction always had that sense of “trouble”. It keeps the reader interested.

 

Returning to the oats and my mid-twenties discussion, I ended up finishing the serving of oats this morning. Well, there are a few more bites left, but I also added almonds and honey into the mix in the hopes of cancelling out the sour/oat/sweetness of the meal. The jury is still out on whether or not it worked. 

I think I’m going to keep commenting on the foods that I try (mainly because I want you all to be as hungry as I am all the time) and let you know which foods are a little bit fraudulent in their claims of deliciousness. Someone’s gotta set the right expectation for these Low Calorie! and Super Delicious! meals that look great on camera, but are lackluster on the palette.